After two years of studying Hebrew, Jewish history, rituals, Torah, and Haftorah readings, the day I yearned for had finally arrived. I was invited to go to the bima (the raised platform in the synagogue from which the Torah is read and services led) to read the Torah for the first time…as an adult Bar [click to continue...]
July is Disability Pride Month. It commemorates the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. The ADA is a milestone civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to [click to continue...]
How does a “typical day” consolidate with the daily reality of living with Bipolar Disorder? The answer is simple. There is no typical day. What is Bipolar Disorder? The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) defines Bipolar Disorder as a group of brain disorders that cause extreme fluctuation in a [click to continue...]
When I was in high school, I didn’t know anything about pride. All I knew were the names the bullies gave me. They kicked me, shoved me, because I wasn’t a “real man.” When I was in the military, there was still no pride. Nobody ever said anything, not even those of us who were [click to continue...]
The summer after my first year in college, I went to Switzerland to visit my relatives. When I got there, I recognized my great aunt Rebecca. She was visiting from Bolivia. This was a wonderful surprise. She possessed an aura of warmth and love for all of us, and that is something I take with [click to continue...]
Jews are among 40 million Americans struggling with substance addiction. Since 1999, 25 million are in recovery, and nearly 1 million died of an overdose. Results from a research study published in the Journal of Addiction indicate that more than 20 percent of Jews with a substance use disorder have a family history of addictive [click to continue...]
