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I would like to hear from others about how their shul includes congregants with mental and physical disabilities. Last evening (Saturday) at my shul, during Minchah, a young man – about 19, led the service. He has a mental disability and led the service from memory as he does not read Hebrew. He also had an Aliyah which he did flawlessly. He proudly marched around the sanctuary behing the person carrying the Torah. It was a wonderful thing. My shul has also built a beautiful wheelchair ramp to the Bimah in the main sanctuary and I have often seen congregants with walkers and in wheelchairs use the ramp in order to have an Aliyah. Tell us about your shul, please.
MG: What is your idea of “inclusiveness”? Does this extend to the idea of women leading prayer “minyan’s” Rabba/Weiss style?
What is wrong with a wheelchair ramp? As far as a mentally disabled person, obviously if he doesn’t have din Shotah, in which case he would not be obligated in mitzvos, whatever can be heard clearly is fine. The Shulchan Aruch writes that one who is blind may daven before the Amud (though may not be baal kriyah); certainly this is no different. Inclusive just means that if we can, we go through the bother of helping someone whom these simple tasks are more difficult for. That’s all.
May don’t want to be bothered. But if it’s in the realm of Halacha without sacrificing Kavod HaTzibbur – why not?
My shul is extremely accessible for wheelchairs, walkers, etc. We have a ramp as well as stairs (just a couple of stairs anyway), plus two downstairs rooms for the women who cannot walk upstairs, which are directly in the back of the men’s shul, curtained off. We are very accepting of all types of people davening by us, as long as they are not disruptive. We used to have an entire group of men from a group home, who were regularly brought to daven on Shabbos by their direct care workers.
I am not certain what the halacha is regarding such a person davening for the amud (if he can in fact do so properly), but I think it is not permitted, so I am not sure about that. Doesn’t one have to be able to form a proper kavanah to be a shaliach tzibbur? In any case, I think it is a beautiful thing to see someone get an aliyah that he learned to do with much effort, as long as it is not assur.
“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.”
pardon me…but what?
Rabbi Avi Weiss is actually a model for inclusion of those with disabilities. Whenever he sees someone in a wheelchair or even just with a walker in the men’s section of the synagogue, he always walks over to greet the person and to make sure the person feels included. When people are dancing on Simchat Torah or even a normal Friday night service, he walks over to the people in wheelchairs or with walkers, takes their hand and sways with them. He offers each one a sefer torah at least once on ST. He also includes those with intellectual disabilities as well. The building has a ramp to the main beit knesset and a Shabbat elevator for those who can’t get to the upper floors any other way. And for the people who can’t make it to shul, we go to local retirement homes on ST and have a brief torah reading where all the frail elderly men can get an aliyah. I can’t tell you how much these folks appreciate it — it is really moving.
One can disagree with many of Rabbi Weiss’s halachic positions and follow a different torah hashkafah, but in this particular issue I think all of us can agree that he is following the Torah-true path.
I also attend another shul, a small congregation whose old building is not handicapped accessible. I hope that we can grow the congregation so that we can have the money to change that.
To the one whose now edited post question my audacity of asking that question. The tenor of the OP’s previous posts on this board raised sufficient question whether she was coming from an Orthodox perspective. Her second post on this thread overtly confirmed such suspicions, as if the screen name itself hadn’t raised sufficient red flags.
hence my post…
Mea Culpa! Helpful, you are right. Nevermind. I suppose should the thread to “how inclusive is your community center of your chosen religon”. My church, however, isn’t as inclusive. We have all sorts of traditions that we can’t just throw away.
MG: What is your idea of “inclusiveness”? Does this extend to the idea of women leading prayer “minyan’s” Rabba/Weiss style?
I thought it was crystal clear from the OP that he was talking about inclusiveness vis-a-vis the mentally and physically handicapped. There’s no reason to bring in side issues just to stir up controversy.
In our shul, we have a few adults who are high-functioning Down’s syndrome sufferers. They daven for the amud, receive aliyos and otherwise participate as full members of the shul.
The Wolf
There are halachic restrictions on a shoita (intellectual handicap) and a deaf person.
There are halachic restrictions on a shoita (intellectual handicap) and a deaf person.
As for intellectual handicaps, it depends on how functional they are. Obviously, someone who is incapable of leading the davening or receiving aliyos should not do so.
As for deafness, there are, to my knowledge, no halachic disabilities (vis-a-vis davening) on deaf people that should exclude them for shul activities. There *are* exclusions on deaf-mutes (a mute person, deaf or not, should obviously not lead the davening), but not on people who are only deaf.
There is also some literature that even deaf-mutes today are not the equivalent of deaf-mutes in earlier generations since they can now be educated.
The Wolf
“There is also some literature that even deaf-mutes today are not the equivalent of deaf-mutes in earlier generations since they can now be educated.”
I dont read “literature”. What do I care about what some Amharez author wrote? Show me some actual halachah.
Welcome, minyan gal. I think it is important – crucial – to be able to maximally involve people in all aspects of Jewish practice, not just shul attendance, but as shul is the center of Jewish life, you pose some good food for thought.
If you have access to a Judaica store/library, you’ll enjoy reading the biography of Rav Avraham Pam, ob”m, whose 9th yahrtzeit was this week. He had a very close and beautiful relationship with a young boy with Down syndrome and his family, and the book goes into this in depth.
actually mosherose, that is the halacha
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