Removing the Barriers

by Joanne Palmer

MARCH 2008 – Of course, there are very many selfless reasons to make Jewish life as inclusive as possible.

There are halakhic, moral, and theological reasons to ensure that every Jew is treated as part of the Jewish community. As the mission statement of United Synagogue’s Commission on Inclusion of People with Disabilities says, “Our Jewish values teach us that each of us is created in God’s image and each of us is to be valued.” The Torah teaches us that we are not to put stumbling blocks in front of the blind – that we are not to increase anyone’s burden but instead to try to lighten it.

But if each of us were to be selfish, solipsistic even, we still would have very good reason to try to include people with disabilities in our communities and congregations, according to Shelley Kaplan, the commission co-chair. (The other co-chair is Sara R. Simon.) In her professional life, Ms. Kaplan, who lives in Atlanta, is director of the southeast Americans With Disabilities Act Center, one of 10 centers across the United States.

“People with disabilities make up the largest minority group in America today, and it’s continuing to grow,” Ms. Kaplan said. “And it’s the only equal opportunity minority group, because anybody can become a member. You can be born into it but you don’t have to be.”

Demographics are changing, she continued. People are living longer, and better medical care means that people are surviving more illnesses and accidents than once was the case. The rate of autism is rising. And the Jewish community is aging. “We baby boomers are getting older, and vision and hearing go first,” she said.

“People have to take it personally. It’s not just about ‘those people,’ whoever you think ‘those people’ are. Even if you don’t care about other people – and you should – in the end you have to face that you care about yourself.”

Okay then. You’ve decided that you do care, both selfishly and selflessly. What next?

Synagogues must welcome everyone, Ms. Kaplan said, and they must welcome people not patronizingly but as equals. “A congregation has to form a committee of people interested in welcoming and including people with disabilities,” she continued. “It must be welcoming in term of the physical facility, people’s attitudes must be welcoming, and there has to be open communication between the shul and its members.”

How is the building for people with disabilities? A congregation has to look at its architecture critically. “Look at where the barriers are. Are the doors wide enough for a wheelchair? Are there spaces for wheelchairs throughout the sanctuary, or are people in wheelchairs relegated to the back? Can people in wheelchairs get to the bimah for an aliyah? Can they get into the restrooms?”

What about people who are blind or deaf? Are there any large-print siddurim? Any siddurim in Braille? Any assistive listening devices? Is there a sign language interpreter?

And then there are meetings. Are they held in accessible spaces? Are announcements available? And what about the website? Is it accessible to people who have the right technology?

Next is the issue of attitude. “Some people say that we don’t have people with disabilities in our congregation, or we don’t have enough money to fix the problems we have, or that our bimah’s too high but it’s also historic, so we can’t change it,” Ms. Kaplan said. “These are standard excuses. I tell them that it takes creativity, but once you have a willingness to be more welcoming and inclusive, and you find the barriers and set priorities, and you involve people with disabilities and their families, you can do well.

“After all, a synagogue’s bottom line is about increasing membership, and if word gets out that the synagogue is inclusive then membership increases. The reverse can be true as well. If a family member can’t get up on the bimah, then often the entire family leaves, even sometimes to a synagogue that’s less theologically appealing. That departure is based on accessibility, not on belief.”

Some synagogues already have implemented plans that make their buildings and their communities more inclusive, Ms. Kaplan continued. When the Solomon Schechter awards for synagogue programming were given out at United Synagogue’s convention at the end of last year, 12 congregations were honored for their work in inclusion. Information about those programs is on our website – scroll down the alphabetized list to the link for Inclusion. Synagogues’ creative responses from issues ranging from programming for religious school students with special needs through updating lighting in parking lots, remodeling bathrooms, adding ramps to bimot, and lowering mezzuzot. The Schechter awards document includes contact information, so synagogues can learn from each other.

The Commission on Inclusion of People with Disabilities has begun updating its page on United Synagogue’s website and has made a version of our homepage that allows the page to be read aloud and thus accessible to people who are blind. The webpage includes readings, lists resources, and has links to other organizations. It is still new and very much a work in progress.

“We need people to contribute real, concrete things to it,” Ms. Kaplan said. “We want to know what people have done to remove barriers, to become more welcoming. For example, we want to know about how people have dealt with the challenge of taking a historic high bimah and making it accessible.

“If you have successfully removed a barrier – whether it’s physical, attitudinal, communications-related, or spiritual, please let us know. If you have done anything that has created a more welcoming and inclusive environment for people with disabilities, we want to know more about it,” Ms. Kaplan said.

Please email your stories, reminiscences, and suggestions to info@uscj.org.