Wednesday, August 12, 2020 / Views
High Holidays 5781—A Guide for Jews with Disabilities Rabbi Michael Levy © August 2020, Yad Hachazakah—The Jewish Disability Empowerment Center, Inc. Introduction For thousands of years, the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) have drawn us to houses of worship to seek God and plead for His forgiveness. Even in our youngest years, the …Read more >
Tuesday, July 28, 2020 / Views
Happy 30th Anniversary to the ADA!!! Sunday, July 26, 2020, was the 30th anniversary of the signing by President George H.W. Bush of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The disability community and our subcommunities fought long and hard and keep fighting to be recognized, respected and accommodated. I want to share some personal reflections on life before …Read more >
Friday, June 5, 2020 / Views
Dear Friend of Yad HaChazakah, Yad HaChazakah’s mission entails ending prejudice and removing physical, communication, attitudinal, and systemic barriers that prevent people with disabilities from engaging in Jewish community life and Torah learning. In light of the callous murder of George Floyd by police officers, we feel it to be important to affirm our positions against conscious and unconscious bigotry …Read more >
Friday, September 21, 2018 / Views
[Written for Chabad.org, ] As we approach our Creator throughout the month of Elul, coronate Him on Rosh Hashanah and cry out to him during Yom Kippur, we turn increasingly inward to reflect upon who we are and who we’d like to become. We strive to draw closer to G‑d, change for the better, treat everyone with respect, and start …Read more >
Monday, October 10, 2016 / Views
(Written for The Jewish Press‘ Building Blocks Magazine, September 2016) “Special needs” terminology is insidiously poisonous. This euphemism seems innocuous, but, in actuality, it corrodes and undermines the very strides for dignity, respect, and equality for which disability activists have crawled up the U.S. Capitol steps, effected the longest Federal agency sit-in in American history, and undergone arrests for civil …Read more >
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