RJ Blog

I do not know of any colleague who has not, at one time or another, sat with a family as a loved one neared the end of life. It can be a heart-wrenching, spiritual, troublesome, anxious and fulfilling encounter — all at the same time. Sadly, too many families find themselves alone and adrift in a sea of medical terminology and health care controls. The physician, having tried “the arsenal of medical technology,” may ask what the family wishes to do next. This month’s edition of Atlantic Monthly includes a thought-provoking piece on the need for “The Conversation.” Author Jonathan [...]

It’s May. Can you believe it? Every year it seems to sneak up on me. But here it is. Most synagogues and Jewish professionals are at the point in the year that I typically call the “race to the finish line.” We are busy completing our program years, winding down religious schools and looking toward Shavuot as a point where we might briefly catch our breath; all while planning for next year by finalizing calendars and budgets. We can probably agree that the much anticipated summer months will allow us a chance to regroup, reflect and start it all over [...]

As concerned as we are about economic justice, the American Jewish community has failed to understand, on a gut level, a glaring reality: Adults with disabilities in the U.S. disproportionately experience poverty. According the census bureau, about one in five Americans has a disability. That means 20% of us. Eighty percent of adults with disabilities are unemployed or under employed not because they cannot work, but because they are denied the opportunity to work at jobs they are qualified to do. Employment discrimination makes people poor! With unemployment rates consistently double that of the general population, people with disabilities experience [...]

by Deborah Belsky I started learning Braille Hebrew when I was 9 years old. I was taught by Reverend Harry J. Sutcliffe, a blind Episcopalian minister, who taught Hebrew to many blind students in Brooklyn in the early 1960s. Hebrew Braille is easy because most of the letters have the same dot configuration as English letters. The vowels are other Braille symbols that are not used as consonants, so the Hebrew student learns them in the context of the Hebrew. For example, an “ah” sound is a Braille “C” which is not used in Hebrew. This is close to what [...]

This week, I was contacted by a colleague at another Reform synagogue. She shared that a member of their community is interested in endowing a special education program for their religious school, and she hoped that I might be willing to dream with them a little. She asked me, “What would you do with $30,000? With $50,000?” Wow. First and foremost, just as every child with a disability is unique, so is every synagogue community that seeks to include them.  Therefore, my answer to the question will vary depending upon a number of factors: Do you have an existing program [...]

At NFTY Convention, we presented a program about inclusion of teens on the Autism Spectrum in our NFTY community. We take a moment to reflect on the program and our ongoing initiative.

by Naomi J. Brunnlehrman In celebration of February as Jewish Disability Awareness Month, The Jewish Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Resource Center (JDRC) was asked to share some thoughts about the meaning of this month. As the co-founder of JDRC, I recognize that while everyone has good intentions when highlighting access throughout this month, the reality is that when February is over and the excitement of access has faded, we too often go back to the same Jewish world we lived in before February began. In order for us to envision our Jewish organizations as fully accessible, we first need to change [...]

by Rabbi Robin Nafshi Temple Beth Jacob in Concord, N.H., has a membership of about 210 families. And like all other communities both large and small, a number of our students have physical and/or cognitive disabilities. Our philosophy is to do all we can to provide maximum access for all of our members. One of our religious school students is Jacob, whose mother has said it’s fine to use his real name here. Jacob has detachment disorder, environmental autism, language delay, and rage issues – and he has been in our religious school since kindergarten. At no time have we [...]

Gathering together with family and friends for a Thanksgiving feast of turkey, cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes is a distinctly American way of expressing and experiencing gratitude. Situation comedies, Broadway farces, novels, blog posts and text messages to friends capture and communicate all of the complex emotions that come to the fore when we are forced into intense interaction with family. The more difficult and less comic undercurrent, however, is the anguish we experience when we are asked to feel gratitude when we are grappling with hardship and pain. We may have been displaced from homes by natural disasters or [...]

In a midrash on the opening of this week’s parashah, Vayeira, the rabbis suggest that God pays a visit to Abraham as he lies, recuperating, at the opening of his tent. This first act of bikur cholim establishes a model for our people to see, hear and respond immediately and personally to the suffering of others. During these difficult days, we pray for those stricken by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and for those who have committed themselves to responding to their need. We pray that those who suffer find comfort through their faith in You and through the loving [...]

by Rabbi Marci Bellows I looked down at the podium in front of me. I had led services from this surface myriad times, but it had never before looked like this. Instead of three siddurim (mine, the Bat Mitzvah celebrant’s, and the cantor’s), there were two siddurim and a large document. On the document were little dots that were illegible to me, but to the girl to my right, these raised circles contained the holiest words known to Jews. Though I couldn’t understand, her fingers moved over the Braille words and she was able to read, “Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu [...]

The Talmud teaches that God came to visit Abraham in his time of recovery, and therefore we too are obligated to visit the sick in their time of need (Genesis 18 and BT Baba Metzia 86b.) From this, we learn the mitzvah of caring for and visiting the sick, bikur cholim. “Caring Community” practices are those that help us each of us to feel truly known, cared about, supported and valued. They are based on the development of trusting, positive relationships in which we give and receive care, assistance and acknowledgment during the most difficult and sometimes even during the [...]

Can a congregation create an approach that sees health and wellness as a foundation for programming? For the past year, Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, N.J. has begun to develop a series of programs and approaches, from religious school forward, that speaks to issues of Judaism, health and wellness. Building on work created by the URJ’s then-Department of Jewish Family Concerns, the program was launched with a special Sunday morning program. The agenda included text study and a series of round table discussions on what congregants saw as priorities. A special Health and Wellness Steering Committee met to prioritize [...]

by Sharon Wolman After I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I realized that people did not know how to relate to me. I would be with my husband, and they would ask him how I was doing instead of talking directly to me. I became aware that people did not know what to say. Some people shied away. Some people called my husband at his office. Some people gave me “The Look.” This look says that you pity me, that you feel helpless and don’t know how to relate to me. “The Look” says you have labeled me “victim,” but [...]