Reply To: How Inclusive Is Your Shul?

I am talking about making the shul not only physically accessable for physically handicapped persons, but making the service welcoming and inclusive for those with learning disabilites or other mental handicaps – people of either gender.

A few years ago a friend’s grandchild who is quite severely mentally challenged (but attends a mainstream school) was told by the Rabbi of their shul that there was absolutely now way he could have a Bar Mitzvah there. This family were long time members and one of their family was a huge benefactor to this shul. The child desperately wanted a Bar Mitzvah – like his older brother had had. A woman in our community who teaches Hebrew privately (and specializes in teaching mentally challenged children) instructed this boy for about a year and a half. This child had a Havdallah Service Bar Mitzvah (at the auditorium of the JCC) where he not only did the Torah reading, but conducted the entire service. He wrote his speech himself – and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. This child personally raised over 10,000 dollars for Tsunami relief from his neighbors, family and classmates as his Tzedakah project. Now if they had listened to their Rabbi, none of this would have taken place. This is mainly the type of inclusion I am interested in. I happen to belong to a Conservative congregation that is egalitarian, so the inclusion of females is important to me.