Howard recently presented a talk for ANU Museum of the Jewish People:
Creating Meaningful B’nai Mitzvah Celebrations for People with Disabilities: B’nai mitzvah for all: how to mark this special life cycle event
Adam Berdichevsky at Paralympics ’24 Photo Credit | Keren Isaacson
You can view the original article here at www.melangeandco.com
For most elite wheelchair athletes, the road to the Paralympics involves years of intense physical and mental preparation. For Israeli tennis player Adam Berdichevsky, the year leading up to the recent Paris Paralympics was also a year of fighting off terrorists and multiple relocations. Despite these extraordinary challenges, Berdichevsky proudly represents his country and serves as a role model for people with disabilities on and off the court. His efforts continue to pay off.
Berdichevsky, 40, picked up wheelchair tennis after losing his left leg in a 2007 boating accident in Thailand. Berdichevsky and his then girlfriend (now wife), Hila, encountered a fierce storm. Their vessel capsized, sending both in to the rough waters. While saving Hila, Berdichevsky was reportedly sucked in to the engine, resulting in the loss of his leg.
In the years following the ordeal, the two married, Berdichevky became a mechanical engineer, and the family soon included three children. The family made their home on Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, the same collective community where Adam grew up. Life on the kibbutz was usually tranquil, though missile threats from Hamas were not uncommon given their proximity to Gaza. Usually, the sounding of an alarm meant a short stay in the family’s safe room until the imminent threat passed.
This all changed on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched 4,300 rockets in to Israel and 6,000 Gazans breached the border into Israel in over 100 locations. On that day, 1,200 people were killed and approximately 250 were taken to Gaza as hostages. Israelis near the border hid and feared for their lives.
Adam and Hila Berdichevsky and their three children–ages six, eight, and ten- survived the Hamas invasion at Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak by remaining in a safe room and clutching the door handle for 14 hours to keep it shut. Once the imminent danger passed, the family then relocated to Eilat (in the south of Israel) for two months.
Berdichevsky’s friend and fellow Israeli wheelchair tennis player, Guy Sasson, had been living in Houston, Texas with his family at the time as part of his wife’s medical training. Sasson suggested that the Jewish community bring the Berdichevsky family to Houston during these difficult times. “We are so thankful to the Houston Jewish community who provided us with a home, a car and school for the children,” reports Berdichevsky. “We were very welcomed!”
The family spent six months in Houston before returning to Eilat. Berdichevsky continues traveling around the world to tennis tournaments and the family is currently considering their next move, which may include returning to their adoptive community of Houston.
Berdichevsky shares, “I always loved tennis and also wanted to play a professional sport so the two naturally combined.” But he acknowledges that playing wheelchair tennis in light of recent events has presented some of the biggest mental challenges he has ever faced. “After learning that six hostages, including a former classmate, were murdered in the tunnels by Hamas, I had to compete in my Paralympic match—but it was incredibly difficult.”
This served to further motivate and inspire Berdichevsky as he played tennis for his beloved Israel in the Paris Paralympics this past September. “I cannot say how much fun it was to represent my country like this,” reports Berdichevsky after his first round wheelchair tennis win in Paris. “The win, it was the first time I played in front of a crowd like this, and it felt like I played at home – it was very special. I was very happy I could give some good times to people amid all the bad days.”
Earlier that same week, Berdichevsky served as the Israel delegations flag bearer. “The flag bearing was amazing, to walk with the whole Israel team was amazing – and everyone saw me on TV.” Berdichevsky lost his second-round match but he maintains his perspective given the ordeal he and his family survived on October 7th and the fate of so many others in his country. He observes, “It is much more important than ever to represent the country because of what happened and to be a model for all the soldiers who got injured.”
And his advice to young people with disabilities: “Play a sport, whatever it is. It would make your life much happier.”
Jacob Sharff, wheelchair mechanic
You can read the original article here at www.melangeandco.com
While the top junior wheelchair singles and doubles tennis players in the world battle it out on court in the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships in New York, a very attentive man sits in a wheelchair nearby with a large black toolbox on his lap. Jacob Sharff, the wheelchair mechanic and owner of How I Roll Sports: Adaptive Sports Equipment for Adaptive Athletes waits to be summoned by walkie talkie to courts where wheelchair matches are taking place. When he is called, the clock begins ticking. “I have 15 minutes to make a repair or the player has to default.”
Sharff proudly reports that he can fix a flat tire in 4 minutes. “That would give me 11 minutes if something else happens.” Sharff humbly reports, “My biggest worry is that I won’t be able to make the repair.”
This has happened in past US Opens—when the top men and women players in two divisions—wheelchairs and quads—were also in town for the competition. This year, and every four years when the Paralympics take place, the US Open wheelchairs tournament takes a year off–though the prize money for those who would have participated is shared to help cover costs of travel and lodging.
Scharff laments an incident last year in the adult competition when a man in the quads division’s backrest post “cracked in half.” He reports sadly, “I couldn’t fix it—there were no parts.”
Sharff playfully reports, “I know how a firefighter must feel—we are either a hero or that guy who is always on edge, waiting!”
Sharff, a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, didn’t set out to become a mechanic at the US Open and other pro and college wheelchair tennis events. When he became paralyzed and a wheelchair user after a car accident in 1999 at age 16, the now 42-year-old Sharff, who competes in paratriathlons around the world representing Team USA, discovered that the only source of sports equipment was medical supply companies. “You had to get your chair in the same place that sold catheters and hospital beds!” He began thinking, “How cool would it be if adaptive sports equipment could be sold in its own place?!” Sharff, who already owned the internet domain name howiroll.com—where he was blogging and sharing photos for what he describes as the “newly injured,” left his 9 to 5 job as a production coordinator at a tea company to start his own company in 2013. He reports, “20 to 25% of our business is international—I have sold to the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand!”
Several years ago, Sharff was approached to work at several university wheelchair tennis events and other USTA (United States Tennis Association) events. The USTA reports that it is “dedicated to providing top-flight programming and developmental opportunities to wheelchair athletes of all ages and backgrounds“ and invest in tournaments and player development.
Sharff can’t wait to be back in New York next year!
You can view the original post on www.inspiredbyilona.com
Howard Blas will be participating in a panel discussion Dec 14th in Fair Lawn, NJ. The discussion, “Children Under the Radar: Strategies for Noticing and Maximizing Strengths and Abilities” will become part of the Orthodox Conundrum podcast