Disability Inclusion Resource Guide for Rabbis
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Yachad / National Jewish www.yachad.org20122013--20142013 Council for Disabilities In conjunction with Hineinu: Jewish Community for People of All Abilities DISABILITY INCLUSION RESOURCE GUIDE FOR RABBIS www.yachad.org Table of Contents Forward ........................................................................................................................................................ 3 Yachad/National Jewish Council for Disabilities ....................................................................................... 3 Disability Inclusion Begins With the Rabbi ............................................................................................ 3-4 Attitudes and Barriers ........................................................................................................................... 3-4 Forming/Supporting Synagoue-based Inclusion Committees .......................................................................5 Disability and Jewish Values ......................................................................................................................5 The Function and Structure of an Inclusion Committee........................................................................ 5-6 Easy Ways to get Your Inclusion Committee Started. ........................................................................... 6-7 Quick, Simple, No-Cost Physical Changes to Your Synagogue .............................................................. 7-8 Organized Outreach to Your Synagogue Community ........................................................................... 8-9 Ritual Accessibility .....................................................................................................................................9 North American Inclusion Month (NAIM) .................................................................................................. 10 Yachad and NAIM ................................................................................................................................... 10 Suggested Synagogue-based Activities for NAIM .................................................................................. 10 Jewish Texts on Inclusion ........................................................................................................................... 11 Crafting a Sermon/D’var Torah on Disability Inclusion ..................................................................... 11-13 Jewish Texts and Important Quotes .................................................................................................. 11-13 Bar Mitzvahs and Disabilites ...................................................................................................................... 10 Inlcusion Activites for Teens ....................................................................................................................... 16 Inclusion Summer & Israel Programs for Children, Teens, Adults ......................................................... 17-18 Contacting Yachad ...................................................................................................................................... 19 Acknowledgements/Hineinu ...................................................................................................................... 20 2 Foreword “A human being mints many coins from the same mold, and they are all identical. But the Holy One, Blessed be G-d, strikes us all from the mold of the first human and each one of us is unique.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) Yachad/National Jewish Council for Disabilities, an agency of the Orthodox Union, is a 6,500- member global organization dedicated to the Inclusion of all Jews with disabilities in every aspect of Jewish life. With numerous offices and chapters across the U.S., Canada, and Israel, Yachad/NJCD offers diverse services including, but not limited to: summer camps; Israel trips; social programming for all ages; social skills development; support services, case management, counseling for individuals, siblings, and families; shabbatonim; educational opportunities and special needs yeshivas; and vocational services. The purpose of the Disability Inclusion Resource Guide for Rabbis, brought to you by Yachad/NJCD, as part of the cross-Movement Heneinu initiative for a more Inclusive Jewish world, of which Yachad is co-founder and a member organization, is to support Orthodox rabbis and lay leadership in their efforts to make their synagogues more inviting to Jews of varying abilities and disabilities via a plethora of no-cost, small, measurable, and easy-to-implement initiatives. The Torah states that each of us is created B’tzelem Elohim, in the image of G-d (Genesis 1:27) and describes the hospitality of Abraham and Sarah welcoming strangers to their home. Yet there are Jews with physical, developmental, emotional, intellectual, mental health, and other challenges that do not have the opportunities to participate in the richness of Jewish life because multiple barriers still exist, largely on the attitudinal level. It is only when attitudinal barriers are directly addressed and acknowledged by rabbis and other synagogue leadership that the synagogue community truly begins to move toward Inclusion. As the community follows the rabbi’s example of active welcoming of persons and families impacted by disabilities, many Jews with diverse abilities and challenges will at last find warmth, welcome, and a sense of belonging to their Jewish community. Historically, people with disabilities have been perceived in light of visible impairments such as physical, communication, and sensory challenges. People can have disabilities that are not visible, including but not limited to autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, executive functioning disorders, and mood and behavioral challenges. Regardless of whether a disability is apparent, one of Judaism’s core tenets is that because each person is unique and that we are all created in the image of G-d, every community is responsible to seek out persons of various abilities and disabilities, and ensure their Inclusion in Jewish communal life. We should meet their needs so they may participate in personally and spiritually meaningful opportunities as full 3 members of the Jewish community, who can contribute to a stronger and more vibrant community.1 We know that more can and must be done to build a more inclusive Jewish community. A remarkably high number of Jews have to, or will have to, overcome some barrier to be included in Jewish life2. We must ensure that our programming, worship, social events, and facilities are accessible to all people with apparent and not-apparent disabilities; our attitude and demeanor is welcoming; and our language is appropriate . Then and only then will all Jews have the opportunity to enjoy their G-d-given place in the Jewish world and enjoy the fruits of meaningful participation in the richness of Judaism.3 1 Text from presentation by Deborah Berman, LCSW, Director of Social Work, Yachad/National Jewish Council for Disabilities to parent groups at Family Shabbaton May 2012. 2 Presentation by Batya Jacob, Director of Education Services, Yachad, National Jewish Council for Disabilities New Jersey Conference for Jewish Educators, 2009. 3 Text from presentation by Deborah Berman, LCSW, Director of Social Work, Yachad/National Jewish Council for Disabilities for presentation at Continuing Education for MSC seminar, 2013. 4 Forming Synagogue-based Inclusion Committees/Initiatives “For my house shall be a house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56:5) People can be faced with a disability at any time. Some may be born with a disability, acquire disability due to an accident or illness, or become disabled to one degree or another due to old age.4 In our Jewish communities, there are people with visible and invisible disabilities whose needs are not being met, whose families feel that they are or might be unwelcome at synagogue, and who are being forgotten, unwittingly ignored, and ultimately pushed out of the Jewish world due to lack of awareness or any organized outreach by synagogues. 5 In order to push the wider Jewish community in a more inclusive direction, there must be a core attitudinal change at the synagogue level, fully endorsed by rabbis, staff, and lay leaders. This may be done most effectively and directly via easy to develop and simple to implement small Inclusion committees in synagogues, whose role it is to create actual and ongoing changes in synagogue life, community planning, and encouraging and supporting related changes in social practices among the congregants. Over time, this change happening concurrently in multitudes of synagogue communities will create a more Inclusive community where no Jew is pushed out of their rightful place in the Jewish world.6 Our Jewish values teach us that each of us is created in G-d’s image and each of us has value. It is our responsibility to ensure that our congregations are welcoming to all persons, regardless of natural variations in abilities.7 Forming a synagogue-based disability Inclusion Committee need not be a huge undertaking and does not require much funding, if any. Committees may be large or small, meet once a month to 4 times per year, be comprised of clergy or be staffed largely by volunteer lay persons. It is entirely up to the synagogue leadership what these committees look like and how wide their scope is. How many members there are depends on the size of the synagogue and level