Faith and Spirituality

Bizchut logo in Hebrew

Bizchut is excited to share a momentous achievement! For the first time workers in sheltered work environments have been granted the same social rights as any other employee!

Such significant change for the rights of people with disabilities in the Israeli labor force is a rare event, especially when it concerns a particularly exploitive, discriminatory, and segregative policy such as sheltered workshops/work centers. These organizations employ people with disabilities in environments that are separate from others, and are usually exempt from labor laws and standards, including but not limited to minimum wage requirements, pension, notice of severance pay, and the right to a hearing before termination. [continue reading…]

Alex Howard is a speaker in RespectAbility’s Disability Training and Speakers Bureau. He is also an alumnus of both our National Leadership Program and our Summer Lab Program for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities. As part of a job application, Alex was charged with writing a letter to himself before receiving his diagnosis of MePan. MePan is a rare mitochondrial disorder – Alex is only 1 of 19 people in the world who has it. The majority of the 19 people are also Jewish and a significant portion of them live in Israel.

Currently, Alex takes comfort in being able to participate in research on how to help people with this disorder. By giving blood, he gets to be in contact with other people who know what he’s going through. He is, however, doubly unique as the only person in the world who has both MePan and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and for most of the first 30 years of his life, he was undiagnosed. This is a letter from current Alex sent to the Alex who was struggling with the unknown. Though he started it for a job application (he is looking for opportunities in the entertainment industry), it has helped him to realize that he really has a unique perspective on life that can be of value to the entertainment industry, which is looking for unique stories. Because October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Alex gave us permission to share the letter in the thought that it might help others to see the value of their uniqueness.

Dear Alex,

I know it seems like life hasn’t ever been easy. Living with an undiagnosed disorder creates a lot of self-doubt. I know you feel like no one really understands what you are going through. I can’t tell you those problems will ever go away, but I can tell you there are things in the future that will make things easier to deal with. [continue reading…]

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). As a regular reader of our Jewish Disability Perspectives newsletter, you know that RespectAbility has been training Fellows to work in the Jewish community and beyond since 2013. In honor of NDEAM, we’ve decided to celebrate some of the professional accomplishments and contributions of some of our amazing alumni. [continue reading…]

Simchat Torah (which translates to Rejoicing with the Torah in English) is a Jewish holiday which occurs at the end of Sukkot. Filled with music, dancing and beautiful imagery, it is a time of celebration that includes reading the end of Deuteronomy, the beginning of Genesis, and dancing in seven traditional Hakafot (circular dances) each with its own blessing and theme. On such a joyous holiday, no one should feel the pain of exclusion, and so we hope you will consider taking some of these steps to make sure that all can celebrate.

Like any noisy and joyous celebration, Simchat Torah can become extremely overwhelming for those who are Autistic or have auditory or sensory processing disorders. Having a designated quiet room for people to step into and decompress away from all the noise is an excellent option to incorporate. Try to make the room a part of the celebration, a cheerful place to be, without being too loud or visually busy. [continue reading…]

Nicole Olarsch

I had not been familiar with Sukkot growing up, as my family did not celebrate and we did not live anywhere near a Synagogue. So the first time I experienced Sukkot was during my undergraduate experience at Hillel. Our assistant director at the time had offered me the task of drawing the Etrog and Lulav as decorations for the Sukkah. While a small task, I was delighted to finally be a part of creating a joyous experience for others. Decorating the Sukkah and enjoying many laughs and meals are experiences that I will forever cherish. [continue reading…]

Joshua Steinberg

Some of the fondest memories I have of Judaism growing up are going to the synagogue to help my father and other members of the community build the Sukkah. I got to spend time with my father and my friends while doing it. As I shared last year, with my disabilities, it took me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin, and my Shul [synagogue] played a major role in helping me to come out of my shell.

Sukkot, the Jewish harvest festival, commemorates the years that the Jews spent wandering the desert, suffering many hardships while building a generation spiritually ready to enter the land of Israel. We celebrate how God protected our people and helped deliver us to the promised land. Sukkah (plural Sukkot) translates roughly to hut, or booth. During Sukkot, we are meant to live in these Sukkahs with roofs made of branches and leaves. We live in these huts, exposed to the world, to remind us that the greatest true security and protection we have comes from God. The holes in the roof also allow us to see up to the heavens. [continue reading…]

I hope that everyone had a lovely Rosh Hashanah, and especially that you were able to find the access that you needed. In fact, if you had an access experience, positive or negative, RespectAbility would love to hear about it. For those still looking for an accessible experience for next week, we have made some additions to our accessible high holiday services list, so please check it out. Also, if you find merit in all of our work, from high holiday accessibility, to resources like the list, to this newsletter, not to mention our amazing work in the world of entertainment and policy to make the world a little bit better place, please consider a visit to our Donate website to make a little New Year’s pledge. [continue reading…]

Nicole Olarsch

As we approach Yom Kippur, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that I have never been able to fast due to my varying health conditions. I’ve had to come to terms with the fact that Yom Kippur will never be a “traditional” day of atonement for me, in the sense of fasting, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t personally come up with ways to engage in self-reflection. I used to feel like I could never atone for my sins, but I still engage in prayer and take moments out of my day to go into a private room and reflect on my actions over the past year. What have I done? How can I improve my actions for this coming year?

A key practice that I’ve found helps my family and friends to include me during these times and ensure that I do not feel guilty for fasting is to acknowledge the fact that “I cannot fast for medical reasons,” and leave it at that. I welcome and encourage questions if people are unsure, but when you look at the grand scheme of things, there isn’t a whole lot that changes for others on Yom Kippur because I cannot fast. It’s important to acknowledge that I am abstaining from a major component of Yom Kippur – fasting. However, just as the Torah commands us to fast to atone for our sins, Judaism and that same Torah also want us to put our wellbeing and safety first. [continue reading…]

Nicole Olarsch

Every year on Yom Kippur, the most solemn Jewish holiday, “sin” and “repentance” are the key words stuck in my head. But for someone who is already experiencing depression and/or other mental illness, these themes can be extremely upsetting and even harmful to think about. For people like me who live with depression, especially when their thoughts are spiraling negatively, thinking about the things that one has done and how they may have harmed others creates even further self-doubt. It can also lead one down a rabbit hole of negative and anxious thoughts.

I can tell you from experience that finding a good mood is hard for me. That’s what depression does. And when I find myself happy and enjoying the world around me, the last thing I should be doing is reflecting upon minor things that my anxiety can spin into something major. It’s not that I don’t care about my Judaism. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. However, I know I need to prioritize my mental health first. That’s why I sit with my prayers and reflect in bits and pieces on Yom Kippur, as to not let things become irrationally overwhelming. [continue reading…]