Yesterday, I mentioned some wonderful online learning opportunities which address disabilities inclusion.  At the end of the blogpost, I referred to the Kol B'Ramah Podcast.  While it is fun and worthwhile listening to interviews of Amy Skopp Cooper, Ariella Moss Peterseil and Aryeh Kaleder as part of the My Ramah Story, 5 minutes of Torah by Noam Kornsgold, and various episodes of “Pod Across Ramah” (rainy days, birthdays, trips, first days, Shabbat), I have to admit I am a drop partial to the Tikvah Impact Stories.    Yes, it is my first attempt at podcasting, but that is no reason to listen.  The stories of people who have been connected to Tikvah over the years is the reason to listen.

The Tikvah Program was founded in 1970 and has been including people with disabilities at Ramah camps since then.   You will hear from people who were participants and staff in Tikvah—from various eras. 

Yishai Barth is very articulate and brilliant.  He speaks very openly about his disabilities.  He is also a recent graduate of The Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Even hearing about his major is hard to understand!  He constructed his own major in social philosophy and communication theory which drew on courses in many different fields, including communications, philosophy, disability studies, sociology, education/educational philosophy, psychology, and linguistics/psycholinguistics. Are you surprised he is also wrapping up a master’s degree and likely to continue his PhD—in England!  He reports that his studies will “relate to or at the intersection of social philosophy, cultural studies, and political economy.” And Yishai is already far along on a book entitled, “The Theory of Everyone.”

Yishai learned a lot at Ramah New England and on Ramah Israel Seminar—he also taught his bunkmates and the entire community A LOT!

Read more about Yishai here—he has an awesome website, the theoryofeveryone.net 

Check out all of the podcast episodes here: 

To go directly to the interview with Yishai, click here:  

We are at the point in dealing w/Covid that we can speak about “silver linings.”  There are so many opportunities for professional growth and enrichment and continuing education, whatever field we are in.   Each day, there are webinars, lectures and podcasts for disabilities inclusion professionals and other interested people.  Some are “one shot deals” and others are offered as part of a series. 

There are even some coming up tonight and tomorrow—and there is still time to register!

 -Tonight at 9 pm ET!  Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School presents a program on “Deafness, Jewish Law, and Inclusion.” Rabbi Dov Linzer headlines the next “Changemakers” on Tuesday, July 14 at 9 p.m. The session will be closed-captioned for those who request it.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelKz7qRskPEby4ps-5hRRHxOHkZF2wl1DiSU6zhGCL3ztwhA/viewform

 -Tomorrow (July 15^th) at 11:30 am ET:   Access Israel’s 3rd International Webinar on best practices and policies on accessibility and inclusion during these times https://www.aisrael.org/?CategoryID=3471&ArticleID=67143&dbsAuthToken=

 -Each Tuesday at 1:30 pm ET, RespectAbility is offering a free online training series, Disability Access and Inclusion Training Series for Jewish Organizations and Activists “so they can learn how to welcome, respect and include people with disabilities from all backgrounds in the important work that they do.”  Today’s session, which was recorded and will soon be available on their website, was entitled, “How to Ensure Accessible Events: Both Live and Virtual Across All Platforms.” 

Upcoming events:

July 21 – “How to Ensure a Welcoming Lexicon, Accessible Websites and Social Media and Inclusive Photos”

August 4 – “How to Create and Implement Successful Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives”

August 11 – “How to Ensure Legal Rights and Compliance Obligations”

https://www.respectability.org/jewish-events/. 

 Previous Trainings in the series included:  “Inclusion as a Jewish Value,” “How to Advance Disability Inclusion in Jewish Education,” and “How to Recruit, Accommodate and Promote Jewish Leaders with Disabilities for Paid Employment and Volunteer Leadership.”

 MATAN ran a four session series this summer, “Disability wisdom in Jewish Tradition.”  https://matankids.org/resources/webinars-2/

 The Ruderman Family Foundation is in season 3 of it “All Inclusive with Jay Ruderman” podcast  https://rudermanfoundation.org/all-inclusive-introduction/.

The Landscape podcast https://www.tennesseeworks.org/the-landscape-podcast/.  It is “A podcast on people, programs and businesses changing the landscape for individuals with any type of disability.”

And my colleagues and friends, Shelly Christensen and Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer will host their 4^th conversation this Thursday at 8 pm in “Everybody’s Welcome,” –“a new virtual conversation about disability inclusion from Inclusion Innovations and Whole Community Inclusion.”  In the upcoming episode, Shelly and Gabi share about their experiences on parenting, writing and spirituality–and what led them to become disability inclusion advocates. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdwd_ifZKnS5nXPU82AGtORzk8tWITP7cPFVqODsUD3N1S0g/viewform

Finally, we at the National Ramah Commission and the National Ramah Tikvah Network are gearing up for “Jewish Journeys: Tikvah’s Role In The Jewish Disability Narrative” on July 22 pm (8 pm ET).  It is a discussion about the growth and impact of Ramah’s Tikvah programs over the past fifty years, through the lens of Tikvah alumni, participants, and staff.  https://www.campramah.org/ramah-ba-bayit/tzevet-limmud-7-22

And please check out our Kol B’Ramah podcasts.  There is a new feature, Tikvah Impact Stories.  Check out the first one, where I interview the extraordinary Yishai Barth!  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tikvah-impact-yishai-barth/id1518865496?i=1000483929342

 There is so much wonderful content out there.  Please check some of them out!

Nearly every summer camp is busy offering some type of virtual programming.  Virtual camping both engages children who would otherwise be swimming and making s’mores in person (but can’t due to Covid 19), and provides their parents with some respite and comfort, knowing their children are doing something wholesome and meaningful. 

In our 10 Ramah overnight summer camps, children with disabilities are ordinarily included in person at camp, through our Tikvah camping programs and through the support of inclusion staff.    This summer, campers with disabilities participate side by side—virtually—with campers from all divisions in camp. They cook, sing, dance, do yoga and more together.

There is one group of young adults with disabilities whose needs were not being met.  Parents were telling us that their children in their late teens and early 20s, who ordinarily participate in vocational training programs, were missing out.  They are used to spending their summer learning job skills, practicing soft skills at a job site, and socializing with their peers.  We therefore “got to work” and began offering a 12 session virtual vocational training and socializing program. 

Tuesday sessions address such topics as:  setting goals, giving back to our communities, mental & physical wellness, professionalism, managing money, resumes & interviews and self-advocacy. Thursday sessions feature a hands on activity and a voc ed alum sharing about his or her path from Tikvah to employment.

Last week, while interviewing Ramah Wisconsin alum, Austin, we learned what it truly means to be essential.  Austin was telling the 40 participants about his path from his Ramah camping and vocational training program, to having a job in his home community.  He shared with the group that he is employed by a hospital in St. Louis, where he delivers food trays to patient rooms and cleans them up afterwards.  He proudly told the group, “I am an essential worker!”

Tiffany then proudly exclaimed, “I am an essential worker, too!’  She told the group how she continues to bag groceries at her local supermarket in California and has been throughout the Covid crisis.  

Another alum of our Ramah New England Tikvah Program, Jeremy, also works in a hospital and hasn’t missed a day of work since the Covid crisis started.  He works in the supply room at the Washington, DC area hospital.  He prefers to keep his beard a certain length, but has had to “go shorter” for his mask to work properly.

This Covid crisis has given all of us an opportunity to ask “who is truly essential?”  We know that doctors and nurses and hospital workers are essential.  We also know that anybody who helps us get food and supplies is essential.  I am so proud that some of our alum, who happen to have disabilities, are performing such essential work.  I have no doubt it is appreciated!