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Thursday, April 2, 2015 / Views

The Four Sons through a Disability Lens

by Rabbi Michael Levy, Board President   In your mind’s eye, look around at those with whom you have celebrated past Seders. A contemplative girl is full of incisive questions. “How could a respected family in Egypt so quickly become an enslaved nation?  Why was Pharaoh so stubborn?” There’s The Squirmer.  If he doesn’t declare outright that he’d rather not be at …Read more >

Thursday, September 25, 2014 / Views

The RCA: Moving Towards a Mandate

[The following piece appeared on the Ruderman Family Foundation blog on September 16, 2014.] “Check this Out!” appeared in the subject line on an email to me by Rabbi Barry Kornblau, Director of Member Services from the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA). My heart pounding with anticipation, I double clicked the subject line. It was a press release entitled “Disabled …Read more >

Wednesday, September 24, 2014 / Views

“Special” Does Not A Disability Make

By Sharon Shapiro-Lacks, Executive Director Yad HaChazakah – JDEC (Published in the “Building Blocks” supplement of The Jewish Press, June 28, 2013.) As a woman who has lived with Cerebral Palsy all my life, I pay close attention to the terminology that is applied to people with disabilities. Words such as “invalid,” “cripple,” “dumb,” or “retard” have always hurt me …Read more >

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 / Views

Reflections on Reelablities at Yad HaChazakah

Reflections on Reelablities at Yad HaChazakah by Lynne Cassouto, Board Treasurer On Sunday, March 9, 2014, Yad HaChazakah-The Jewish Disability Empowerment Center participated in the Sixth Annual Reelabilities Film Festival, screening four compelling and thought provoking films in our Brooklyn offices. The films were presented in two sessions, each consisting of one short and one feature-length film, followed by Q …Read more >

Monday, May 13, 2013 / Views

Finding Our Way to Sinai

Finding Our Way to Sinai By R. Michael Levy, Board Member of Yad HaChazakah and Director of Travel Training, NYCT During our seven-week journey towards receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, our tradition has challenged us to deepen our Torah learning, and to purify our character through the mystical power of counting the Omer.  Rabbi Moshe Weinberg suggests another type …Read more >

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