When the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed 27 years ago, it exempted faith-based organizations. Thus, many such organizations do have not yet have the attitudes, physical facilities or training they need to appropriately welcome people of all abilities. Given the very important role that faith and faith-based organizations play in America, RespectAbility is working for full inclusion in all faith groups. However, it has started its faith-based inclusion work with a focus on the Jewish community and institutions. As model practices are established, we will work broadly across faiths to share best practices.
RespectAbility understands that the Jewish community, like all communities, is stronger when it lives up to its values – when it is welcoming, diverse, moral, and respects each other. We want children, parents, grandparents, friends, and other family members with disabilities to be able to fully participate in their communities. We know that many people with disabilities are having a challenging time gaining access to our agencies, synagogues and community.
A Slingshot-recognized organization, RespectAbility is on the front lines – working to ensure that everyone knows that his or her presence and participation is welcomed and meaningful. Below are free resources for all who care about inclusion and equal opportunity.
National Disability Speakers Bureau: Jewish Division
The Jewish world is becoming steadily more aware of, and eager for, contributions of people with disabilities. As such, speakers featured in our Jewish Division of RespectAbility’s growing National Disability Speakers Bureau are available to speak virtually (for the time being) at Jewish conferences, synagogues and organizations.
Jewish Disability Perspectives
Jewish Disability Perspectives lifts up and amplifies the great work of Jews with and without disabilities serving the disability community throughout the U.S. and Israel. RespectAbility is honored to share these critical missions through our weekly newsletter and online. Do you want to subscribe or do you have something for us? Please reach out to Joshua Steinberg at JoshuaS@RespectAbility.org.
Disability Access and Inclusion Training Series for Jewish Organizations and Activists
Jewish organizations, leaders and activists were invited to a free online training series so they could learn how to welcome, respect and include people with disabilities from all backgrounds in the important work that they do. All sessions included American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters and captions, and were screen reader accessible.
- Inclusion as a Jewish Value
- How to Advance Disability Inclusion in Jewish Education
- How to Recruit, Accommodate and Promote Jewish Leaders with Disabilities for Paid Employment and Volunteer Leadership
- How to Ensure Accessible Events: Both Live and Virtual Across All Platforms
- How to Ensure a Welcoming Lexicon, Accessible Websites and Social Media and Inclusive Photos
- How to Create and Implement Successful Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
- How to Ensure Legal Rights and Compliance Obligations
Opening Your Virtual Gates: Making Online High Holiday Celebrations Accessible to All
Download the PDF or accessible Word document or view each section of the toolkit by following the links below:
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Before the Service or Event
- During the Service or Event
- After the Service or Event
- Webinars on How to Make Your Programs Accessible
- About Our Co-Authors
- Appendix A: Live Captioning Companies
- Appendix B: ASL Interpreting Companies
- Appendix C: Materials Available
More Free Resources: Jewish Inclusion Toolkit
- Etiquette: Interacting with People with Disabilities
- Terminology Tips: Using the Appropriate Lexicon
- Common Acronyms
- High Holiday Synagogue Toolkit 2019 (DOCX)
- Jewish Synagogue Inclusion Toolkit
- More Jewish Inclusion Webinars
- Disability FAQ
- Learn More About Specific Disabilities:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)/Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Amputation/Amputee
- Autism/Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Blind/Vision Loss
- Cerebral Palsy
- Deaf/Hard of Hearing
- Down syndrome
- Dyslexia and Other Learning Disabilities
- Epilepsy
- Little People/Dwarfism
- Mental Illness: Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, Depression
- Mobility Impairments Requiring the Use of a Wheelchair
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
- Resources to Fight Racism and Unconscious Bias
- RespectAbility National Leadership Program
Polls on Jewish Inclusion
- Poll: Most Jews Don’t Know Any Rabbis or Staff with Disabilities
- Poll: Most NY Jews Don’t Know Any Rabbis or Staff with Disabilities
- Poll: Most California Jews Don’t Know Any Rabbis or Staff with Disabilities
- Poll: Most D.C.-area Jews Don’t Know Any Rabbis or Staff with Disabilities
- Poll: “Jewish Camp for Children with Disabilities and Special Needs” (Times of Israel, 3/4/14) – Results from our poll with Foundation for Jewish Camp regarding how Jews with disabilities are included at Jewish overnight camps
- Poll: “New Poll of Faith in the Disability Community Released” (1/30/14) – Results from our poll regarding how Jews with disabilities are engaged in Jewish society
- Poll: “Online Poll of Jews” (September 2013) – Results from our poll with Jerusalem U regarding Jews’ opinions on the importance of certain aspects of Judaism
- Poll: “New poll data of 2607 Jews: These Jews feel strongly about inclusion of people with disabilities, even more so than Israel, Jewish life, marrying Jewish, or having Jewish kids”(9/10/13) – Results from our poll with Jerusalem U on including Jews with disabilities in Jewish life
- “Mind the Inclusion Gap: Values vs. Reality” – Press about poll with Jerusalem U about including Jews with disabilities
- Poll: “Disabled Jews unlikely to affiliate” (San Diego Jewish World, 1/30/14) – Press about our poll regarding how Jews with disabilities are engaged in Jewish society
- “Protecting Jewish Survival by Including Jews with Disabilities” (Times of Israel, 10/15/13) – With so many Jews feeling unengaged in Judaism, it is pivotal to include Jews with disabilities, many of whom want to be engaged. References our poll with Jerusalem U.
- Poll: “American Jews with disabilities excluded by community” (Haaretz, 9/16/13) – Press about poll with Jerusalem U about including Jews with disabilities
- “A New Survey Reveals ‘A Distance between Words and Deeds’” (New York Jewish Week, 9/11/13) – Press about poll with Jerusalem U about including Jews with disabilities
- “Survey: Support of disabled Jews doesn’t translate into action” (Washington Jewish Week, 9/10/13) – Press about poll with Jerusalem U about including Jews with disabilities
Education and Children
- “Serving Jewish Children with Disabilities and their Families” (Journal of Jewish Communal Service, 12/10/14) – Viewpoint as to why educators should strive to create settings that are open to students of all abilities
- “Q&A: Camps Merge to Serve More Children, Together” (Jewish Week, 1/6/14) – Interview with Len Robinson, the CEO of NJY Camps, about integrating Round Lake campers with campers without disabilities
Israel
- “12 Israeli Technologies Changing the Lives of the Disabled in 2015” (Forbes, 1/20/15) – Israeli technological breakthroughs for people with disabilities
- “Nalaga’at Theater at the Kennedy Center” (3/26/14) – Israel’s Nalaga’at Theater Deaf-Blind Acting Ensemble, RespectAbility, and the White House’s Claudia Gordon at the Kennedy Center
- “Israeli playground, ‘Sesame Street’ help include kids with disabilities” (Washington Jewish Week, 7/31/13) – Sesame Street in Israel modeling positive inclusion by introducing a character with disabilities
- “Can You Tell Me How To Get To An Inclusive Playground? (They’re In Israel)” (Jewish Week, 7/31/13) – Jean Judes, executive director of Beit Issie Shapiro, spoke to the UN Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities about the new Sesame Street character with disabilities
Holidays
- “Stop by the vice president’s sukkah: VP Joe Biden invites children with disabilities to decorate a Chabad-built sukkah at his DC residence” (Times of Israel, 9/24/13) – Vice President Biden and Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden welcomed DC children with disabilities to decorate a sukkah at Number One Observatory Circle
- “The 10 Commandments of Politics for People with Disabilities” (Jewish Week, 3/21/13) – How to make a difference on issues you care about, with a “Passover spin”
RespectAbility in the News
- “Disability Leader Discovers New Role During COVID-19 Crisis” (Jewish Journal, 5/20/20)
- “Disability Rights Are Now Life Or Death” (Jewish Journal, 3/24/20)
- “Employment Justice for People with Disabilities: Continuing the Legacy of Jewish Civic Engagement” (Jewish Journal, 11/4/19)
- “How Mechilah Can Give Us a Model to Go Forward on Inclusion” (Jewish Journal, 10/3/19)
- “As We Take an Accounting of Our Souls and Ourselves, a Lesson in Inclusion” (Jewish Journal, 9/25/19)
- “Discussing Disability: ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’” (Kol HaBirah, 2/14/19)
- “From Awareness To Acceptance” (Jewish Week, 2/5/19)
- “A Need for RespectAbility” (Jewish Journal, 10/8/18)
- “Survey: Lack of Jewish Leaders with Disabilities” (Jewish Journal, 9/17/18)
- “Stephen Hawking’s larger and complicated impact on the world” (The Times of Israel, 3/17/18)
- “What Can We Learn From What Non-Jews Are Doing On Disability Issues” (The Times of Israel, 2/18/18)
- “Equality and Inclusion for People with Disabilities in Israel” (The Times of Israel, 12/21/17)
- “Hanukkah, tzedakah and equality for people with disabilities” (The Times of Israel, 12/16/17)
- “Win for Israelis with Disabilities as Itzhak Perlman starts ‘re-gifting’ his Genesis Prize award” (The Times of Israel, 4/15/17)
- “10 Tips for Including People with Disabilities in Purim and Passover” (The Times of Israel, 3/8/17)
- “Hate crimes, bomb threats, anxiety & people with disabilities” (The Times of Israel, 3/2/17)
- “Four Oscar nominations for Best Picture go to films with disability connections” (The Times of Israel, 1/26/17)
- “Inclusion success at Union Temple in Brooklyn” (The Times of Israel, 10/21/16)
- “Wisdom and inclusion from Rabbi Goodman and Union Temple” (The Times of Israel, 10/8/16)
- “Successful Disability Inclusion at CSAIR” (The Times of Israel, 10/5/16)
- “Park Slope Jewish Center & Jewish Inclusion” (The Times of Israel, 9/25/16)
- “Synagogue Inclusion: Success at Park Avenue Synagogue” (The Times of Israel, 9/15/16)
- “Gov. Jack Markell: America’s Jewish Governor” (The Times of Israel, 9/3/16)
- “School Solutions for Jewish Children with Disabilities” (The Times of Israel, 6/10/16)
- “Tips for parents of Jewish children with disabilities” (The Times of Israel, 9/8/15)
- “Jews, ADA and Disability Rights” (The Times of Israel, 7/21/15)
- “Jews, people with disabilities, and “others” should never be targets” (The Times of Israel, 4/17/15)
- “Israel and Disability Issues” (The Times of Israel, 4/5/15)
- “RespectAbility named one of America’s Most Innovative Organizations” (10/20/14) – Slingshot includes RespectAbility in A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation ’14-‘15
- “RespectAbility Celebrates 1st Anniversary of Jewish Inclusion Work for Jews with Disabilities” (7/9/14) – Overview of what we accomplished in our first year, as well as plans for the future
- “Jewish Activists Unite for RespectAbility: The D.C.-based non-profit organization empowers people with disabilities” (Tablet, 8/5/13) – Article about the launch of RespectAbility, with a focus on Jennifer Laszlo-Mizrahi and Donn Weinberg
General Inclusion
- Jewish Disability Inclusion at Chabad – This page has essays and articles written by people with disabilities, family and community members, as well as how-to guides developed by the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative (RCII) to provide the tools to successfully include people with disabilities.
- “Union for Reform Judaism and Ruderman Family Foundation Deepen Partnership On Disabilities Inclusion Work” (Union for Reform Judaism, 3/21/17) – A new focus for the Ruderman Synagogue Inclusion Initiative
- “The Faces of Tomorrow” (eJewish Philanthropy, 2/2/15) – The importance of including Jews with disabilities in Jewish society, which requires a huge change from the norm
- “Success Story: Man with a Disability to Give Thousands to Charity” (Jewish Week, 5/14/14) – Article about philanthropist Jonah Selber, who has received services from JCHAI (Judith Creed Homes for Adult Independence)
- “KC killing was an attack on us all” (4/15/14) – Reaction towards the hate crime at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City
- “Hate crimes, bomb threats, anxiety and people with disabilities” (Jewish Journal, 3/15/14) – Key issues and steps in case your organization received a bomb threat and/or is the target of a hate crime
- “The List: Biggest Inclusion Plays and Players of 2013” (Jewish Week, 01/02/2014) – A list of accomplishments on the inclusion of Jews with disabilities in 2013
- “Ruderman Family Foundation is funding the new Chalutzim” (Times of Israel, 12/11/13) – Training on including Jews with disabilities for American-Jewish leaders. Supported by the Ruderman Family Foundation
- “Embracing Those with Disabilities” (eJewish Philanthropy, 11/18/13), Jewish leaders increasingly see the importance of welcoming Jews with disabilities
- “Needed: A National Strategy for Including Jews With Special Needs” (Jewish Week, 7/11/12) – The importance of including people with disabilities in Jewish society
Do you know other people or nonprofit organizations that should be included as a resource?
Contact our Communications Associate, Eric Ascher, at EricA@RespectAbility.org.
