Jewish Disability Awareness Month- February 2013

  Join a unified effort to raise disability awareness and  support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide

The mission of Jewish Disability Awareness Month is to unite Jewish communities and organizations for the purpose of raising awareness and supporting meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities and their families in every aspect of Jewish life. JRF is also a member religious organization of the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition (IDAC: http://jfactivist.typepad.com/jfactivist/interfaith-disability-advocacy/).

During Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month You Can:

1. Use resources in your community in programming available at  www.jsped.org and http://jrf.org/node/1743
2.  Offer programs on disability awareness in your community
3.  Dedicate a Shabbat worship service to inclusion and the contributions of children and adults who have disabilities
4. Participate in a community-wide disability awareness event such as the showing of “Autistic License” or any of the fine films listed on our website
5. Start a Committee on Inclusion
6. Join the Facebook page celebrating JDAM. Over 1,000 fans are sharing ideas and resources to celebrate diversity within the Jewish community.
7.  Find more ideas assembled by UJA-Federation that have been successful in New York synagogues –– large and small –– in prior years. This year, for the first time, UJA-Federation will honor exemplary synagogue inclusion efforts with Synagogue Inclusion Awards. Applications received by the Caring Commission reflect the commitment and care that many of you give to assure the ability of all to contribute to and take part in Jewish life. We look forward to sharing the results with you so that our community of synagogues, along with New York Jewish agencies, can continue to grow from strength to strength.

   The Jewish Special Education International  Consortium is a professional network of directors, coordinators and administrators of Jewish special education services in Central Agencies for Jewish Education and/or Inclusion of People with Disabilities and is affiliated with JESNA.

    “Do not curse the deaf nor put stumbling blocks before the blind.” Leviticus (19:14) 

   The value of awareness months in general and disability awareness in particular, the fact that the Holocaust began with the Nazi T4 program of forced sterilization (and eventually murder) of individuals with disabilities, how religion in general has dealt with disability  and on a more personal note how Jewish culture and community  approach disability.

     The MeShaneh HaBriyot, a lesser known brachah, is traditionally said when you encounter a person with a disfigurement or disability.  It  translates as  Blessed are…..”who varies the forms of his creatures"  an alternative updated translation reads  … "who makes her people different"  (Talmud Brachot 58b).  The Talmud explains this uniqueness and the sanctity of human difference saying  that “Humans stamp out many coins with one die, and they are all alike, but the King, the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed Be, stamped each person with the seal of Adam, and not one of them is like their fellow. Therefore each and every one is obliged to say, ‘For my sake the world was created.’”  (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5).   As with other brachot, the  MeShaneh HaBriyot provides us with a moment between thought and action to be reflective and intentional.  In this case mindful of our reactions to difference and  how  they  shape our relationships and community.  It is also a reminder of the  value of difference and the reality that we each create (or remove)  the metaphorical barriers represented by "stumbling blocks before the blind"  and "cursing the deaf" noted in Leviticus.  Scott Lisner, member of The Little Minyan, Columbus, OH and Americans With Disabilities Act Coordinator for The Ohio State University

8. For those interested in accessible Israel trips see Israel4All  http://www.israel4all.com/