Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Shabbat

Congregation Beth EmethHerndon, VirginiaFebruary 19, 2021

Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Disability Awareness and Inclusion Shabbat. I hope that you will not only enjoy the slides that are following but perhaps you will learn something you did not already know. I certainly did as I prepared this program.

A special thank you goes to everyone who agreed to take part in tonight’s service. You are what is going to make it extra special. As most of you know I have a daughter with multiple disabilities. She is not with us tonight as due to COVID restrictions she is quarantined at her Jewish Group Home. Ever slide that I created has a little bit of Amy in it as she is always in my heart and on my mind.

Thank you also to Rabbi Mina Goldsmith who gave me the freedom to express myself artistically in this Shabbat Program.

Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion should not be limited to one Shabbat a year or even one month a year. CBE will be hosting another Shabbat program for Disability Awareness and Inclusion on March 12. I hope this will be the beginning of understanding what awareness and inclusion is and how we must incorporate it into our everyday synagogue life.

In recent years, more individuals and communities have been working to make sure that people with a wide range of disabilities are welcomed as members of Jewish communities. This blessing is intended to be said by those who are doing this work.

God of our ancestors, support me as I take on this work of creating and supporting holy communities. May my words and actions help to create an open, inclusive, accessible, and welcoming Jewish world.

Redeemer, may I continue to be a part of communities that value the gifts of each individual and that respect the challenges that each individual faces. Guide me as I work to create space where each unique person feels comfortable and seen, and where differences are seen as a blessing.

ותברו� אתה אדני משנה הבריBaruch ata adonai mishneh ha'briot.Thank you, God, for making Your creations varied.

For boys, the introductory line is:May you be like Ephraim and Menashe.ישימ� א�הים כאפרים וכמנשהYesimcha Elohim k’Ephraim v’chi-Menashe.

For girls, the introductory line is:May you be like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.ישימ� א�הים כשרה רבקה רחל ולאה

Read by Emily Schuman and Family

FYI: 60 years later Itzhak Perlman returned to the same stage where he performed on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' as a 13-year-old child prodigy to perform again in 2018

Psalm 96Shiru ladonai shir chadash

Page 5 of our Kabbalat Shabbat Booklet

Artist David Ashkenazi sells his art online at https://buyforgood.biz

Page 6 of our Kabbalat Shabbat booklet

Psalm 97 Or zaru-la-tzadikLight is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright…..

Psalm 98Zamru la-AdonaiSing to Adonai to the music of the lyre:

Read by Michael Appelbaum (because it’s tradition)

Michael and Rabbi Mina 2017

Page 7 of our Kabbalat Shabbat BookletRom-mu Adonai Eloheinu

Page 8 of our Kabbalat Shabbat BookletPsalm 29 – Mizmore l’David

Some famous people with Asperger’s. Don’t be surprised:

Dan Aykroyd (actor)Susan Boyle (singer)Tim Burton (Movie Director)Bill Gates (Co-founder of Microsoft)Temple Grandin (Animal scientist)Daryl Hannah (actress and environmentalist)James Taylor (musician)Steve Jobs (cofounder of Apple)Chris Pakham (naturalist, TV presenter)Michael Burry (physician, investor and hedge fund manager – Movie the Big Short based on him)Satoshi Tajiri (creator of Pokemon)Alix Generous (neuroscientist)Stephen Fry (actor)Clay Marzo (professional surfer)Courtney Love (actress, musician)Sir Anthony Hopkins (actor)Mozart (musician)Greta Thunberg (activist)Andy Kaufman (comedian)Alfred Hitchcock (rumored)Robin Williams (rumored)

Read by Denise and Dan Moldover

Page 10 of our Kabbalat Shabbat Booklet

Mizmore shirHow great are your deeds, Adonai!Your thoughts are very deep.The ignorant one does not know, nor does the fool understand this.The wicked may spring up like the grass, and the workers of iniquity flourish, only to be destroyed forever.

But you, Adonai, shall be exalted, shall be exalted forever.

Transverse myelitis is an inflammation of both sides of one section of the spinal cord. This neurological disorder often damages the insulating material covering nerve cell fibers (myelin). Transverse myelitis interrupts the messages that the spinal cord nerves send throughout the body.

Read by David Markovich

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing.He lays me down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters.He revives my soul; He directs me in paths of righteousness for the sake of His Name.Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff-they will comfort me.You will prepare a table for me before my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup is full.Only goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord for many long years.

North American immigrant with autism joins Israeli military

Help us, Adonai our God, to lie down peacefully and then wake us again as new. Spread over us Your shelter of peace and guide us with Your good advice. Help us for Your own sake and be like a shield around us in the shadow of Your wings, for You are our compassionate Ruler. “Guard us as we come and go so that we may live peacefully and forever. Praised are you, Adonai, Who spreads a shelter of peace over us and Jerusalem

Read by hcseL eilseLLeslie Lesch

After Shabbat look up Lt. Doron Almogand read his story. It is truly encouraging and fascinating.

“”

Page 19 in our Kabbalat Shabbat Booklet Mi Shebeirach Prayer

In 2018–19, the number of students ages 3–21 who received special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.1 million, or 14 percent of all public school students. Among students receiving special education services, 33 percent had specific learning disabilities.

Most babies are born healthy and without disability. In about 1 in 25 pregnancies, an unborn baby has a chromosomal anomaly or other condition that leads to disability. These conditions and disabilities vary a lot, from mild to severe.

Hatzi Kaddish and the Amidah on pages 20-28

Page 33 in our Kabbalat Shabbat Service

KADDISH SHALEM

ALEINU – Our Uniqueness and our Universal Hopes

PAGE 37 and page 38 in our Kabbalat Shabbat Service

I was born almost completely blind, 150 years after Louis Braille’s creation. My parents didn’t know much about blindness, but they quickly committed themselves to two things: ensuring that their older daughter and I would both love to read, and providing both of us with a strong foundation in Jewish traditions and values. During my preschool years, I spent four days a week at a local preschool for blind children, where I learned the English braille code, and I spent one day a week at a Jewish day school, where I learned to recite Jewish blessings by ear.When I was about 7 years old, my parents ordered a braille siddur (prayer book) for me from the Jewish Braille Institute (JBI) in New York. When I went to the synagogue with them, I proudly carried my siddur and tried to read along – but I didn’t yet know the Hebrew braille alphabet.At our synagogue, Hebrew wasn’t taught until the fourth grade, but I begged my parents to teach me so I could participate in services. They didn’t know the code themselves, so they reached out to JBI again and got me a Hebrew braille primer. As it turns out, there is much overlap between the English and Hebrew alphabets in braille, with Hebrew braille written from left to right and only a few new symbols to learn.After I studied my Hebrew primer, I was so excited to go to the synagogue and read all the familiar prayers for myself. Most exciting of all, I could read aloud alongside my family during responsive prayer, and participate in silent meditation.My Jewish education continued, culminating in my bat mitzvah when I was 13. JBI prepared my Torah portion in braille, and I used braille to conduct the service, read from the Torah, and present my prepared d’var Torah. My bat mitzvah experience was identical to that of my sighted classmates.

Arielle Silverman

READ by Shirley Gross

Page 39 and 40 of our KabbalatShabbat Booklet

A Prayer for Our Country

Our God and God of our ancestors, We ask Your blessing for our country – for its government, for its leadersand advisors and for all who exercise just and rightful authority. Teach them insights from Your Torah, that theymay administer all affairs of state fairly, that peace and security, happiness and prosperity, justice and freedom

may forever abide in our midst.

Creator of all flesh, bless all the inhabitants of our country with your spirit. May citizens of all races and creedsforge a common bond in true harmony, to banish hatred and bigotry, and to safeguard the ideals and free institutions that are the pride and glory of our country.

May this land, under your providence, be an influence for good throughout the world, uniting all people in peace and freedom –helping them to fulfill the vision of Your prophet: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they experience war any more” And let us say: Amen

Prayer for the State of IsraelAvinu She-vashshamayim, Rock and Redeemer of the people Israel; Bless the State of Israel, with its promise of redemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the shelter of Your peace. Guide its leaders and advisors with Your light and Your truth. Help them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land. Deliver them; crown their efforts with triumph. Bless the land with peace, and its

inhabitants with lasting joy. And let us say: AMEN.

The Shalva Band is comprised of 8 talented musicians with disabilities and performs to the highest musical standards by invitation at cultural venues and dignitary events throughout the year. Inspiring crowds with its musical repertoire and charm, the band is one of Shalva’s most celebrated inclusion programs.The band members are employed by Shalvaas musicians and they also study, work, and volunteer in the broader community. Some of them are graduates of Shalva’s rehabilitative programs and their musical talents were discovered and developed through Shalva’smusic therapy program. What began as a unique outlet for talented Shalva program participants in 2005, has developed into a model for cultural inclusion and continues to impact audiences and musicians throughout Israel and beyond. With the band’s growing popularity in Israel, the Shalva Band regularly performs with celebrity artists and at the fore of popular music forums. In addition to being a delightful and inspiring musical experience, the band’s performances shatter attitudinal barriers, causing mesmerized audiences to believe in human potential and dignity.

Join Rabbi Mina in the Kiddush and Ha Motzi

If you would like to hear an encore performance by Shalva Band, wait till the service is over and I will play this final screen for you.