Faith and Spirituality

Election Day came, Election Day went. Each American experienced the ensuing, nail-biting days differently. We are delighted that several disability allies – from both parties – won their races. We look forward to partnering with them and others in the future.

Disability or no disability, the voting process during a pandemic was a feat. This feat was followed by the stress and/or anxiety of The Count, regardless of the candidate we supported. With the hyper-focus of the election now behind us, we are still left with this deadly pandemic and the health and employment challenges that come with it. [continue reading…]

Rachael Risby Raz feeding an elephant at the Tisch Family Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem

On Rosh Hashanah, my phone was buzzing with dancing shofar GIFs, pomegranate pictures, and jokes about how we Jews had finished this challenging year. Among these was a strange message from my friend Avi, saying “Just remember, it could always be worse!” Little did I know that this quirky ‘blessing’ would become a mantra for me in the weeks that followed.

The story really starts two years ago, at my son’s graduation concert from primary school. During this emotional and tiring day, I suddenly started seeing double. After a week-long stay in the wonderful new Hemsley Neurological Institute at the Jerusalem’s Sha’are Zedek Hospital (a quasi-vacation at the end of the school year, but with a myriad of tests instead of spa treatments), I was given the likely diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. [continue reading…]

Benjamin Rosloff

In this week’s Shabbat Smile, Matan Koch, Director of Jewish Leadership at RespectAbility, and Benjamin Rosloff, a Jewish Inclusion Fellow in our National Leadership Program, talked about Ben’s new idea for a multimedia series, “What Do You Pray For?!”

The idea builds off of Ben’s work filming a young boy’s bar mitzvah a few years ago. He did not have speech, and was using an augmentative communication device, and Ben found himself thinking, was he hearing the bar mitzvah boy’s voice or the filtered thoughts that he had programmed in with his parents? He questioned himself: what did the boy really pray for?

Later, Ben went to Israel and saw people putting notes and prayers in the Western Wall, and went to the Ohel, where people pray and leave notes of prayers on the Rebbe’s tombstone.  There were so many notes and stories. Ben wondered what messages and requests people were asking from G-d. He began to realize that whether it is an augmentative communication device, a prewritten speech or the natural filters that we put in place when talking to others, it isn’t always easy to determine what people really pray for. He felt it is even less likely for people with disabilities, whose voices are so often counted out. [continue reading…]

Though tonight begins Shmini Atzeret, this week RespectAbility joyously celebrated Sukkot with a gathering in our virtual sukkah. HUC student and Jewish advisory committee member Rachel Rothstein taught us about the holiday. She opened with upbeat Israeli music, reminding us that the rabbis called Sukkot “the time of our joy”. After performing the ritual of the lulav (fun Sunday school fact: though we colloquially refer to the lulav and the aromatic etrog, the etrog is actually one of the four parts, or species, that make up the lulav). All five senses were virtually ignited!

Rachel then shared with us the rabbinic teaching that the four species of the lulav represented four different types of Jews, but just as the lulav was a union of those four species, so too is the Jewish people a union of all different types of Jews. [continue reading…]

As Rosh Hashanah approaches and we enter a new year, it is important to look back and reflect on the year that has just passed. In doing so, we look at all of the decisions we have made this year and try to remember that we can always do more and always do better. [continue reading…]

I write you today with a story and a request. It was a year ago this week on the Jewish calendar that RespectAbility decided it was time for me to move from Boston to Los Angeles to take the reins of our Los Angeles-based Jewish projects. Los Angeles (and everywhere else) has a shortage of accessible rental units, and finding one is quite a process. Hence I began my search for accessible, extended-stay hotels and other stopgap efforts, and put out word to our Jewish allies in LA that I was looking for a place to stay with a roll-in shower – a necessary accessibility feature for me.

I promptly heard from the spirited singer/songwriter/music producer and community builder Craig Taubman, whose amazing work at the Pico Union Project is worth checking out. He said that he might have friends who fit the bill. It was thus that I met the lovely couple with whom I would live for the next three months until finding my permanent home in LA. They are truly wonderful, and no doubt would have extended this hospitality just because of their generous spirit, as they had done for previous itinerant Jews. But there was something else. Their accessible shower had been built for a beloved family member who had since passed on. They confided in me their joy, and the joy that they felt she would have had, knowing that this investment in accessibility was providing access for someone else, years later. [continue reading…]

Michelle Friedman, vice chair of the board of Keshet and on Keshet’s board of governance and development committees

As a woman who grew up in a strongly identified observant family, attended Jewish day school and camp, and had a bubby who devoted herself to Jewish organizations, the obligation of tikkun olam, chesed and serving the community were engrained since childhood. So, when I left my career to be a stay-at-home mother in the mid 80’s, I sought an opportunity to serve. I became involved in my synagogue and children’s school, and eventually a friend invited me to serve on the board of Shalva, which provides service to Jewish victims of domestic violence in the Chicago area. (Not to be confused with Shalva, the Israel Association for the Care and Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.)

This began my 32-year career as a professional volunteer, which I am proud to say has included service on nine nonprofit boards, eight of which are in the Chicago Jewish community. I am even prouder that every one of those organizations sought my leadership and saw my capability, even after I became blind 28 years ago.

They did not focus on my blindness, but focused on my value as a board member, and reaped the benefits. I have served as fundraising chair on six boards, and as Board President of three – soon to be four.  

This means that I have attended countless meetings, conferences and seminars, and I always seem to be the only person at the table with a disclosed disability. As I have become more knowledgeable about board governance best practices, and as our boards have become more professional, strategic, and intentional, I noticed that the conversation about board diversity has never included the disabled community. [continue reading…]

Two weeks ago, Lily Coltoff highlighted the symbolic role of the number seven in Judaism. This week’s Shabbat Smile continues with this “seven motif,” all weaving an overall message about virtual Jewish education during this pandemic and beyond.

1) To open, I invite you on a musical, whimsical st/roll down memory lane, by listening to and/or learning the lyrics to an age-old Israeli song – suddenly relevant to our virtual Zoom world! [continue reading…]

As you have no doubt read over the past several Shabbat Smile emails, RespectAbility has been conducting a seven-part Disability Access and Inclusion Training Series for Jewish Organizations. While we plan on conducting more trainings in the future, for now we are happy to share with you that all seven trainings are live on our website, with open captions, transcripts, and accessible PowerPoint slides! If you missed one, a few, or all seven trainings in the series, or just want a refresher on some of the topics covered, we invite you to visit our Jewish Inclusion website!

The website also has our “Opening Your Virtual Gates: Making Online High Holiday Celebrations Accessible to All” toolkit. As I wrote in the toolkit’s introduction, “it is easy to make online services, and related events, accessible to everyone — if you know how.” And this toolkit should teach you how! I hope you find it helpful and will share it with every congregation you know so that all online Jewish convenings can be accessible.

Below, read a great piece written by Jared Goldin about the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled (ISCD) and their Go 60! challenge! [continue reading…]