What page are we on? How much longer does the service last? Just as my body signaled for urgent rest, the Shofar blasted. “Truah!” Those first notes remind me that I want to be heard by my Jewish community. Not just as someone who’s disabled, but as a Holy Fool who has the knowledge you [click to continue...]
1) Before you brainstorm solutions, STOP & ask a load of questions! Remember, behavior is always communication. It is a way for kids, teens, and even adults to communicate an unmet need. For those with disabilities that impair their ability to communicate, this may be even more prevalent. Sometimes it’s unconscious and sometimes it’s conscious [click to continue...]
There are people in our lives who radiate the warmth and vitality of the sun when we’re in their presence. They are curious about everyone they meet, and they thrive on spreading their wisdom for the good of the world. When you meet one of these treasures, you feel blessed. And when they become your [click to continue...]
As we enter the end of summer (I know–it’s here!), those of us who work in education are turning our attention towards our classroom communities. How do we create inclusive Jewish education communities? At Jewish Learning Venture, our Whole Community Inclusion initiative approaches inclusion holistically, engaging all stakeholders including the educators, the families, clergy and [click to continue...]
Have you ever been at a staff meeting to plan an event, class, service, or project, and one voice spoke clearly at just the right moment: “Have we thought about how this will affect [insert name of particular individual or group you are thinking about]?” Perhaps you have been that voice. In seeking to include [click to continue...]
Being mentored as a student with a disability and mentoring students with disabilities has changed my life. I have always been the student with the learning disabilities and the one being helped when I struggled with various schoolwork and activities. I always wanted to have the same experiences as my classmates and mentors helped me [click to continue...]
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...]
Every September, I wrote a letter to our son Jacob’s teachers. I came across this letter while searching for something else in my overcrowded computer files and I’m glad I did. While Jacob is years past high school, past college, and is working in the IT sector, the letter stands the test of time. As [click to continue...]
As a disabled and neurodivergent student who grew up going to small Christian schools ill-equipped to serve students with disabilities, there are probably many ways in which I wasn’t given the accommodations I needed to excel—accommodations that may well have been met in other local schools. One that comes especially to mind is the realm [click to continue...]
There is a verse that is often quoted by Jewish educators from Proverbs (22:6) which states, “Teach a child according to his way.” This verse reflects the Jewish belief that every child should be educated and raised according to their way. While many schools and various educational settings strive to create inclusive environments, how should [click to continue...]
