Kol Beth El T E V E T- A DA R 5 7 7 8
JAN/FEB 2018
NSSBE: More Accessible, Welcoming and Inclusive
By Rabbi Michael Schwab and The Accessibility and Inclusion Committee
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Shabbat Schedule....................2 President’s Corner...................3 Teacher Spotlight.....................4 Informal Education..................5 Sisterhood.................................6 Gift Shop...................................7 Men’s Club................................8 Hazzan Tisser ...........................9 History Corner..........................9 Youth Community....................10 Education..................................11 Communications......................11 Social Action.............................12 Todah Rabbah..........................13 January Calendar......................19 February Calendar...................20 Development ...........................21 Events at a Glance....................22 All in the Beth El Family...........24
In the Torah portion, Netzavim, the Torah depicts a covenantal moment with the generation of Israelites who are about to enter the Promised Land. Carefully and explicitly, naming various segments of society, it shares that every member of our people was to be present for that moment, every member of society was to be included equally in the covenant. And this ancient Jewish value is just as important today as it was then. That is precisely why I want to dedicate my column this month to an article written by NSS Beth El’s Accessibility and Inclusion Committee: February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness and Inclusion Month. Beth El has been dedicated to becoming a more accessible and inclusive community for close to a decade. Currently, the NSSBE Committee on Accessibility and Inclusion is a robust group of thirteen congregants and four staff members, co-chaired by Audra Kaplan and Rachel Ferber. Their mission is to help Beth El become a more welcoming, accessible, and inclusive community, by sensitizing the synagogue membership to the needs of congregants with differing abilities and by reducing barriers that exist to each member’s participation. Our philosophy is to consider every aspect of our community – physical facilities, education programs, tefillah, social acitivities and the attitudes of congregants and lay leaders – to create a comprehensive blueprint for change to allow people with disabilities and their families to participate comfortably and fully at Beth El. Our religious schools were the first places to be made more inclusive and accessible to students with disabilities. The Cal and
Lana Eisenberg Halomdim Program created a resource room to support children with learning differences and/or social challenges. It offers shadow teachers, 1-to-1 instruction and summer tutoring. In addition, we employ an education specialist to support our initiatives. The Cohen Religious School and Sokol Hebrew High School teachers are trained to accommodate and facilitate learning for all students and there is a system in place to support B’nei Mitzvah students who need additional assitance or different teaching styles to prepare them for their B’nei Mitzvah. Beth El collaborated with Cantor Steven Stoehr of Congregation Beth Shalom, who had recently started HUGS (Healthy, Understanding, Growing, Spaces), to help expand HUGS, with the goal of providing ritual programming for children and adults with special needs and their families. HUGS now includes 13 north suburban Conservative and Reform congregations and hosts services and programs throughout the year. In 2015, Rabbi Schwab became the chair of JUF’s Synagogue Federation Commission. He established Accessibility and Inclusion continued on page 7
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 | KOL BETH EL | 1