If Your Synagogue Doesn’t Have Members with Disabilities, You May Be Doing Something Wrong

If Your Synagogue Doesn’t Have Members with Disabilities, You May Be Doing Something Wrong

This article was originally published in Medium.

By Aaron Kaufman, Disability Inclusion Advocate

Aaron Kaufman shares his personal experience living with cerebral palsy from childhood into adulthood, and his professional career as an advocate for people with disabilities.

“According to a study by RespectAbilityUSA and JerusalemU.org conducted in 2013, most American Jews with disabilities feel excluded from their own communities. I was not at all surprised to read this result. Growing up in the 90s, my mobility issues kept me from experiencing my Jewish community in full. I was unable to attend Jewish schools because of their inability to meet my needs. I could not celebrate my bar mitzvah from my synagogue’s bimah, as it was not physically accessible to me.”