{"id":294159,"date":"2010-02-08T15:45:05","date_gmt":"2010-02-08T20:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogs.rj.org,2010:\/rac\/\/2.2430"},"modified":"2010-02-08T21:39:17","modified_gmt":"2010-02-09T02:39:17","slug":"movements-collaborate-to-raise-disability-awareness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/294159","title":{"rendered":"Movements Collaborate to Raise Disability Awareness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JDAM<\/span>Shelly Christensen is the Chair of the Disability Task Force and Program Manager of the Jewish Community Inclusion Program for People with Disabilities, a program of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Minneapolis.<\/i><\/p>\n

Almost nine years ago, when I began my career in the field of Jewish disability advocacy, I called a local synagogue to tell them about my program, the Minneapolis Jewish Community Program for People with Disabilities<\/a>. I wanted to schedule an appointment with the rabbi to talk about my program and to discuss the kinds of challenges his congregation had. When I explained my purpose, the administrator on the other end chuckled, and said, “Well, that’s wonderful, but you see, we have no people with disabilities.”<\/p>\n

Would it surprise you to learn that I am speaking next Shabbat to that congregation for Jewish Disability Awareness Month<\/a>?<\/p>\n

At some point, everyone comes to the realization that there are Jews with disabilities. It takes some longer than others, but the conditions are almost always the same: A congregant has disclosed a disability, and the congregation isn’t sure how to deal with it. <\/p>\n

But the truth is that we don’t have to have all the answers, and we don’t have to “fix” a situation. Somehow, we have acquired the notion that it’s rude or impolite to ask
\nthe person what we could do to provide access – as if asking the
\nperson with a disability how to do that would offend them. There is the small matter of asking someone what they need; most likely, they will tell you.<\/p>\n

Until that happens, many of us remain so uncertain about what to do
\nthat, to the person asking for accommodations, it can often seem as
\nthough the synagogue just isn’t going to do it. The most important idea
\nhere is collaboration, a brain trust composed of people from the
\norganization and the person who has a disability, or, if that person is
\na child, his or her parent(s). Building a trusting relationship and
\nworking together to create appropriate accommodations and modifications
\nare two very important reasons to collaborate.<\/p>\n

We have applied the principals of collaboration and
\npartnership to Jewish Disability Awareness Month in its second year. All four major Jewish movements – Union for Reform Judaism<\/a>, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism<\/a>, the Orthodox Union through Yachad: The National Jewish Council for Disabilities<\/a> and the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation<\/a> – have committed to support raising awareness during the month of February and beyond. The result is a
\nwell-rounded effort to promote inclusion of people with disabilities
\nusing the many resources that are available on the websites and through
\nthe organizational professional staff and lay leaders.<\/p>\n

The Jewish community would be remiss if we did not collaborate and partner
\nthrough information and resource sharing, and even through joint
\nprogramming on a number of local levels. Our individual efforts toward Jewish
\nDisability Awareness Month would be considerably diminished if the
\nmovements did not simultaneously support this month-long event. We are
\nmuch more effective when we are all speaking together and generating
\nprogramming and shared resources. We are able to combine the strengths
\nof each organization, the materials they publish and the programs they
\nsupport to provide better access to Judaism for people with
\ndisabilities and their families, and to the synagogues, camps and
\norganizations that serve them.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit: <\/p>\n