Disabilities

View Original Post on the: Times of Israel

A group of Camp Ramah/Birthright participants help pack food supplies in Israel, September 2024. The trip was for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (courtesy Howard Blas)

At a farm in central Israel on Monday, a group of American volunteers spread out through the olive groves holding an informal, friendly harvesting competition. Wearing heavy gloves in the late morning heat and carrying thick plastic buckets to collect the spoils, the group moved quickly and soon assembled a sizable haul of hard, green olives.

It was not the usual group of volunteers from abroad: the 12 participants all were on the autistic spectrum or had other non-physical disabilities, in what sponsor Birthright Israel said was the-first-of-its-kind volunteer group to visit Israel during the Israel-Hamas war.

This trip was “different because we’re doing a lot more of my kind of things. I love volunteering,” said participant Maddy Katz, a young woman with glasses who proudly showed the olives she had gathered.

They almost didn’t make it to pick olives at Harvest Helpers, a farm in Rishon Lezion run by food rescue organization Leket Israel, because that morning, due to the escalating situation in Israel’s north, they learned that they would have to relocate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem for the last few days of their visit.

Having to quickly pack their things and change the itinerary at the last minute didn’t phase Katz, who said the trip had “a lot of moving parts.” She was looking forward to going home to Columbus, Ohio, where her first priorities would be “sleep, shower and laundry,” and then updating her binder, where she keeps records of her 80,000 hours of volunteering over the last 10 years.

Group of Camp Ramah/Birthright participants and their guides in Tel Aviv, September 2024. The trip was for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (courtesy Howard Blas)

The volunteer group, due to return to the US early Wednesday, was sponsored by Conservative Judaism’s National Ramah Tikvah Network and Birthright Israel’s Onward program. All the volunteers had previously participated in Ramah camps in the US and most had already been in Israel.

According to Birthright Israel, this was the first volunteering trip for disabled adults during the conflict. Since November 2023, Birthright has brought over 7,500 volunteers on similar trips to Israel, they noted, and organized its first “accessible trip” in 2001.

In addition to agricultural work, the group’s 10-day visit included volunteer activities where they helped pack up food and supplies, but they also toured Israel’s Paralympic training facility, spent time in Tel Aviv, visited the Western Wall, and more.

Group of Camp Ramah/Birthright participants harvesting olives in Rishon Lezion, September 2024. The trip was for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (courtesy Howard Blas)

“I think that with the war going on and all that stuff, I wanted to go to give back to the community because everyone, especially up in the north, is really having a hard time dealing with the rockets and the fires,” he said.

Michael ‘GG’ Goodgold, an American volunteer harvesting olives in Rishon Lezion, on September 23, 2024. Goodgold was part of a trip for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)


Goodgold, who stays “on top of the news from Israel no matter what time it is,” said that it actually “felt peaceful” being in Israel, despite the war, and he particularly enjoyed visiting the beach in Tel Aviv.

Annie Michaels, also from Chicago, has been to Israel “nine or 10 times,” she said. This trip had been “a very good experience” partly because it was “my really first time being alone, volunteering and doing all these activities on my own independently,” without her immediate family.

(The group was accompanied by several guides at all times and individual members were allowed to independently visit their family in Israel.)

“I’m happy to stay. I’m sad to leave,” Michaels said, but added that back home, she “feels great” to be able to share stories about her visits to Israel or about “what was happening when I’m volunteering and just giving back to the world.”

Annie Michaels, an American volunteer harvesting olives in Rishon Lezion, on September 23, 2024. Michaels was part of a trip for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)

For Hannah Berman from New Jersey, the olive picking was a new experience. “I’ve never picked olives before. It’s a lot of work,” she said, showing her hand, which had red scrapes.

Nonetheless, “I don’t know how excited I am to go back,” she said wistfully, but she admitted that she would be “excited to see my family.”

Back home, Berman said, she was busy working on her autobiography, for which she conducts interviews with people in her life. This Israel trip won’t be included, she said, because she “has already picked the endpoint,” from before the trip.

Hannah Berman, an American volunteer harvesting olives in Rishon Lezion, on September 23, 2024. Berman was part of a trip for adults with non-physical disabilities who volunteered in various locations around Israel. (Gavriel Fiske/Times of Israel)

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The original article is published on Jewish Disability Inclusion News

In 2010, I had the privilege of participating in the inaugural cohort of the Jim Joseph Foundation Fellows – Leading Educators Online.  During one of our Israel training trips, I made a comment which caught the attention of our program directors.  I made the bold statement that, in my experience, the ONLY place in the Jewish world where people of diverse backgrounds regularly meet and engage meaningfully is in the Jewish disabilities world.  I cited a story I had heard of a woman Reconstructionist rabbi and a Chabad rabbi sitting around the table—not discussing practice or ideology, but rather sharing the experience of parenting autistic children.  

The program director encouraged me to “say more” and write an article for the Lookstein (Jewish Education) Journal.  In the process of writing “Special Needs Brings People Together” (a title that I would change in 2024), I began thinking of places where the Jewish community has historically come together.  I considered the Soviet Jewry movement, Hillel on campus, Chabad early childhood programs, and the biblical notion that we were ALL Standing (Parshat Nitzavim) and that we were ALL at Sinai (for the receiving of the Ten Commandments and torah).  

I proceeded to focus on one compelling, modern day example–the Shefa School in Manhattan, a community Jewish day school which attracts Jewish students with learning disabilities from every possible background.

In recent years, Jews with disabilities and professionals committed to Jewish disability inclusion have come together in two spaces–conferences sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation and in the pages of the New Normal, a former publication of the New York Jewish Week.  Subscribe

When both of these important pillars of the Jewish disabilities community ceased to exist, a number of us–people with disabilities, advocates and people working in the disability field–got together to brainstorm ways to keep bringing all of us together and ways we could share our messages with the rest of the world.  

a graphic showing different kinds of accessibility with physical, heaing, vision and other disabilities

Happily and proudly, the Jewish Disability Inclusion News (JDIN) was born!  And many of those original thought partners are now contributors and members of our advisory board.  We are pleased to celebrate our FIRST anniversary this July.

In one short year, with the help of contributors with and without disabilities, and thanks to the efforts of our amazing editor, Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, we have managed to share dozens of articles on our Substack focusing on disability advocacy, education and awareness in the Jewish community and beyond.

We now have over 50,000 readers across 35 states and 35 countries. We are grateful that you are one of them and hope that in our second year, we will reach even more readers.

Some of our most viewed articles this year include:  “Why we should not wish everyone a meaningful fast,” written by a professional and person with a disability, Jason Lieberman, “My daughter is my best teacher,” by Dr. Len Felder, parent of a child with a disability, and “Four March Musts for the Jewish Disability Community,” by Rabbi Michael Levy, a disabilities professional and advocate, who has written numerous articles for our publication.  A piece that I wrote about Israel gearing up for more people with disabilities given the current war was our 4th most read piece with some very moving follow up posted recently.

We invite you to join us on our JDIN journey!  We are always looking for new and repeat contributors—as well as new subscribers. Every rabbi, cantor, Jewish educator and Jewish organization should know about us—and we are free!  We are also always seeking support of donors and foundations.  We operate independently of any organization and are therefore free to truly share the widest possible range of perspectives.  Feel free to contact me with if you have interest in supporting us or know of foundations aligned with our mission:  howardblas@hotmail.com.

Thank you for being part of our growing efforts!

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Original article published in the TJP news

Team Israel manager carries torch at 21st Maccabiah Games

Ian Kinsler’s warm relationship with Israel is about to grow even stronger.

When Ian Kinsler went to Israel for the first time, he and his wife experienced the country’s beauty as well as its bureaucracy. The four-time Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star, 2017 World Baseball Classic champion, Team Israel second baseman and current Dallas resident had to persevere through the sometimes frustrating aliyah process. Kinsler became an Israeli citizen in order to play in the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021) for Israel’s National Baseball team.

Now, Kinsler, the newly appointed manager of Team Israel, has again gone to Israel, with his wife and two children. He had the honor of carrying the torch at the Maccabiah Games, and will travel around Israel leading baseball workshops, greeting fans and getting reacquainted with the Jewish homeland.

Kinsler recently spoke with the TJP while on vacation in Idaho, moments after learning Team Israel’s draw in the March 11-15, 2023, World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in Miami. Israel will participate in Pool D with Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and a team to be determined from the qualifying tournament.

Kinsler, who currently works in the front office of the San Diego Padres, has been looking forward to his first managerial experience. While the storied Team Israel battled through the 2017 World Baseball Classic and ultimately reached the 2021 Olympics, he doesn’t take their success for granted. “The draw looks fine but either way, you have to be a good team. It is going to be competitive!”

Kinsler is already familiar with the venue for the March tournament. “I played the 2017 WBC with the USA Team there. It is a fantastic stadium with great crowds. It will be super exciting and electric playing against the Latin American teams. I am looking forward,” reported Kinsler. He also acknowledged the work ahead of him. “It is going to be a tough roster to make. It will be hard to decide who is on and who is off.”

The dual U.S.-Israeli citizen was eager to again represent Israel and the Jewish people. He looks back fondly on his past experiences with Team Israel. “Representing my lineage and heritage and doing it in the Olympics in Tokyo was super exciting for me!”

Ian Kinsler played for Team Israel in the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021) and was recently named Team Israel manager. Next March, in Miami, Team Israel will participate in Pool D of the World Baseball Classic Qualifier with Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela and a team to be determined from the qualifying tournament.

Kinsler noted that the number of Jews in baseball has always been “a very small group of guys.” He added, “I always knew all of them.” He has not experienced any antisemitism in his baseball career.

Kinsler grew up in a home with one Jewish and one non-Jewish parent and was not “raised religiously”; the family marked Passover, Hanukkah, Easter and Christmas. He did not celebrate a bar mitzvah. His experience with Israel baseball has helped bring him closer “to that side of my family.”

Kinsler enjoyed his first visit to Israel and was anticipating sharing it with his children. “Visiting Israel is eye-opening, regardless of faith. Going back will be pretty special. I am looking forward to it.” Kinsler enjoyed visits to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities in his first trip and noted, “The markets in Jerusalem were my favorite.”

On this trip, Kinsler was one of five torchbearers at the Maccabiah opening ceremonies in Jerusalem on July 14 and he threw out the opening pitch at a Maccabiah baseball game. He is conducting baseball clinics for Maccabiah baseball players this week at the Ezra Schwartz Ballpark in Ra’anana.

The local Dallas Jewish community is proud of Kinsler. “As Jewish National Fund-USA’s director in Dallas, I feel an extra sense of pride and excitement knowing Dallas will be well represented by our very own Ian Kinsler at the World Baseball Classic,” said Ellie Adelman. “Team Israel is very special to me. Through our Project Baseball initiative, Jewish National Fund-USA covered a large portion of Team Israel’s expenses for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and as part of the expansion of baseball activities in Israel, we’re partnering with the Israel Association of Baseball to build new baseball fields in Israel, including a brand new state-of-the-art field in Bet Shemesh that will eventually be the home playing field for the national team. The new facility’s strategic location between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will bring international tournaments and attention to Bet Shemesh, along with the accompanying benefits of tourism. It will also continue to bring America’s pastime to the hundreds of thousands of American children and families who have made aliyah and gives the children an opportunity to embrace this familiar sport as a way to ease their integration into Israeli life. Project Baseball is a wonderful project to support, and we’re looking forward to seeing the team reach new heights at the WBC under Ian’s leadership.”

In his new role, Kinsler draws on a wealth of baseball experience. Kinsler played 14 seasons in the MLB with the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres. Kinsler was a four-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and a member of the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox. Kinsler considers winning the World Series and the WBC with Team USA to be his two greatest baseball accomplishments. “Winning the World Series is the pinnacle of the sport!”

Kinsler’s career includes twice hitting 30 home runs and stealing 30 bases in both the 2009 and 2011 seasons while with the Rangers. He also hit for the cycle in a game in 2009, while getting hits in all six of his at-bats. Kinsler retired following the end of the 2019 season with 1,999 career hits.

He continues to share his love and knowledge of America’s favorite game in Israel.

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Original article published in the JNS

The coronavirus provided an opportunity for the founders of Dogiz to rethink their business.

Dog owners in need of a walk, concerned about health and wellness, or looking to support important societal causes … meet Dogiz.

Founder and COO Danny Djanogly, 32, and CEO Alon Zlatkin, 37, created the Dogiz company and dog-walking app while students in a business-school class on startups at Israel’s IDC Herzilya (now Reichman University). While their original plan was to make it easier for dog owners in Tel Aviv to find walkers while at work—and to create jobs for people with disabilities—the recent COVID-19 pandemic posed new challenges as people were staying home with their dogs more and needing less help. It also provided an opportunity for the founders to rethink the business.

As a result, Dogiz has just launched an updated app, website and business plan for these changing times.

Djanogly was pleased with how things were going with Dogiz prior to the pandemic. In 2015, the two immigrants—one from northwest London and one from Kazakhstan—were accepted into the HIVE, an accelerator for olim (new immigrants to Israel) and won a Google competition that landed them their first $100,000 investment. They received support from Samurai Incubate Inc., an early-stage Japanese venture-capital firm that has invested in more than 33 Israeli startups. They were imagining a company that offered services such as dog-walking, doggie daycare, boarding and grooming.

When Djanogly and Zlatkin met Aviad Friedman—an Israeli author, businessman, adviser to Israeli ministries, as well as former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and (at the time) chairman of the Israeli Association of Community Centers (IACC)—he suggested that they consider training and employing people with disabilities. He had some expertise in the area; he is the father of a 24-year-old son with autism.

The company offers services such as dog-walking, grooming, boarding and daycare. Credit: Courtesy.

Friedman pointed out that people with autism and other disabilities like and depend on routines and predictability, as do many dogs. He also shared data on the high rate of unemployment among people with disabilities and suggested they train and hire people with disabilities.

“We stumbled upon disabilities by accident,” says Djanogly, who notes that “we created Holchim B’Yachad [‘Walking Together’] and were growing unbelievably—we had 15 candidates with disabilities, a course and special trainer, and were working with the Shekel and Beit Ekstein [disabilities programs] in Israel.”

“We were flying until March 15, 2020,” reports Djanogly. “Then COVID hit. We were sure it would boil over soon. It didn’t—and so we had to face the harsh truth and reality. It was a curse and a blessing, and gave us some downtime to look at our business. We went to our board and told them that we could either close or change.”

The founders had an important observation. “We realized that 15% to 20% of dog owners use pet-care services like boarding, grooming and walking. But 100% buy food and use veterinarians. Dog owners are also a community where there is implicit trust,” say Djanogly and Zlatkin, who also spoke with many veterinarians.

They decided to create a platform to better manage their own dogs’ lives. The app and website, complete with a new logo, incorporate gaming techniques to educate and engage dog owners, along with a health and fitness tracker.

“Our mission is to help owners gain a deeper understanding of their dog’s health and reward them for being more active with their dogs,” notes Djanogly. “As dog owners, we know how hard it can be to manage your pup’s life, so we created Dogiz to do all the hard work for you.”

Dog owners are encouraged and incentivized to increase the fitness levels of their pets by keeping them more active. In the process, they earn Dogiz coins that can be used for discounts on products and services in the Dogiz shop.

For every action owners do on the app—completing a quiz, tracking walks, and providing weight, memory or mood updates associated with their pets—they get coins. They can also see on the leaderboard how fitness levels compare with other dogs in the neighborhood.

Danny Djanogly (left) and Alon Zlatkin. Photo by Sam Jakobson.

‘We are no longer geo-restricted’

As Djanogly and Zlatkin continued consulting with veterinarians, they also learned of an interesting trend that the doctors were seeing. The veterinarians reported that they were regularly receiving photos of dog poop from concerned dog owners who wanted to check if something was wrong with their pet’s digestive systems. And so, the Dogiz team created Dr. Poop, where a team of veterinarians reviewed images and created a program to quickly analyze the byproducts and let owners know how concerned they need to be about their dog.

“Dog poop is a clear window into a dog’s gastrointestinal health,” reports Djanogly. Owners can also earn coins by using Dr. Poop.

The two founders also take the opportunity to help less fortunate dogs. In the United Kingdom, for example, owners can participate in the “PAWpurse Miles for Meals” program. For each mile walked with their dog, a meal is donated to a dog in a shelter. In Israel, people can donate coins earned to a local dog shelter, which receives funding to support their important work.

Djanogly further notes that with the relaunch of Dogiz, “we are no longer geo-restricted.”

The company will continue to provide dog-walking services in Tel Aviv and London, and train and hire people with disabilities. But they have now expanded—creating an inclusive community of dog lovers and arranging partnerships with service providers and pet-food companies.

The duo says that they are pleased with their new direction: “It gives dog owners rewards and motivation to be active with their pet via products they need and use. Why not do it by keeping their dogs healthy?”

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