Faith and Spirituality

The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) is the umbrella organization for 146 Jewish Federations and more than 300 independent Jewish communities across North America. Each Federation supports a number of service providers, such as nonprofit hospitals, nursing and assisted living facilities, group homes, family service agencies, and vocational training organizations–programs that, taken together, provide care to more than 1.3 million people of all faiths and socio-economic levels. Many of these provide vital services to people with disabilities. JFNA’s disability work focuses on inclusion, with a particular emphasis on policies that support our Federations and their partners. [continue reading…]

“Keshet is a one-of-a-kind organization that brings classroom experience, camps, sports, social and vocational activities, and residential opportunities. One of a few organizations in the country where a child can start programs and the age of 3 and continue throughout adulthood. Keshet grows alongside your child and family. Keshet is a national leader in inclusive summer camp. We pioneered the model of a disability service organization partnering with established camps to ensure that camp is available to kids of all abilities can be part of fully inclusive camp programs.”

Read the Toolkit

Los Angeles, California, August 13 – The disability nonprofit RespectAbility is pleased to announce the release of a new toolkit to help congregations ensure their High Holiday services and related events are accessible – “Opening All Gates: Making High Holiday Celebrations Accessible to All, In Person and Online.”

The rise of the Delta variant and the continuing COVID-19 pandemic will cause many synagogues and communities of worship to move their services online. Some communities will aim to have a hybrid experience with an in-person component. Even as the Jewish world continues to determine how to create a meaningful, spiritual experience in each format, the experience must be accessible to all.

Recognizing this, RespectAbility has created a revised edition of the “Opening Your Virtual Gates” toolkit that we created last year with the help of Rabbis Lauren Tuchman and Darby Leigh. The toolkit provided resources to help congregations ensure that virtual services included the one in five Jews with disabilities. Leigh, who is Deaf, and Tuchman, who is blind, brought both their deep knowledge as rabbis and critical lived experiences. “Opening All Gates” updates this content, while adding in content for in-person and hybrid services. [continue reading…]

Pictured: the Chernotsky Family: Nechama, Lee, Lyla, Avichai, and Marlea

Lee and Nechama Chernotsky live in Los Angeles, California with their three kids. A homeschooling family for over 6 years now, Lee and Nechama worked hard for their kids to start their education at a Jewish Montessori, in which they are still active.

Nechama, Lee’s wife and partner in purpose (soon to formally join the Speakers Bureau), laughingly describes Lee as “hallucinogenically optimistic, a renaissance man, an incredible father and listener who gives more than he takes.” Needless to say, Lee is selfless, and his passion manifests in his work with his foundation, ROSIES, a 501C3 nonprofit, to which Lee has found a chosen family with visionary philanthropic support from the Jeffrey and Leann Sobrato Charitable Fund. [continue reading…]

“AJC Los Angeles is the largest field office of American Jewish Committee, the leading global Jewish advocacy organization. AJC LA serves Jewish communities across Southern California and several western states. AJC LA connects local communities with its global mission to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate, strengthen Israel’s place in the world, and defend democratic values. A respected voice in the fight against antisemitism, AJC LA builds enduring relationships with inter-ethnic and interfaith partners to promote intergroup understanding and jointly advocate on shared legislative and policy priorities. AJC LA also has established close working relationships with consuls general and elected officials across California. This essential work is spearheaded by a talented professional staff in partnership with dedicated lay leadership that participate in key policy briefings and join in high-level AJC missions around the world.”

Erika Abbott

Erika Abbott is an intelligent woman and talented writer. Erika’s disability advocacy started in grade school, where she and some friends, eventually including fellow Speaking and Training Bureau member Aaron Seglin, formed the Disabled Posse. The idea, Erika explained, is “when you’re a kid, you are fearless,” and younger kids are more likely to ask questions. But, “by middle school, that’s where the intimidation starts. Everyone’s scared of the things they don’t know.” With Aaron as her voice when she struggled to speak for herself, Erika and the Disabled Posse worked to educate other kids in their school about what it was like to live with a disability, especially at such a young age, and inspire change through their work.

While those days in suburban New Jersey have long passed, Erika’s mission has not. Erika currently lives in Los Angeles and is actively involved in the Jewish community. Because the town she grew up in had such a small number of Jewish families, Erika actively sought friends who shared similarities, which led to some lifelong friendships. [continue reading…]

Justin Borses

Justin Borses is a 21-year-old “valley kid from California” who lives with Cerebral Palsy. Currently, he is a student at California State University at Northridge (CSUN), majoring in broadcasting and journalism, but he’s secretly a theatre kid at heart. Justin is a major extrovert and thrives on conversation and interaction with others, which makes his job as a sports broadcaster the perfect fit!

Justin has had Cerebral Palsy his whole life. Growing up, his parents enrolled him in equine therapy, not only to help his motor skills, but to give him an emotional outlet as well. From this, Justin learned he likes his feet to be “firmly planted on the ground,” so horseback riding most likely isn’t in his future! [continue reading…]

Idan Degani, a special education student, communicating with his teacher via iPad

Ignacio Estrada, the educational consultant and motivator, once said: “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” The Torah put it even more forcefully, “train a youth in his own way, he will not swerve from it even in old age.” (Proverbs 22:6) In 2015, Athena Fund found that while many special education students had iPads, their teachers did not. Therefore, Athena Fund initiated the “Digital Toolbox for Every Special Education Teacher” program, where each teacher receives an iPad along with techno-pedagogical training, a projector, wireless internet for the classroom, and more.

Athena Fund is an Israeli nonprofit dedicated to empowering Israeli teachers by providing them with advanced technological tools and training. Established in 2006, the Fund has several programs: “Digital Toolbox for Every Teacher in Israel” (launched in 2007 and extended to kindergarten teachers in 2012), “Digital Toolbox for Every Science Teacher” (launched 2014), “Digital Toolbox for Every Special Education Teacher” (launched 2015), and “Digital Toolbox for Every English Teacher” (launched 2018). [continue reading…]

The mission of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles is to assist youth in reaching their full potential through innovative, impactful programs. For over 100 years, JBBBSLA has been offering one-to-one mentoring for Jewish youth who could benefit from an additional positive adult role model. In addition, JBBBSLA offers a Jewish and secular residential camp for youth in Greater Los Angeles. Once program participants reach high school, they are eligible to participate in college guidance services and apply for scholarships to help them reach their higher educational goals.

RespectAbility recently had the opportunity to partner with Teen Talk App, one of JBBBSLA’s newer programs. Teen Talk App provides a free, anonymous, safe place for teens to request support from trained peers and learn from others with similar experiences. The free app is available to download on iOS and Android devices for teens 13-19. The app is used by teens in over 100 countries and averages about 150 daily active users. [continue reading…]