Faith and Spirituality

Leah Ilana Craig

“You know, Ilana,” my friend Cat said to me in one of many long-distance conversations, “You’re so kind and loving to everyone but yourself.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. How many times have I heard similar remarks from therapists over the years, or the oft repeated reminder to practice self-compassion, advice I would heap onto on my friends with genuine care and the best of intentions, somehow thinking I’m immune to such advice? Everyone is worthy of lovingkindness, of chesed, of course. Except me. Maybe it’s the old anorexic voice in the back of my head rearing her ugly head, maybe a dozen other reasons I could come up with on the spot. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s an unwillingness to embrace the many sides of myself, to shed my own internalized ableism and give myself the care I deserve. [continue reading…]

On Sunday I was waiting to pick up my grandsons, Eli and Isaac, from Hebrew school at our synagogue. I listened as their classes were practicing the Four Questions in the sanctuary. Like their dad and their uncles before them, they would officially lead the Four Questions at our seders this year!

The passage of time and attention to inclusive Jewish practices have focused on the creation of accessible haggadot and Passover materials. These remarkable resources, developed by educators and inclusion practitioners, appeal to the diversity of knowledge acquisition, leading to participation and a sense of belonging for people with disabilities of all ages.

What is so important about inclusive materials and programs is that they are meant for all people to use. The resources listed below were developed to include everyone at our seder tables, and provide just a snapshot of what is available. Wishing you a joyful Passover! [continue reading…]

Every year, as spring comes and the boxes of matzah appear on grocery store shelves, my social media feed fills with reminders to start cleaning early. Memes about flourless treats abound, pictures of the perfect Seder plate crop up, and my stomach twists into knots.

Our cycle of holidays is a back and forth of feasts and fasts, giving rise to the old mantra, “they tried to destroy us, they failed, let’s eat!” While I deeply enjoy many of these holidays, I must admit that I feel less than thrilled about Pesach, especially when compared to the others.

This stems from the fact that there is no easy way for me to walk into a Seder, be it hosted by a friend or my community, and admit my uncomfortable truths. I have struggled with anorexia and other eating disorders since elementary school and, despite five plus years of recovery, the Seder table feels less like a symbol of liberation and more a personification of my neuroses around food. [continue reading…]

RespectAbility’s message testing shows us that, in general, people prefer a message that says that we are a stronger community when we are welcoming, diverse, and respect one another, and that everyone should have an equal opportunity to fully participate in our community. 87 percent of respondents in our 2021 survey of the Jewish community felt that this message was highly persuasive, while only 27 percent felt that a message that promoted inclusion because it was commanded by the Jewish tradition was most powerful.

However, one of the great things about Jewish law is that, with the possible exception of the Holiness code, our laws make sense. After almost 25 years of learning the Jewish teachings on disability, I can safely say that the Rabbinic approach is premised on the notion that everyone should have an equal opportunity to participate. Therefore, these are not actually 2 separate messages, but the same message.

For me, this highlights one of the challenges that I’ve noted throughout my decades of Jewish inclusion work. Because people don’t always know what Judaism has to say about disability, many think that disability inclusion is a topic separate from, if not foreign to, a Jewish worldview. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. [continue reading…]

Survey of 222 Jews in the NYC community shows progress, while identifying areas in need of continued improvement

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New York, NY, April 1 – In a recently released major survey of 2,321 Jewish individuals nationwide, RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization that fights stigmas and advances opportunities so people with disabilities can participate fully in all aspects of community, in partnership with UJA Federation of New York, surveyed 222 members of the New York City Jewish community. This allowed a deep look into disability inclusion in NYC, as well as a strong and meaningful comparison to the national numbers. Of the 222 respondents from New York City, 171 either personally have a disability or have a close disability connection. The survey demonstrates that Jewish communal organizations are making strong progress toward building a more inclusive community for people with physical, sensory, mental health and other disabilities.

The data showed that 66 percent of NYC area Jewish respondents felt the Jewish community was “better” at “including people with disabilities” compared to five years ago. Only one percent felt that the community was doing “somewhat worse.” [continue reading…]

Matan Koch

It was probably 20 or more years ago that I first heard the words “please rise if you are able” while sitting in a service. While there are obvious flaws in this construction, not the least of which being the express exclusion of those, who, like me, might not be able to rise in the traditional sense of standing, the phrase was revolutionary to me. For the first time, I was sitting in a service, and I no longer had to feel awkward as the noncompliant one.

Now, I know, and knew even as a young man, that I did not have a halachic obligation to stand. And yet, the overt sense that there was no place for me in the choreography of the service created great discomfort. [continue reading…]

“Do not curse the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind” – Leviticus 19:14

Ariel Gold

This quote was the initial inspiration for Ariel Gold’s pursuit of the question, “What does the Hebrew Bible have to say about disabled people and disability?” In her essay, “Judaism and Disability: The Hebrew Bible as a Basis for Advancing Disability Rights, Justice, and Activism,” Gold examines the Torah and related commentary to make a case for Judaism’s potential to radically include disabled people.

Throughout her analysis, Gold emphasizes the more positive representations of disability in the Torah. Gold acknowledges that there also are disparaging portrayals of people with disabilities throughout the Torah, but she writes that the text “offers what can be described as a relatively––and perhaps even surprisingly––comprehensive approach to matters concerning the disability community.” She discusses examples, ranging from the prohibition against priests with “blemishes” in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to biblical hero Moses’ apparent speech impediment, to support her argument that the Torah provides a foundation for inclusion and accessibility within the Jewish community and elsewhere. [continue reading…]

Graciano Petersen

I am excited to introduce Graciano Petersen, RespectAbility’s new Senior Director for Training, Culture, and Leadership Development and my new boss! Graciano has over 13 years of adult education experience and is passionate about interweaving his background in education and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). Graciano’s experience in developing and educating leaders ideally positions him to oversee RespectAbility’s Apprenticeship Program and National Disability Training & Speakers Bureau. A strong ally of the Jewish community, Graciano will bring his expertise to overseeing my work with the LA Jewish Speakers Bureau.

Thanks to a Cutting Edge grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Los Angeles, we are expanding the LA Jewish Speakers Bureau. We have the opportunity to recruit 10 Jews in Los Angeles with disabilities and train them to be speakers. We will book these speakers two speaking engagements each and pay them for their time.

These engagements will open the minds of the LA Jewish community to the potential of Jews with disabilities and show Jewish organizations the value of having people with disabilities in their membership, on their board and as part of their staff. The grant also allows RespectAbility to serve as a resource to the LA Jewish community in its efforts to increase capacity for disability inclusion through consulting and training.

If you or someone you know may be interested in becoming a speaker on RespectAbility’s LA Jewish Speakers Bureau contact JakeS@RespectAbility.org.

Leah Ilana Craig

The first time I fainted in synagogue, no one was caught more by surprise than me.

It was 2017 and I was freshly discharged from treatment for anorexia and bulimia. I was already deep in relapse, and even deeper in denial. I’m not the type of person who likes to draw attention to myself, and the caring concern of the rabbi who offered me water and candy to get my blood sugar up felt like too much. I would rather not be perceived, thank you. Needless to say, I felt embarrassed as I stumbled between benches at an outdoor summer Kabbalat Shabbat service, the grass tilting towards me and my vision darkening.

Not long after, I found myself at a residential treatment center across the country, starting a new life, at a new shul. “No one at IKAR needs to know about my illness,” I thought. I would hide in the back and stay shy. But my new shul wasn’t having any of it. [continue reading…]