The 92nd Mitzvah
Geismar, Helaine
THE 92ND MITZVAH Embracing the Jewish handicapped HELAINE GEISMAR Edith is mentally retarded. At the age of 34, she had been sitting at home for a full year, afraid to go out. She seemed destined...
...There are some other things he can't do, either...
...There is a poster that shows a man in a wheelchair looking at a synagogue door that is up a flight of 15 stairs...
...it is not for us to choose among the chosen...
...We can't count on the disabled for that—although there are many people with disabilities who will achieve remarkable things...
...She smiled, laughed, had good experiences...
...What better exercise in clarifying values than to have to decide what is the most important Jewish concept to teach to a severely retarded individual...
...By giving individuals the opportunity to know people with disabilities, we dispel myths and quell fears...
...As much as 12 percent of the population suffers from a learning disability, yet we are only now beginning to see Jewish education programs for the learning disabled in Y's, day schools and synagogues...
...She belonged again...
...Once she took the first step, the second step (into a vocational training program) seemed much easier...
...Edith's tale has a happy ending...
...The members of the shul are either old, young marrieds, or children...
...He wondered why Edith no longer came toshul with her parents, and he decided to visit her and ask her himself...
...For example, it is very difficult for some families to acknowledge that they have given birth to a child with a birth defect...
...We can't count on the disabled or their often over-burdened families to do that...
...Why should we welcome Jewish people with disabilities into the Jewish life of our communities...
...He wants to be happy and he wants to make everybody else happy...
...How much more human we might be if our experience encompassed natural interaction with the disabled...
...But she brought to the first session her store of Yiddish expressions, Jewish tunes and stories of past Jewish holidays...
...Their rabbi noticed that each Shabbat they look wearier and wearier...
...for our Jewish education program, she was very "down" and never smiled...
...She had not worked in a year...
...And how many synagogues are truly accessible to the physically disabled...
...Do we only serve those who will ultimately give money...
...What is true for the professional is true also for the community as a whole: The decision to integrate the disabled can serve to clarify values for all of us...
...They know that others will be concerned about Edith's religious and spiritual needs when they no longer can be...
...But now, it is all different...
...Exclusion from the community serves to remind them of what they can't do...
...it is justice...
...And so she has...
...The fact is that this possibility is not very much greater for such families than it is for the rest of the population...
...Her parents worry less now, too, because they know that there are those in the Jewish community who understand that Edith's needs go far beyond food, shelter and a job...
...The program became the highlight of her life, reminding her of the Ruthie she used to be, helping her to begin to believe in herself again...
...And we learn something very important about humanness...
...Ruthie, a moderately mentally retarded woman, had been fired from her lastfour jobs...
...Other programs had only offered her socialization, job training, or recreation...
...By living side by side with people with disabilities, we learn to face our own vulnerabilities and to understand that even the greatest and most feared problems can be dealt with successfully...
...Inclusion reaffirms their humanity...
...Do we only work with people in the hopes of insuring a Jewish future...
...Edith's rabbi had heard about the new program in Jewish education for moderately retarded adults at the 92nd Street Y. He hesitantly mentioned it to Edith, knowing that over the past year she had rejected all suggestions for programs she might attend...
...But not so for many other Jews—men, women, boys and girls—with physical, emotional, and/or developmental disabilities...
...And the lessons have been some of the most important of my life...
...such identification is part of one's birthright...
...The wisdom and sensitivity we acquire from work on such issues can clearly be of value through the whole range of our professional endeavors...
...Developing special curricula, individualized methods and adaptive materials challenges staff members in the best possible way...
...Thus, our imagination and creativity are put to the test...
...But to be among her Jewish peers, she would leave her house...
...And the benefits to both the disabled and to the community that properly reaches out to embrace them are considerable...
...I always wonder about our value system when we call someone like Mickey, who is exceptionally loving, 'retarded' just because he has trouble reading and writing...
...Her explanation was simple...
...But in the end, the most compelling argument is also the most basic...
...For some people with disabilities, it may be the only normalizing identity available...
...And working with the disabled can be a truly remarkable experience...
...For example, it is estimated that three percent of the population is mentally retarded...
...Yet the issue here is not charity...
...But he had underestimated the power of her Jewish identity...
...She and her sister had grown up in this Orthodox synagogue...
...her happiest memories are of her younger years, centering around the Jewish traditions at home and in the synagogue...
...How shall we simplify or shorten a Shabbat service...
...The benefits of religion, which help us deal with crisis, which offer us comfort and solace, are especially meaningful to the disabled...
...When Penny was asked to describe her retarded brother, she said, "He's not so good in math or reading...
...Imagine what it means to teach in Jewish special education programs...
...She cannot read or understand the service...
...Her sister and her friends are all married and have moved away...
...Implicit in the communal neglect of the handicapped is an attitude that the community has enough problems of "its own," that the handicapped are not only an uncomfortable embarrassment, but a diversion from our ongoing agenda...
...The chance to participate with others in celebration, in occasions, in the important moments of the personal or public calendars, adds quality to life— quality particularly critical for those who have known frustration, disappointment and pain...
...There are many people with disabilities who will not have children...
...Ruthie had lived in a group home for 14 years and clearly missed her ties to Judaism...
...Identification with a cultural or religious group does not depend on talent or skill...
...what can be omitted...
...I have learned more from my disabled friends than they will ever learn from me...
...Out of widespread ignorance comes the fear and anxiety of those who find that a group home for the retarded, emotionally disturbed, and/or physically disabled is opening around the corner...
...But one of the things he's never learned is how to hate, although he's really terrific at loving...
...are thousands who continue to sit at home, unwelcomed by their own people...
...Since we have paid so little attention to this area of Jewish education, there are few materials available for use...
...She feels alienated from the part of her life that once brought her the most happiness...
...For every Edith who finds a place in the Jewish community, there Helaine Geismar is Director of the Group Service Department of New York's 92nd Street Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association...
...There is much ignorance within the community regarding the disabled...
...Her aging parents were worried, but they felt helpless...
...what is critical to leave in...
...She seemed destined to a life of loneliness...
...The myth persists that the siblings may bear such children as well and thus may be unmarriageable...
...Yet the myth persists...
...Because we have no reason or right not to...
...She succeeded in making a variety of Jewish articles which she took back to her residence to make her room more "homey...
...Is there a synagogue or a day school—or any communal institution—anywhere with that kind of representation...
...We need only look at a few figures to see how effectively we have excluded the disabled from participation in the Jewish community...
...Nor are the benefits all to the disabled...
...The caption reads, "How can / get nearer my God to Thee...
...The program gave her the opportunity to discuss old and happier times...
...Do we only program for people who will bring glory on the Jewish people by winning Nobel prizes or discovering the cure for cancer...
...to Edith, these were not enough...
...When she came to be interviewed Why should we welcome Jewish people with disabilities into the Jewish life of our communities...
Vol. 7 • May 1982 • No. 5
