In the closing days of the last congress, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 was passed. The legislation incorporated many different priorities, but one major one for the disability community is the ABLE Age Adjustment Act, which adjusts the eligible age of disability onset to open an ABLE (A Better Life Experience) account from 26 [click to continue...]
I didn’t know what to expect when I met Bobby Silverstein. I had met many great disability icons, but Bobby was sort of a mystery to me, a name that I always knew, but knew very little about. It was thus with some trepidation that I invited him to share an introduction reflecting around 30th [click to continue...]
On November 28, the Congressional Research Service published a paper entitled “Federal Hiring of Persons with Disabilities.” The findings of the paper are neither surprising nor controversial, and state, in part: “Despite efforts to increase recruitment and hiring of persons with disabilities, retention of employees with disabilities is significantly lower than that of employees without [click to continue...]
Los Angeles, CA, July 3 – Tomorrow is Independence Day in the United States. While its primary purpose is to demarcate 246 years since the day we formally declared our independence from Great Britain, it has come to be a celebration of broader Independence. While it is critically important to remember that the liberties in [click to continue...]
As I count the Omer, it is impossible not to think of the seven-week journey. For those of us that have studied Jewish tradition, it is a truism that the Israelites did not leave Egypt primarily to escape slavery but rather to be free to serve God. They took a risk for a reward. The [click to continue...]
As I was reading Shelly’s introductory note, I couldn’t help but reflect on the deep significance of building a house of worship that draws everyone into belonging. I think many of us have probably noted the inherent dichotomy between the Torah’s exclamation that we were all designed in the image of God, with the observable [click to continue...]
RespectAbility’s message testing shows us that, in general, people prefer a message that says that we are a stronger community when we are welcoming, diverse, and respect one another, and that everyone should have an equal opportunity to fully participate in our community. 87 percent of respondents in our 2021 survey of the Jewish community [click to continue...]
Survey of 222 Jews in the NYC community shows progress, while identifying areas in need of continued improvement Download Topline Data (Excel) New York, NY, April 1 – In a recently released major survey of 2,321 Jewish individuals nationwide, RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can participate [click to continue...]
It was probably 20 or more years ago that I first heard the words “please rise if you are able” while sitting in a service. While there are obvious flaws in this construction, not the least of which being the express exclusion of those, who, like me, might not be able to rise in the [click to continue...]
Toolkit to be featured at “Rising Stars” Event celebrating Jewish Disability Action and Inclusion Month Los Angeles, CA, January 27 – RespectAbility, an organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community, is debuting a new toolkit that will equip Jewish individuals and organizations with [click to continue...]
