Faith Inclusion

As a person living with autism, being involved in a faith community is very important to me. The synagogue was a place where I felt included. I enjoyed going to services near my home and on visits with my grandparents. The structure and routine of the services, the familiar melodies, and seeing the same people, were all things that I enjoyed. I loved watching a video series, “Shirim Ktanim” (Little Songs) repeatedly, learning all the holiday songs and seeing kids celebrate the holidays, just like I did with my family.

My family was supportive of my Jewish education. As with public school, they made sure I was included in the religious school. That is what I wanted too. At first, I was in Sunday School and Hebrew School with the other kids. When I was ten years old, one of my teachers did not feel comfortable with me having an aide in her classroom. This teacher thought I should be tutored separately. We left this synagogue and joined a different one. At the time, I didn’t understand why we had to change, but at our new synagogue I had a bar mitzvah, just like everyone else.

As I got older, I enjoyed being at services, hanging out, eating, and talking with people. At the same time, I was learning about film and became a big movie buff. I wanted to be a filmmaker, a producer, a director, and even an actor. A public school teacher taught me TV production, and I studied media and film in college. [continue reading…]

Transcript

Ben Bond: Hello, my name is Ben Bond. I am the Faith Inclusion and Belonging Associate here at RespectAbility. I use he/they pronouns. I’m a white genderqueer person with brown hair, glasses, and beard, with a burgundy shirt. I am here to welcome Feryaal.

Feryaal Tahir: Hi everyone. My name is Feryaal Tahir. I am a South Asian female, and I’m wearing a black head scarf and a beige shirt. I am coming to you from the organization called Muhsen, which is Muslims Understanding and Helping Special Education Needs. And I look forward to talking to you all today about Ramadan, and some things about what can be challenging and what can be beneficial for all individuals. [continue reading…]

Transcript

Chag sameach! Happy Passover! My name is Rabbi Lauren Tuchman, and I’m going to speak for a few minutes about celebrating Passover in an accessible and inclusive manner. [continue reading…]

In the Christian tradition, Holy Week is the last week of Lent. The significant days within Holy Week often include but are not limited to: Palm Sunday, when Jesus enters Jerusalem; Maundy Thursday, where Jesus has his last supper with the Disciples; Good Friday, which commemorates the death of Jesus; and Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.

These services are of deep spiritual, theological, and communal significance for the Christian community. Unsurprisingly, they are also significant for Disabled Christians. It is vital as faith leaders and community members to work with fellow Disabled Christians to create worship services during Holy Week, where we experience inclusion and belonging during this sacred time.

As a faith leader, I want to offer concrete examples of how our services can implement accessibility measures during Holy Week. I hope these examples inspire us to think more broadly about accessibility in our services and communities. [continue reading…]

Judy Heumann embodied cross-disability solidarity throughout her life, beginning with her time at Camp Jened, a summer camp for disabled teenagers. She created life-long friendships with other disabled folks that formed the foundation of their organizing work for the passage of the ADA.

Cross-disability friendship is a powerful bond. It is a love that insists we can and must work miracles for each other, that expands what we believe ourselves to be capable of.

In the disability community, grief is an all too frequent companion. Too many disabled friends have died prematurely. We are not strangers to the task of continuing legacies.

Almost exactly a year before the pandemic began, I sat with my best friend, Rabbi Emet Tauber, as he passed away from complications of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. He was 24. [continue reading…]

Judith (Judy) Heumann was the definition of perseverance and determination in her fight for equity for all people. Considered “the mother” of the disability rights movement, Judy Heumann has been a part of almost every pivotal moment in the movement ever since. After being turned away from her elementary school for being seen as a ‘fire hazard,’ Judy committed the entirety of her life to the disability rights movement. However, she is perhaps best known for helping to lead a 28-day sit-in at the San Francisco federal building which led to the signing of section 504. Section 504 was the first major piece of legislation protecting disabled people under federal law and its passing and opened up the legal flood gates for broader protections for the disabled community.

Judy Heumann was a trailblazer. Being in a position of power, as she was, was a huge step not only for the general disabled population, but specifically for women and girls with disabilities. Heumann often emphasized the intersectional approach needed to address all parts of an individual’s identity. Specifically, she pointed out the multiple forms of discrimination and marginalization women and girls with disabilities face due to their gender and disabilities. Heumann advocated to empower women with disabilities to advocate for their own rights and participate fully in all aspects of society. [continue reading…]

When I was first offered the position of Faith Inclusion and Belonging Associate at RespectAbility, I was told, to my utter shock, that on my first day of work, I would be meeting Judy Heumann. Getting to meet your all-time hero on your first day on the job is a remarkable experience, and learning that your hero is deeply invested in your own activism within faith communities is life changing.

I first saw Judy during my time at Yale University when she spoke to the Law School about the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). I will never forget being in a space full of some of the most powerful people, not only at Yale University but in the world, when she declared that Yale University itself was in violation of the very law they were celebrating. After my time working with activists across the university, demonstrating against these ADA violations, I was both in awe of her ability to speak truth to power and deeply affirmed to hear a public figure tell Yale exactly what we had been saying all along. [continue reading…]

Late one Sunday night last October, my phone rang. I panicked because late night calls never bring good news.

“Who is calling so late?” I grumbled.

One glance at the screen and I had my answer. It was actually good news.

“Hi, Judy,” I said. “I’m so glad you called!”

A month earlier I texted Judy Heumann with an invitation to be the guest speaker on a webinar RespectAbility was doing for Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month. I added that we wanted to feature her two recent books, “Being Heumann” and “Rolling Warrior” for the JDAIM Reads! Selections.

She texted immediately. “Of course, I am interested and thank you very much!” [continue reading…]

Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month for 2023 is almost over. In March, the Faith Inclusion and Belonging team will evaluate RespectAbility’s first JDAIM since I joined the team. We will be reaching out to many of our national and community colleagues to find out what they promoted during JDAIM and how our Faith Inclusion and Belonging team can support their work going forward.

We are also committed to exploring collaborations in the multi-faith space and learning from others who are doing similar awareness programming. At the same time, our team will be learning from disability organizations that have spirituality and religious participation as part of their work.

Yesterday and today, I was glued to the view outside my office window, watching Mother Nature deliver a meteorological gut punch in the form of two feet of snow. I thought about the times JDAIM events had to be cancelled or drew only a handful of people thanks to weather in some parts of North America. Inclement weather never even occurred to me and my colleagues from the Jewish Special Education Consortium when we chose February for JDAIM back in 2009. [continue reading…]