RJ Blog

The Foundation for Jewish Camp released preliminary findings last week from their recent research study Jewish Camp for Children with Disabilities and Special Needs, which maps current, potential, and desired camp program opportunities for children with disabilities/special needs. The study paints an encouraging picture of the field of Jewish camping, highlighting a variety of models that successfully provide meaningful Jewish camp experiences to children with diverse needs. The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Camp and Israel Programs are committed to providing a positive Reform Jewish summer experience to all children, including those with special needs. The FJC study found that [...]

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 [...]

“Special education is good education.” Have you heard that before? Some might even feel that this has become a cliché.  It doesn’t matter, really, because it is true. Do you find yourself eager to believe it but struggling to make it a reality? Here are some strategies: All students benefit from a multi-sensory approach to learning.  This is exactly what it sounds like; an approach to education that engages all of the senses. Some of us learn best by listening, some through reading. Some of us need to write something down to commit it to memory, others won’t remember well [...]

By Rabbi Lynne Landsberg In Berachot (34b), the Talmud teaches that a synagogue must be built with windows in the sanctuary. I believe this is so we can see who is outside and unable to join us. As Jews, we have to maintain “mental windows” everywhere so that we understand that those whom we refer to as “shut-ins” are not shut-in. They are cruelly shut out of the life many of us take for granted. We have to begin by helping our larger communities understand that we Jews have to change our attitudes. There is a saying in the disability community that [...]

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 [...]

This is one eventful weekend! We have the start of Black History Month, Groundhog Day, the Super Bowl, and to top it all off, the first weekend of Jewish Disability Awareness Month. How will we possibly survive all the excitement? What were they thinking when they planned all of this for just a few short days? Luckily, Jewish Disability Awareness Month gets to spread the love all month long. And, lucky for you, I’ll choose not to overload you today with a blog post packed with 4 events, but just focus instead on one (can you guess which?). If you [...]

This post first appeared as an op-ed in JTA on December 9. The sages of the Talmud had a debate about how we are to light the Chanukah menorah: Should we begin with eight candles and remove one each night, or begin with one and add through the holiday? After hearing different views, it was resolved that we must add a light each night to grow in holiness. So, too, must we increase in holiness in all aspects of our lives. Just as it was found to be unacceptable to take away Chanukah candles, it is incumbent on us to advance [...]

Today millions of Americans will join together to celebrate Veterans Day. This contemporary American holiday grew out of Armistice Day and commemorates the ending of World War I on November 11th, 1919. As we remember this day, when the nations of the world agreed to lay down their weapons and begin the long project of building peace, we as a country must turn our attention to the struggles that confront our veterans after our wars are over. As President Obama noted in his Veterans Day address yesterday, “Today marks the first time in nearly a decade that our American troops [...]