More Disability Resources in the Jewish World
The articles you’ve just read are part of an ongoing Lilith exploration of disability, accessibility, and inclusion. For more—including work on disability and sexuality, mental health and neurodiversity, be sure to look out for future Lilith issues. Below, a few of our favorite resources and a reading list. Did we miss something? Email us at info@lilith.org and we’ll include it in a future issue.
Blue Dove
The Blue Dove Foundation was created to fill a noticed lack of conversation around mental health and substance abuse in the Jewish community. Guided by their core middot, Jewish values, Blue Dove works to educate the Jewish community on their breadth of mental health resources. The foundation creates conversation around mental health grounded in their emblem of the dove, a symbol of “peace of the deepest kind.” Blue Dove provides resources to connect Judaism and mental health in communities all over the world. From online conversations about the positive effects of art on mental health to resources to make your own mental health mishloach manot, Blue Dove is transforming how the Jewish community talks about mental health. To read more and access Blue Dove’s extensive resources visit thebluedovefoundation.org.
RespectAbility
Lobbying and advocating for the disabled community, “RespectAbility is a diverse, disability-led nonprofit that works to create systemic change in how society views and values people with disabilities, and that advances policies and practices that empower people with disabilities to have a better future,” according to its mission statement. “Our mission is to fight stigmas and advance opportunities so people with disabilities can fully participate in all aspects of community.” Find out more at respectability.org.
Jewish Deaf Resource Center
“JDRC’s leadership, comprised of Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing, and hearing individuals, advocates to increase communication access to services, rituals, learning and other Jewish communal experiences. Through our efforts, we build a richer and meaningful Jewish communal life for everyone.” Courses, ASL shabbats and more are offered at jdrc.org.
Svara + Disability Justice Torah Circle
Under the umbrella of Svara, this Torah Circle “a space for Jews with disabilities to build community around Torah and engage Jewish text through a disability justice lens. The space nurtures and amplifies the voices of Jews with disabilities and produces “Disability Torah” to impact the broader Jewish community.”
Holidays, shabbats, newsletters and a monthly workshop called “Disability Justice as spiritual text” run by Jessica Belasco can be found at svara.org/disability-justice-torah-circle.
Crip Camp Curriculum—Beyond “Disability Rights”
Crip Camp (Netflix, 2020) documented the history of disability rights in the U.S., from the solace offered to disabled teens at Camp Jened, to the revolutionary work of Judith Heumann. And now, a Crip Camp Curriculum is available to parents and educators that deepens the film’s educational value. Created by award winning curriculum-writer and scholar Bianca I. Laureano and scholar-practitioner and filmmaker Aiesha Turman, the curriculum offers discussion guides for parents and educators and lesson plans from “Power & Disability Justice” to “Ableism, Language, & Power.” All parts are available in English and Spanish and can be accessed at cripcamp.com/curriculum.
Sins Invalid—Centering Disabled Artists
Sins Invalid is a social justice-focused incubator for artists with disabilities based in San Francisco. Their work centers and celebrates artists with disabilities of all types, and particularly queer artists of color. The goal? To create “a foundation for a collective claim of liberation and beauty.” Creative director, singer-songwriter, activist and educator Nomy Lamm is self-described “bad ass, fat ass, Jew, dyke amputee” and has performed with Sins Invalid since 2008. Through their work with the organization and through their independent work, they aim to support students to “move through fear and self-judgment to take up space and find equilibrium in radical authenticity.” Learn more about Sins Invalid at sinsinvalid.org and about Nomy Lamm’s work at nomyteaches.com.
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman
Rabbi Lauren Tuchman is all about “teaching the transformative power of inclusive Torah.” In 2018, she became the first blind woman to ever enter the rabbinate and she carries this pioneering spirit into her work, consulting and teaching in Jewish spaces to promote inclusion and accessibility. And as a proud feminist, she told The Jewish Week, “It’s one thing to include women rabbis… but another thing to change the culture to value women’s experiences. I want disability-informed perspectives on tradition to inform our understanding just as much as I want a feminist lens to do so.” Learn more about Rabbi Tuchman’s work at bit.ly/RTuchman and find her teachings and services at rabbituchman.com.
JBI International
JBI International has been “enabling access to Jewish life through audio, braille, and large print texts” since its founding by The Jewish Braille Institute in 1931. They offer a rich library of accessible material, accessibility consulting services, and much more, and they even have materials in Yiddish, Spanish, Hebrew, and several other languages. And now, audio recordings of Lilith—from cover to cover—are available through JBI Voices! Voices is a diverse and engaging selection of articles from Jewish and secular news media relevant to Jewish interest and community—all in an accessible audio format. JBI Voices is free for anyone who has visual impairment, is blind, or is print disabled. Visit JBILibrary.org/magazines to sign up for free and to find JBI’s robust offerings.
