Ruderman Summit Gives Voice to Disabled
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NOVEMBER 2, 2017 – 13 CHESHVAN, 5778 JEWISHVOL 42, NO 6 JOURNALJEWISHJOURNAL.ORG Ruderman Summit gives voice to disabled By Shelley A. Sackett Although the foundation – which JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT has offices in Boston and Israel – has a global reach, it has invested Over 1,000 attendees will more than $20 million in strategic have the opportunity to hear multiyear initiatives in the Metro 50 speakers address ways to Boston area. These programs touch open doors for people with dis- the lives of people of all ages with all abilities when the Ruderman types of disabilities. Family Foundation holds its On the North Shore, Temple 2017 Inclusion Summit at the Emanu-El in Marblehead and Seaport Hotel & World Trade Congregation Shirat Hayam Center in Boston on Nov. 19 are partners in the Combined and 20. Jewish Philanthropies/Ruderman Among those who will appear Synagogue Inclusion Project, which are disability activist Marlee helps create religious communities Matlin, a Jewish performer who where people of all abilities can fully is the only deaf film star ever participate. The Jewish Community to receive an Academy Award Center of the North Shore also part- for Best Actress in a Leading ners with the foundation to offer a Role for 1986’s “Children of a year-round early childhood educa- Lesser God;” Senator Maggie tion program and an inclusive sum- Hassan of New Hampshire; mer camp that makes a fun experi- Richard Marriott, chairman of ence available to both campers and the Marriott Foundation for staff with disabilities. People with Disabilities; and Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, presents Oscar-winning actress Marlee It doesn’t stop there. The foun- Joyce Banda, former president Matlin with the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion in Tel Aviv earlier this year. dation’s partnerships with CJP and of Malawi. Newton-based Gateways: Access to “These are people who spend Jewish Education provide oppor- time and effort trying to change their community,” “Our approach to disability inclusion is very holis- tunities for children with disabilities in kindergarten said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family tic and includes all aspects of life, from birth to death: through grade 12 to receive a Jewish education in an Foundation. entertainment, education, employment, housing, inclusive community. The Morton E. Ruderman schol- For over a decade, the foundation’s philanthropic sports, politics, and more,” Ruderman said. “The pur- arship helps defray the cost of both school-based and mission has emphasized both advocacy for the inclu- pose of the summit is to convene the movers and shak- ancillary services for students with physical and emo- sion of people with disabilities worldwide and educating ers in all these fields to share best practices and network. tional challenges. The goal of both programs is to main- Israeli leaders on the American Jewish community. This We want to amplify the momentum of the disability stream students with disabilities in Jewish educational is the second Inclusion Summit, and Ruderman expects rights movement so that it can have a more prominent programs. the conference to sell out. presence in mainstream American culture.” continued on page 22 A son’s ballad of a Green Beret Area Jews ask: Why would a church show an anti-Semitic movie? By Seth Gitell By Deahn Leblang With the broadcast of Ken Burns’ JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT PBS documentary, “The Vietnam War” and the publication of books on MARBLEHEAD – Despite the Battle for Hue and singer Barry an outcry from hundreds Sadler, Vietnam suddenly reentered of North Shore and Boston the public’s con- Jews, including promi- sciousness this year nent religious leaders, the – after many years of Unitarian Universalist FIRST being buried deep in Church of Marblehead will PERSON America’s collective air the controversial docu- memory. mentary The Occupation The documentary of the American Mind this resonated with me because our family Sunday, at its Marblehead has its own Jewish Vietnam story. My congregation. father, Gerald Gitell, a Special Forces The film, produced combat officer in Vietnam, died the in part by UMass- night of Veterans Day. Before he Amherst Department of died, he recognized that he suffered Communication Professor Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters narrates the controversial from what is now referred to as Post Sut Jhally and narrated by film, “The Occupation of the American Mind.” Traumatic Stress Disorder, and on that Pink Floyd co-founder Roger very last night of his life, he watched Waters, posits that Israel has “infiltrated” American media to the extent that all US an HBO documentary on the affliction Gerald Gitell media coverage on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is biased, and anti-Palestinian. narrated by James Gandolfini called The news of the planned screening was met with disappointment by some “Wartorn.” members of the Jewish community. “The movie is anti-Israel and it is one-sided,” continued on page 11 continued on page 20 The Jewish Journal is a nonprofit newspaper supported by generous readers, committed advertisers and charitable organizations. Email [email protected]. 2 THE JEWISH JOURNAL – JEWISHJOURNAL.ORG – NOVEMBER 2, 2017 Scholarship will honor ‘Richie Clayman from Chelsea’ well-dressed, eager to lend an ear, and sharp in the courtroom. The son of a pharmacist, he was one of the youngest residents ever elected to the Chelsea School Committee in 1971. After law school, he opened a law office with Richie Voke, a former House majority leader. He served as legal counsel in several high profile cases, rep- resenting Theodore Landsmark, an African-American who was attacked with an American flag during an anti-busing protest near Boston City Hall in 1976; and the siblings of Charles Stuart, who jumped off the Tobin Bridge after being Richie Clayman, center, at a press conference in 1990. accused of killing his wife in establish the scholarship, along Emanuel, and he always seemed 1990. with her father’s brother, Steve, to be talking about rachmones, Kate and Richie Clayman For Kate, Richie Clayman and some of his friends. “He or compassion, in Yiddish. was the best father a child could was everything to me: my best “To me rachmones meant ike so many Jews who grew when family, friends, and col- have. “I’ve always felt like I hit friend, my confidant … we my dad,” said Kate. “He embod- up on the hardscrabble leagues announce the first the lottery having him as my spoke easily 10 times a day, the ied rachmones, and he centered Lstreets of Chelsea, Richie Richard I. Clayman Scholarship, dad,” said Kate, who helped conversation would go some- his life around that. He said to Clayman wore his love for his which will be given to a deserv- thing like this, ‘You all right? You me all the time, ‘You’ve got to city and his family on his sleeve. ing Suffolk Law School student. need anything?” help people, you’ve got to be Whether he was walking down “My dad had such a love and While she was in elemen- good to people.’” his hometown’s Broadway, passion for the city of Chelsea, tary school, her father would Kate seems to always be meeting a judge in court, or on and he worked so hard to give place his business card in with thinking about her father. She a beach in Aruba, he’d offer up people – specifically, a lot of her lunch every day, and on named her daughter Chelsea, his hand and announce, “I’m kids – opportunities, so in this the back he would write “Dada and her son’s middle name is Richie Clayman from Chelsea.” case we were able to identi- loves you.” When she worked as Clay. On Nov. 8, she’ll beam Clayman was 65 when he fy a student from Chelsea for a waitress, he visited her during when his spirit will return and died in 2013 after a bout with the first scholarship,” said Kate every shift she worked. And on lots of Richie Clayman stories cancer, but has not been for- Clayman, Richie’s daughter, her first day as a lawyer in the will be told once again. gotten by his family and close who was raised and still lives district attorney’s office, Richie The tales will be irreverent, friends. Clayman, who offered in Swampscott. She followed waltzed into court, strolled to kind, funny, and filled with legal advice to anyone who her father’s footsteps and went the bar, and asked her if she was a sense of honesty about a asked and spent much of his to Suffolk Law and became an OK, before leaving her with a Chelsea kid who never forgot life giving back to his beloved attorney. good luck kiss. his roots, and the people he Chelsea, graduated from Suffolk Hard by the Tobin Bridge, He also wore his Judaism on loved. Law School in 1972. On Nov. 8, old-timers remember Clayman his sleeve, said Kate. He was he will be honored once again as a Chelsea guy who was always Clayman president of Chelsea’s Temple – Steven A. Rosenberg Don't Miss Out On The Greatest Disability Inclusion Event Of The Year! over 1,000 Days2 Attendees Top50 Speakers November 19th & 20th, 2017 Boston, MA Register Today at inclusion2017.org #Inclusion2017 @RudermanFdn THE JEWISH JOURNAL – JEWISHJOURNAL.ORG – NOVEMBER 2, 2017 3 Shirley Ave says farewell to its shul PHYLLIS LEVIN hortly before 9 on Tues- on day morning, they lugged REAL ESTATE Sa lectern out on to Shirley GOT QUESTIONS? Avenue in Revere and began to say goodbye to the last remnant Even if you’re not ready to buy or sell a of what was once one of the home right now, you might be curious about most thriving Jewish communi- your possibilities.