For the past few years, the North American Jewish community has declared February to be Jewish Disability Awareness Month. This effort to raise awareness and support for efforts to foster inclusion of people and families with disabilities in Jewish communities across the globe is recognized and supported by all of the Denominations as well as the Federations of North America, the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies, the Religious Action Center and the Jewish Special Education International Consortium.
It is not surprising that there is such universal support for this idea as the value of inclusion and respect for all of God’s creatures is well rooted in our tradition. From the very beginning in Genesis 1:27, we are taught that God made all human beings in God’s image, betzelem elohim, and that we are all inherently holy. Our tradition therefore reminds us that we are not to judge someone by their outward appearance (Avot 4:27), but rather we are to continually strive to treat everyone we meet with respect and dignity. As Rabbi Eliezer teaches, we should continually strive to let other people’s dignity be as precious to us as our own. (Avot 2:15). The Talmud, in tractate Berachot 58b, even says that we are to offer a blessing when we see someone whose physical nature is somehow distinct and looks “different” because everyone, no matter how they appear on the outside, is inherently holy and worthy of blessing.
As we take a moment to reflect upon Jewish Disabilities Awareness month as a congregation, let us use this as an opportunity to explore our own practices when it comes to the inclusion of people with disabilities at Congregation Torat El. Where are we successful and what more could we do? How can we work to ensure that our congregation is one that continually works to value all of God’s creatures? As always, I am open to your thoughts and suggestions and would love to hear your stories about this topic.
For more information on being inclusive towards people with disabilities, check out the following information from United Synagogue:
http://www.uscj.org/cgi-bin/viewcontent.pl?Accessibility7508.html