When you see a parent with a child who has a cognitive and/or physical disability at your supermarket, playground or synagogue, how do you react? Do you look away or make eye contact? Do you smile and say hello—or move away from them quickly? In the last decade, our synagogues, JCCs, camps and schools have…
(JTA) — Oscar-winning Jewish actress Marlee Matlin is being honored by the Ruderman Family Foundation for her activism on behalf of people with disabilities. Matlin, who is deaf, will be recognized with the annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, the foundation announced Wednesday in a statement. The actress, who serves as a spokeswoman for…
Judaism values inclusion. Yet, according to a study conducted in 2013 by RespectAbilityUSA and JerusalemU, most American Jews with disabilities feel excluded from their own gathering places. National Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), created in 2009, was designed to rectify this. As a community, we still have work to do. To that end,…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli synagogues and communities will mark Accessibility Shabbat to call attention to the needs of the disabled community within Jewish tradition and in Jewish institutions. The event this weekend, launched by the Israel-based Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, coincides with International Day of Persons with Disability, marked on Dec. 3. The weekend event will focus on…
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism is launching a new push to help congregations become inclusive of people with disabilities. The initiative, funded by a $375,000 three-year grant from the Ruderman Family Foundation, will involve up to 20 congregations. Each synagogue will assess its current handling of disabilities issues, create an action plan to become…
(JTA) — I have Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements and noises called “tics.” My Tourette’s is relatively mild at this point, but I went through a turbulent adolescence when Tourette’s was the most defining thing about me. Between the constant movements and the loud, uncontrollable noises, it was incredibly disruptive. I now…
For the past several years, February has been Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month, prompting Jewish communal groups to issue statements, hold events and publish blog posts on the topic of more fully welcoming people with disabilities into our community. The month is often a celebration of intent rather than action. In many parts of…
The announcement this week that Mattel is launching a new line of Barbie dolls with “realistic” bodies was greeted with cheers in the feminist community. It was a welcome response to a decades-long struggle against the ubiquitous commercial messages that an ideal woman should have a ridiculous body size and shape – unattainably thin limbs,…
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