The Jewish New Year 5,775 has begun and Jews worldwide are
faced with a simple question: Will you be a better person in the coming year?
The 10 Days of Penitence, which culminate with the fast of Yom Kippur, the
holiest day on the Jewish calendar, are days of reflection and introspection on
our deeds over the past year, and looking forward to the new year, we pray it
will be filled with happiness, hope, good health and peace on earth.
During these solemn days, the Jewish custom is to ask
forgiveness from people we have wronged and pledge to do better in our
interpersonal relationships going forward. This should include asking
forgiveness of those we have wronged without being aware of it – those who feel
disenfranchised in our community, those who can’t access the tremendous
opportunities the Jewish community affords its members, those we have prevented
from joining and participating.
I am talking of people with disabilities.
The Jewish community has always been at the forefront of the
social justice and human rights movements. We have made every effort to ensure
that society as a whole is welcoming to everyone and all people have equal
access. Yet our own community has failed to live up to its own lofty standards
and lags behind the rest of society when it comes to including the largest
minority among us.
Twenty percent of the population has some form of
disability. Our community has begun making strides toward being fully inclusive,
but much work remains to be done. If our synagogues are not physically
accessible, if our schools and camps are not inclusive, if our places of
business do not employ people with disabilities, we will simply not survive.
Every Jew can contribute and preventing them from doing so affects us all. Jewish survival is a much discussed and oft-debated topic in
our community.
Recent studies have shown that more and more young Jews are
becoming unaffiliated and are less likely to become members of our synagogues,
attend Jewish schools or camps or be involved in communal activities. If our
very survival is at stake, then we must provide access to every Jew who wants
to participate and leave no one on the outside looking in. Young people view our communal organizations as archaic and
outdated.
Many of them attended schools which are inclusive, a large
swath of them have relatives or friends who have a disability. Inclusion is
considered par for the course, not extraordinary. They are committed to social
justice and human rights. It’s in their DNA as Jews. Yet if Jewish
organizations are not inclusive, they will look elsewhere and devote their time
and energies to other causes. Our entire community needs to be just as
committed to taking the next step and making full inclusion a reality.
In the High Holiday prayers we say, “May we all blend into
one community to do Thy will with a whole heart.” We can never be whole unless we are one community, with
everyone having an equal seat around the table. May each of us work in the New Year to help create a fair
and flourishing Jewish community.
Happy New Year.
By JAY RUDERMAN \
09/28/2014 21:39 | The author is president of the Ruderman Family
Foundation.
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