Published Articles

Original Article in Jerusalem Post:

A new film spotlights a superlative musician and exceptional human who happens to use crutches.

In the disabilities world, we learn the importance of using person- first language. A person is not “wheelchair-bound,” rather he is a person who may also be a father, lawyer and expert Scrabble player who uses a wheelchair. He or she is not defined by the disability, rather, it is one aspect of the person, who also has many talents and strengths.

There is a very famous Sesame Street episode from 1981 where world-famous violinist Itzhak Perlman appears in a moving segment that illustrates this point. A young girl effortlessly runs up some steps to a platform and sits down with her violin. Perlman climbs the same steps with difficulty, using crutches.

“Some things that are really easy for you are really hard for me,” comments Perlman, who sits next to the girl and plays his Stradivarius in the magnificent manner viewers would expect. The girl, a beginner on the violin, replies, “Yes, but some things that are easy for you are hard for me.”

Now, thanks to the delightful, recently released film Itzhak by director/ producer Alison Chernick, viewers spend 83 colorful minutes with Perlman in a wide range of settings and time periods, from his childhood in Israel, where he walked with leg braces and completed his initial training at the Academy of Music in Tel Aviv, to his appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1958 after he was discovered in a talent search in Israel, to his move to America where he attended the Juilliard School.

Perhaps most exciting is seeing Perlman doing ordinary as well as exciting and somewhat unexpected activities, including navigating the streets of Manhattan in a motorized scooter during a snowstorm, rehearsing (and eating Chinese food) in his townhouse with fellow musicians, bantering with Toby, his powerhouse wife of 50 years, sipping wine in his home with actor Alan Alda, sitting in his scooter on the field at a New York Mets baseball game (in a “Perlman” jersey), and rehearsing on stage at Madison Square Garden with singer Billy Joel.

There is a beautiful scene shot in a violin shop in Tel Aviv. “My cinematographer, Daniel Kedem, who lives in Tel Aviv, knew about this violin shop that happened to be on Perlman’s childhood block,” says Chernick, the award-winning writer and director of documentaries profiling contemporary artists and with credits including The Jeff Koons Show, Matthew Barney: No Restraint and The Artist is Absent.

“The shop is Amnon Weinstein’s – a wonderful man who restores violins and has been sent many violins from the concentration camps,” says Chernick. Perlman, whose parents immigrated to Israel from Poland, is shown many unique violins, including one with a swastika hidden inside.

“He brought this extra level of gravity to the film by giving us the history of these violins, which created a narrative platform for us to dive into Jewish history through these violins.”

Itzhak opened in New York City on March 8 and in Los Angeles on March 16; and will open in San Francisco on April 6. The schedule of openings in other cities is at ItzhakTheFilm.com. Chernick is pleased to report the film will soon premiere in Israel.”

Docaviv, the Tel Aviv International Documentary Film Festival, is the largest film festival in Tel Aviv and the only festival in Israel dedicated exclusively to documentaries.

Making a film about Perlman was clearly no easy task.

“The more celebrated the subject, the more pressure there is to deliver in a manner that justifies his legacy,” notes Chernick. She carefully completed all filming, digested the content and finally decided on the actual story to tell.

“For me, what became transparent after seeing my footage over and over again, were themes of Jewish identity, Jewish history, humor, love, love for life, love between Perlman and Toby and of course a shared love for music. These themes all emerged as unique story lines that would resonate independently.”

Itzhak is entertaining, enjoyable and filled with beautiful real-life scenes. Chernick covers a lot of ground. Yet, viewers expecting a comprehensive, year-by-year unfolding of Perlman’s life may be disappointed. An additional gap is not explaining what exactly sets him apart from hundreds of other talented violinists. How did Perlman – and not others – come to achieve this level of greatness? Viewers didn’t seem bothered by such omissions.

They were happy to catch a sneak peek at the film at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan on February 13, nearly a full month before its release date, and they were treated to a Q and A with Perlman and his wife. They were amused that Perlman (who has likely seen the movie dozens of times) came a few minutes late, as he was looking for parking, and they loved his sense of humor as he apologized for wearing the same sports jacket that evening that he wore throughout the film.

After answering questions about whether he and Toby put up any boundaries in the filming and how they chose the musical selections, Perlman, the accomplished violinist who happens to have a physical disability, spoke passionately and openly about the lack of accessibility he has experienced on planes, in bathrooms, in hotel rooms and in nearly every place he has traveled around the world.

“I feel in many ways, those who are supposed to make things accessible are literally clueless! I would like to organize a seminar and discuss what it means to have accessible living spaces. We should be ashamed of ourselves – the richest country in the world….”

The talented, thoughtful Perlman left the audience with an important observation.

“We all have different problems and needs.”

In Itzhak and in person, Perlman offers a glimpse in to how we can begin to overcome these challenges.

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Original Article in JNS:

There is a moving, somewhat entertaining scene in the recently released film “Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” where Moshe Abutbul, the mayor of Bet Shemesh, invites the 10 visiting American baseball players from Team Israel and their significant others to help him dig a hole in the ground on the site of a future baseball field and stadium. He shares that in the Chassidic tradition, “If you want something to grow, you plant seeds.” Hopeful that the team’s success and baseball’s popularity in Israel will continue to grow, he and the Team Israel players “plant” a fresh white baseball in the ground.

Judging from film footage showing the enthusiastic reception and request for autographs the rock-star-like players received all over Israel—and from the from the cheers of the audience that packed the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan for the New York premier of the 85-minute film—Team Israel and Israel baseball are off to a great start.

The crowd came to relive the story of Team Israel’s dramatic, if not miraculous, run in the World Baseball Classic—from winning the Qualifiers in Coney Island, N.Y., in September 2016 through its perfect record in Round 1 in Seoul in March 2017, to their games in Tokyo in Round 2. They also came to hear about their life-changing, 10-dayBirthright-style trip to Israel in January 2017 and to catch a glimpse (and maybe get an autograph) from some of their Jewish baseball heroes.

Some came clad in Team Israel blue-and-white hats and shirts. (One fan made a beeline in the JCC entranceway for team CEO Peter Kurz to ask him if Atlanta Braves pitcher Max Fried is Jewish. Kurz proceeded to tell him he was, and that he was a member of the gold-medal-winning 2009 Maccabiah Games Team USA Juniors baseball team).

Others wore New York Mets gear in honor of former New York Met and current Team Israel player (in attendance) Ike Davis. At least one father and son carried white baseballs in anticipation of autographs during the celebratory rooftop reception.

‘Celebrating the team’s victories in real time’

The film begins with Kurz and assistant general manager Margo Sugarman combing through birth, circumcision and wedding documents as they attempt to verify the “Jewishness” of potential players for Team Israel. Under the Heritage Rule, to represent a country a player need only be eligible for citizenship of that country. For this reason, nearly the entire team is comprised of American players—most with a tenuous connection to Jewish religion and culture. The experience of playing for Team Israel and visiting Israel (for the 10 men who went) was transformative.

The film includes footage of all of Team Israel’s World Baseball Classic games, but mostly focuses on the trip to Israel (starting with the flight on casino mogul Sheldon Adelson’s private plane). The story is told through the eyes of Josh Zeid, Ike Davis, Ty Kelly, Sam Fuld, and the always colorful and funny Cody Decker. Audience members quietly spoke to seatmates as familiar sites such as the Dead Sea, Masada, Yad Vashem, the Western Wall and the Arab shuk in Jerusalem appeared on the screen. The filmmakers captured scenes of the players doing karaoke, watching belly dancers and buying shirts of their former or current Major League teams—written in Hebrew.

Following the film, MLB’s sportswriter Jonathon Mayo moderated a question-and-answer session. Panelists included all three directors—Daniel Miller, Jeremy Newberger and Seth Kramer—in addition to Kurz, Davis and Israeli-born pitcher Shlomo Lipetz. Mayo noted some in attendance who were connected to the team, including Jeff Aeder, a restaurant owner from Chicago, founder of jewishbaseballmuseum.com and team supporter; Nate Fish, the team’s first-base coach; and Dan Rootenberg, the strength and conditioning coach, and so-called “Mensch on the Bench” (aka the team’s mascot and inspiration).

The filmmakers, who have been friends since their days as campers in Young Judea, spoke about their experiences and observations. Miller noted that “it is incredible how articulate they are. We all went to camp and experienced our spiritual metamorphosis in our teens. These guys were playing baseball and went through it later in life—through experiencing anti-Semitism and from feeling disconnected.”

Davis spoke movingly in the film about conducting family history of his non-Jewish father and Jewish mother. He noted that he could go back five or more generations on his father’s side, but barely a generation on his mother’s side, as most were killed during the Holocaust. “The trip to Israel was a learning process, a spiritual journey,” he said. “We were representing family members killed for being Jewish.”

Lipetz, who was on Team Israel’s 2013 and 2017 teams, described playing baseball for the Jewish state as “the best experience I’ve ever had on a personal level.” Prior to the screening, he told JNS that he recently got to see teammate Jeremy Bleich pitch for the Nashville Sound. “I wish more guys [from the team] were still playing ball—that’s the nature of the beast.”

During the JCC’s rooftop after-party, with music by American Jewish rapper Kosha Dillz (his song, “Jews With Bats,” is featured in the film), Miller and Kurz opened up about the experience. Miller said he is delighted that the “response to the film has been electric,” with people “celebrating the team’s victories in real time.” He was also shocked to learn of the large number of Jews who didn’t know anything about Israel playing in the World Baseball Classic. He acknowledging being moved watching the players traveling to Israel for the first time: “They came in with negative experiences and returned with great pride.”

Kurz said he’s pleased with the team’s success and its impact on baseball in Israel. He reported a 30 percent increase in Israeli children playing baseball since the World Baseball Classic. The film continues to play to enthusiastic crowds in Israel. And Kurz is looking to the future, saying “five WBC players are working on making aliyah through Nefesh B’Nefesh. They are looking forward to helping Israel baseball in its quest for the Olympic qualifiers.” Kurz went on to explain the complicated process of qualifying for the Olympics and noted enthusiastically that “Israel loves the Olympics! If they qualify, it will be the first time since Montreal in 1976 when Israel qualified for a team sport.” He also noted that only six teams will make it there.

Perhaps the baseball planted deep in the ground in Beit Shemesh will bear fruit in time for Tokyo 2020, so Israel can have a rematch against Team Japan.

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Original Article Published on The Covenant Foundation

In the late 1960’s, Herb and Barbara Greenberg, two teachers working in the field of special education, approached several Jewish summer camps with a novel idea: why not include children with disabilities at camp?

At the time, this was an unheard-of idea, and the Greenbergs encountered a lot of pushback and opposition.

“People worried it would cost too much, disrupt the order of camp, lower the level of Hebrew, and that the [neuro] typical children would leave,” they reflected, years later.

But Donny Adelman z”l, the camp director who was running a Camp Ramah program in Glen Spey, New York (the camp later moved to a New England site), responded enthusiastically. As Barbara Greenberg explained in The Jerusalem Post last year, Ramah recognized the Jewish moral imperative that this initiative signified.

It was that recognition, and a willingness to move the needle on Jewish camping, which ultimately led to the establishment of the first Ramah Tikvah program in 1970.

Identifying and recruiting campers that first summer wasn’t easy. Jewish communal professionals were not yet engaged in or thinking much about how to include Jewish children with disabilities in Jewish camping life, and it would be many years before inclusion became a buzzword. But that summer, Herb and Barbara managed to recruit eight campers, and the first Tikvah program was born.

It wasn’t smooth sailing at first. In fact, that inaugural summer, the Greenbergs spent a great deal of time serving as diplomats within the camp community, advocating for their ideal of inclusive camping, and reassuring people at camp who didn’t understand at first how a model like this could work.

But their dedication paid off. Over several years, Tikvah programs began to spring up in Ramah overnight camps across North America, and in dozens of other Jewish summer camps as well (Today, all Ramah overnight camps and day camps serve campers with disabilities, with offerings including camping and vocational training experiences, salaried employment for adults with disabilities, Israel programs, weekly video meetings, and occasional reunions and get-togethers for participants and alumni.)

This model of inclusion was so successful, in fact, that it has begun to serve as an “industry standard” for how Jewish communal spaces welcome children with disabilities into their programming.

While summer programs for campers with disabilities were much needed, there was more to be done. Families still felt there were not enough opportunities for their children to experience Jewish learning during the calendar year and for programming that included the whole family. In addition, accommodations for children with disabilities still weren’t quite meeting the standards necessary for true inclusion (which include, among other things, accommodating for sensory and behavioral needs during prayer services and community-wide events).

Families longed for a place where they could attend a Shabbat service with their child, knowing that a child’s different behavior (loud noises, or an outburst) wouldn’t be deemed a disruption. They desired an environment of acceptance as well as camaraderie with other families.

Rabbi Loren Sykes, a veteran Camp Ramah director and a 2006 Covenant Award recipient, was listening. In 2004, he launched Camp Yofi, a Jewish family camp experience for children with autism, their parents, and their siblings. (Camp Yofi received a Signature Grant from The Covenant Foundation in 2005.)

“We created Camp Yofi out of a desire to establish sacred space for and warmly welcome back Jewish families who were being excluded, actively and passively, from the Jewish community,” Rabbi Sykes shared.

Family camps for children with disabilities take place at Camp Ramah sites once or twice per year in California, the Poconos, and New England.

While inclusive camping clearly benefits people with disabilities and is praised by their parents, the impact on the rest of the camp community is also worth noting. For nearly 50 years, Ramah campers and staff members have been returning home to their synagogues and Jewish communities with a greater awareness of and comfort with people with disabilities. Each camper, staff member, mishlachat (Israeli delegation) member—the entire Ramah community—interacts with people with disabilities in a very natural way—through Shabbat programming, camp-wide field trips, meals in the chadar ochel, special events, free swim, barbecues, and special buddy and peer mentoring programs for campers and staff.

And this bears out in reflections from campers who experience the enrichment of Tikvah firsthand.

“Inclusion has taught me many lessons including patience, tolerance, and acceptance,” said Julia Wolf, a 21-year-old veteran Ramah camper. “These are qualities I take with me in my life, everyday.”

Campers at Ramah who are between the ages of 13-16 also have opportunities across the camp sites to be peer mentors, and often chose to work as inclusion or Tikvah counselors when they return as staff members at age 18. This helps assure a steady pipeline of sensitive, qualified staff.

The Jewish camping community has come a long way since the days of Herb and Barbara Greenberg’s foundational work. Today, many Jewish summer camps offer inclusive programs and the Jewish community as a whole has become far more attentive to the needs of people with disabilities.

But it’s the effect that Tikvah has had on families that is the most resonant of all.

“The Tikvah program at Camp Ramah in New England is Molly’s happy place,” said Hannah Jacobs, the parent of a long-time Tikvah camper.

“It’s more than just a second [summer] home for Molly,” Hannah continued. “It’s also the only place that allows her the freedom to be her true self.”

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Original Article in the Jerusalem Post

As the bus rolls up to the army base, A., one of the participants on the first ever Amazing Israel: Ramah Tikvah trip, begins to cry.

“No, there are soldiers here and they’ll have guns,” she moans. “No, no, no, no.”

Staff member Liz Offen speaks quietly and calmly.

“I know this is difficult for you,” she tells A. “We’re here for you. I know you can do this.”

A., holding hands with a friend, cautiously gets off the bus. At first she won’t even enter the large warehouse where special needs Israeli soldiers are folding army uniforms. She sits down outside, her friend with her, but she has stopped crying.

The participants on this Birthright trip, most of whom have attended the Tikvah program at different Ramah camps in the US, have a wide range of disabilities, both physical and emotional. They have come to the Bilu army base in Rehovot, outside Tel Aviv, to meet Israeli soldiers who also have disabilities and who are part of the Special in Uniform project.

The project takes more than 300 young Israelis with significant disabilities and trains them to do simple jobs in the army. It starts when the participants are still in school, which they attend until age 21. They can then volunteer for the army, and, if found suitable, can be inducted. 

The Bilu army base is a logistical base for the Paratroopers Brigade. Today, the students are folding army uniforms and tying them together in stacks of five. They come one day a week as part of their school program.

“The goal is to integrate them into Israeli society,” said Tiran Attia, a retired lieutenant-colonel, who runs the program. “It is good for them, but it is also good for the regular soldiers. It teaches them to become more compassionate.

The army runs a separate program called Ro’im Rahok (Seeing Far), which integrates young high-functioning adults with autism in Israeli intelligence units.

The young uniform folders carry tables outside so that the Birthright participants can help with the folding. A few participate, but most just watch.

The Birthright participants enjoy putting on Israeli army uniform shirts and hats. One young man proudly says that his father served in the army and he is happy to be visiting an army base.

This is the first time that Birthright Israel has partnered with Tikvah of Camp Ramah. Tikvah is a program for campers with special needs at each of the Ramah camps. The Camp Ramah spirit infuses this trip, which includes daily tefillot, or morning prayers, as well as a spirited version of “Rise and Shine” complete with hand gestures.

Howard Blas, the director of the National Ramah Tikvah Network, and one of the organizers of the special needs trip, says they made some changes to the traditional Birthright itinerary, while still hitting up the major sites in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, Masada and the Dead Sea.

For example, the group did visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, but kept to a few of the smaller exhibits, rather than the main museum, which can take several hours to go through and is difficult to exit once you begin.

“We did a lot of things that are very multi-sensory like chocolate making, a jeep ride in the Golan and tree planting,” he said. “We also tried to do as many things as possible with animals because they love animals.”

Birthright has so far brought 600,000 Jews on free 10-day trips to Israel, including 2,000 adults with special needs.

Birthright CEO Gidi Marks says it is committed to bringing every young Jew who wants to visit Israel on a trip.

“OFFERING SPECIAL needs trips fits in with our broad mission of enabling each and every young Jew around the world, regardless of their circumstances, to take part in a once in a lifetime trip to Israel and connect with their Jewish heritage and identity,” he said. “These trips include all the hallmarks of the usual Birthright Israel experience: heritage sites, Israeli peers and countless special moments allowing them to connect with Israel and the Jewish heritage. Additional staffing and educational content customizations are made when and where necessary.”

For the parents of these young adults, it was a chance for their kids to be just like their neuro-typical siblings.

“I don’t think he would get an opportunity like this any other way,” Aron Wolf, whose son Danny has cerebral palsy and limited verbal ability, said. “I was skeptical that it would come through but it did. As far as I know, this is the first time that somebody with Danny’s disabilities has been included in any Birthright trip.”

Birthright Israel funded a caretaker for Danny, as well. His parents, like the parents of all the young adults on the trip, were thrilled to see the photos posted on Facebook each day. They also checked in with the caretaker frequently by phone.

“It sounds corny but he has the same birthright as any other young adult who is Jewish to experience Israel independently without his parents,” Danny’s mother, Michelle Wolf, said.

This is the first time that Danny has been so far from home. While he attends Camp Ramah in California, Michelle says that she is just a short flight away. She says she was concerned about sending Danny so far away alone.

“The idea of him being so far away from me was difficult,” she said. “I would have never even considered it if he hadn’t spent all of those summers at Camp Ramah.”

Tour guide Doron Kornbluth specially requested to guide this Birthright group. While most Israeli tour guides compete to stuff in as many sites and as much content as possible, Kornbluth said he had to take the participants’ disabilities into account.

“YOUR EXPECTATIONS have to be completely different,” he said. “A tour guide who is really invested wants to start early, end late, pack in a lot of information, teach a lot of history and that’s just not doable for this group. You cannot do as much at all.”

Another challenge is the range of disabilities of the participants. While all of them, except Danny, are able to walk, and most are able to speak clearly, a few are higher functioning.

Rachel Tracosas, 22, from Madison, Wisconsin, has high-functioning autism.

“It’s been an amazing experience to connect with my roots here in Israel,” she said. “I loved going donkey riding and going to the Kotel, which is what my brother did when he did Birthright last summer.”

The participants seemed to connect deeply with each other. Tracosas fed Danny at a lunch stop when the participants were given a budget and could choose what they wanted from a kosher food court in a local mall. Even that small independent step was exciting for them. They looked at all possible choices and discussed them before making their final decision.

Michelle Wolf said Danny’s caretaker told her that he is popular and that the participants all wanted to push his stroller. During lunch, several of the girls gathered around him, feeding him and smoothing his hair.

And every morning, when Danny managed to pull himself onto the bus by himself, his new friends gave him a spontaneous round of applause

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