Original Article Published on Camp Ramah New England

What a privilege to return for 24 hours to Camp Ramah in New England, the special place that turned me on to Tikvah, disabilities inclusion and vocational training way back in 1984. I have been connected to Ramah and Tikvah ever since and currently serve as director of our National Ramah Tikvah Network.

During my Palmer visit, I was eager to see the newly expanded vocational training building (“Voc Ed”) and share a little history of the building and the program with the staff. It all came back to me as I looked up from our afternoon voc ed staff meeting in the screened in porch and noticed the dedication plaque for the voc ed building from exactly 30 years ago-July 11, 1993—donated by the uncle of Jennifer Horn, a camper I remember very well.

I shared with the staff memories of the Pre Voc room, precursor to the Voc Ed program, which the visionary Tikvah directors, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, established in an old building near the agam. In the pre voc room, Tikvah campers developed such skills folding, filing, following directions and others potentially needed to secure and succeed at a job. I shared stories of the Voc Ed building itself, where participants learned to do laundry, cook and bake, and interact appropriately at a job site. I noted how I am still in touch with a 54-year-old former camper who has been working at a grocery store in Boston for decades and shared stories of others who have gone on to employment at camp and in their home communities.

What a treat to see the newly expanded building, with built in air conditioning and comfortable living quarters, designed to serve even more Voc Ed participants. And how lucky I was to serve as a job coach for the day, helping participants pack snacks for each bunk in camp. I was proud of former campers who have now progressed to the Voc program. Voc Eders currently perform such vital jobs in camp as chadar ochel (dining hall) set up, food prep, working at Café Roo (Ramah’s fancy coffee bar), sorting and delivering mail and packages and working in childcare at the gan.

Voc Ed is a valued and contributing part of the Ramah community. The expanded building is a welcome addition to the program!

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So great to return to Camp Ramah in New England.  The camp looks great and it is a treat to see so many friends from Tikvah.   Love the new voc ed building.  Honored to tell the story of Jake Shapell z”l during voc ed morning meeting.

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Original article appeared in the June issue of Hemispheres magazine

Florida’s Rising Tide Car Wash Shows how a business that employs people with Autism can thrive

Andrew D’Eri’s family knew he was going to need a helping hand. As a 22-year-old with autism, he was aging out of his local school program, and the family was painfully aware of the staggering unemployment and underemployment rates of people with disabilities. Andrew’s brother, Thomas, and father, John, began exploring the idea of starting a business that could support the needs of people with autism while taking advantage of their unique skills—and, of course, turning a profit.
“We loved the idea of a car wash,” says Thomas D’Eri, “since it followed structured routines and processes.” People with autism tend to do well when they have clear rules, routines, and repetitive tasks, and, with this in mind, the D’Eris founded Rising Tide Car Wash in 2013. Ten years on, the company has expanded to three locations around South Florida, employing dozens of people on the autism spectrum and serving as a model for how workplaces can help the neurodiverse and other “barrier groups” learn skills and retain jobs.
Earlier this year, Thomas D’Eri published The Power of Potential: How a Non-Traditional Workforce Can Lead You to Run Your Business Better (HarperCollins Leadership) to share what he has learned at Rising Tide.

In the book, he describes figuring out how to recruit and assess talent. “This is an industry that chronically struggles to find entry-level talent,” he notes. “We often make incorrect assumptions about what ‘good talent’ looks like. It is not firm handshakes and smiles.”
What’s more, by endeavoring to create a workplace culture that values employee feedback and works to
meet the needs of people with autism, D’Eri says he learned how to be a better manager for all employees. “The job of a manager and anyone building an organization is to make the implicit explicit,” he explains, an insight he drew from the work of business author and executive Claire Hughes Johnson.
“This underpins most of what we do.” Rising Tide put in place multistep, often visual systems for all manner of tasks, ranging from vacuuming to removing bugs from windows to cleaning bathrooms. “We create clarity around all we do,” D’Eri says. “When employees struggle, we try to understand what we
haven’t clarified well enough.” Along the way, D’Eri discovered advantages to employing people with
autism. For example, they generally don’t hesitate to point out systemic issues.
“Neurotypical staff often aim to cover up problems,” he explains. “People with autism struggle and are honest, and they will show me what to fix.” Another big benefit for Rising Tide and companies such as John’s Crazy Socks (run by a young man with Down Syndrome and his father) and Bitty & Beau’s Coffee (a café chain that employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities) is positive branding.
“It is a very crowded marketplace,” D’Eri notes. “Businesses like this resonate.”

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Original Article On The Jerusalem Post

The effectiveness of MLB policy cutting down on lengths of games got me thinking that, just maybe, there is hope for cutting down on long synagogue services.

I turned on the radio a few nights before Shavuot, just as the New York Mets had won a nine-inning game. The announcer was praising the speed of the game – a quick two hours and 19 minutes. While this may seem relatively fast for a baseball game, it is not completely surprising or random. The trend toward faster-moving games is thanks, in large part, to a few changes implemented this season by Major League Baseball. The implementation of the pitch clock is an acknowledgment that three hours is just too long to sit for a baseball game.

Baseball games have averaged 3 hours or longer in every season since 2010. In 2021, games tended to last 3:11. The new rules have definitely helped shorten games. As of 447 games this season, the average length of a nine-inning game dropped to 2:38 per nine innings as compared to 3:03 last season. The 2:38 time is the lowest since 1984 when average games lasted 2:35.

Even 2:35 is long compared to the early 1900s when games finished in under two hours. The first time the average length of a game went beyond the two-hour mark was in 1934!

The effectiveness of MLB policy cutting down on lengths of games got me thinking that, just maybe, there is hope for cutting down on long synagogue services. Perhaps synagogues of all denominations can take a lesson from Major League Baseball. In an age of shortened attention spans, people simply don’t have the patience for regular Shabbat morning prayer services which go past the 2-hour mark.

For a while, synagogues were on a good track to keeping it short, mostly out of necessity due to the pandemic. Following a very long hiatus where there were no in-person prayer services, many synagogues resumed prayer services with extreme caution and modifications – outside or in a tent, socially distanced and with masks. And, there was a real effort to move things along quickly.

Jewish pitcher Eric Reyzelman has his sights set on a career in Major League Baseball. (credit: COURTESY/JTA)Jewish pitcher Eric Reyzelman has his sights set on a career in Major League Baseball. (credit: COURTESY/JTA)

How was this done? By eliminating non-essential parts of the service. People were asked to say the preliminary service at home and arrive in time for the “meat” of the Shabbat morning service. We were in and out – Shabbat morning took, well, just part of the morning and none of the afternoon.

ONCE SERVICES resumed back indoors, we continued to take precautions to move the service along. Who wanted to be indoors in close proximity to people for so long? One person handled all aspects of the Torah service from ark opening to lifting of the Torah. Torah honors were taken from one’s seat, therefore eliminating wait time for people coming up to the Bimah. In some synagogues, one person had all the honors! And Mi Sheberach, the prayer for the sick was eliminated.

Even on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur rabbis found halachicly acceptable ways to eliminate non-essential liturgical prayers. They also cut down on explanations, sermon length and extra honors like the numerous ark openings traditionally done before many prayers.

When the pandemic ended, there was speculation and hope that, perhaps we learned our lesson –that shorter is better. After all, who wants to spend all Saturday morning or holiday day indoors praying? Perhaps longer services were a thing of the past. In the post-pandemic area, might it be possible to both pray and take a walk with your spouse or play in the playground with the kids?

Sadly, we have slipped and returned to our old ways. One rabbi friend shared a recent conversation from Ravnet, the listserve for the Conservative Movement, about whether post-pandemic services should be kept at their new shorter lengths or fully restored to pre-COVID lengths. One rabbi – perhaps delusional – suggested, “We have so much to offer our congregants—why not make it [even] longer [than pre-pandemic]?!”

Is he serious?! It is time for synagogues to once and for all take a lesson from Major League baseball. What is the secret sauce? New rules and enforcement.

First and foremost, MLB has implemented the pitch timer. There is a 30-second timer between batters and then a shorter time limit between pitches. Once pitchers receive the ball, they must begin their motion within 15 seconds. If there is a runner on base, they have 20 seconds. If he goes over, he is charged with an automatic ball.

Batters also take responsibility for keeping games shorter. They must be in the batter’s box and be ready to go by the 8-second mark on the clock, or he is charged with an automatic strike. Batters get one timeout per plate appearance.

Even managers must take some responsibility for keeping things moving along. Managers, who are allowed to request a replay review, must do so more quickly than in the past. They have to hold up their hands immediately after the play in question to signal to the umpires that they are considering a challenge. In past years, they were given 10 seconds to initiate the review.

Once the manager alerts the umpire to a potential challenge, the umpire initiates a 15-second timer. The manager must then decide whether to challenge the call on the field before that timer reaches zero. Otherwise, any challenge request would be denied. Previously, managers had 20 seconds to decide whether to challenge.

COULD A shul timer reduce the length of prayer services?

When I shared my proposal with Theo, a baseball-loving bar mitzvah student of mine in New York City, he wisely asked, “Would there be a clock in shuls?” and “What would be the penalty for rabbis who go over?”

I thought about how this might be implemented in synagogues. Installing two clocks – one at the back of the shul for rabbis and cantors to see and one near the ark for the congregation to see are easy fixes. Perhaps the gabbai (warden) or a newly created position could be in charge of clock monitoring.

Penalties are easy to implement and enforce in baseball. What would that look like in synagogues? Perhaps a newly appointed shul “clock committee” chair can issue rabbis with a warning for a first offense. It could take the form of a yellow or red card in soccer and result in a “talking to” by the synagogue president.

Maybe he or she would be “blocked” from joining the congregational Kiddush for a second offense. The third offense for going over the two-hour mark might result in being “benched” for a Shabbat, “fined” (forced to work without pay for a Shabbat) and the filing of complaints with rabbinic governing bodies such as the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis), RA (Rabbinical Assembly) or the RCA (The Rabbinical Council of America). Cantorial bodies would also be contacted as both clergy members assume responsibility for watching the clock.

Perhaps using a clock in synagogue seems punitive and just maybe some people actually enjoy sitting in pews for over two hours. As it turns out, we Jews are always watching the clock. Each Friday and Saturday, Shabbat start and end times are determined by clock times. And for those who enjoy sitting for longer services – enjoy.

We just ask that shuls post “run times” on their websites – just like movie theaters – so we can all make informed decisions about what to expect. There are hundreds of synagogues in Israel and dozens in America which are in and out in 90 minutes. It can be done!

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