In the U.S. and Canada more than 67 million people have some form of disability. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, 4.3 percent of children in the US have a physical, mental, and/or emotional disability, and an estimated 2.6 million households have at least one child in the home with a disability. With the passage momentous civil rights legislation, the U.S. and Canada have made significant progress in recent decades, but in both countries people with disabilities still lag behind national averages in education completed, employment rates, income, technology access, homeownership, and voter participation. As Americans, Canadians, and members of the Jewish community we must continue our support for disability rights by educating our communities, ensuring accessibility in our synagogues and services, supporting disability rights legislation, and demanding enforcement of existing laws.
Learn more about URJ Introduction to Judaism Online, taught exclusively in American Sign Language (ASL) for Deaf adults.
Passed in 2014, the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act allowed people with disabilities up to age 26 and their families to establish tax-advantaged savings and investment plans called ABLE Accounts. Although the ABLE Act continues to provide an important measure of financial security to people with disabilities, anyone who acquires a disability after they turn 26 is ineligible to create an ABLE account. Urge your members of Congress to cosponsor the ABLE Age Adjustment Act to help millions of additional people with disabilities save for the future.
Learn from disability rights activists and take action to advance the needs and rights of people with disabilities. Part of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month, this virtual event is hosted in partnership with Jewish Federations of North America and other community partners.
Due to out-of-date benefits and caps on earned income and assets, SSI, the federal program that provides a minimum level of income to impoverished people with severe disabilities and older adults, is trapping people in poverty -- providing financial assistance that is now 26% below the federal poverty level. The SSI program needs to be updated, and the SSI Restoration Act will lift more than 3 million vulnerable Americans out of poverty by increasing SSI benefits to match the federal poverty level and modernizing caps on earned income and assets that have not been updated since the 1980s. Urge your Members of Congress to co-sponsor and pass the SSI Restoration Act now!
Learn more about the position of the Reform Movement on these key issues, and read the formal resolutions by the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis.
More can and must be done to build a more inclusive Jewish community. Created with our partner organizations, Hineinu is a guide to breaking down barriers and creating inclusive communities.
As we highlight disability inclusion and work toward disability inclusion in our Jewish communities all year long, here are just a few ways to be an individual ally to people with disabilities.
Find resources, including our congregational toolkit, created by the URJ Audacious Hospitality team to help you make your community more equitable and inclusive.
Established in 2009, JDAIM is a unified initiative to raise disability awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide.
JDAIM’s founder explains why our congregations and communities should participate in Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month and suggestions for doing so.
Shelly Christensen of Inclusion Innovations, founder of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month, shares an annual JDAIM recent inclusion guide and other materials.
We are taught “Do not separate yourself from the community” (Pirke Avot 2:5); accordingly, we must prevent anyone from being separated from the community against their will.
The Reform Jewish Movement’s 2022 Every Voice, Every Vote Campaign is a nonpartisan effort, grounded in our Jewish values and commitment to racial justice, to strengthen our democracy by encouraging and protecting voter participation.
The RAC is proud to partner with the Jewish Federations of North America on disability rights policy and organize Jewish Disability Advocacy Day.
The RAC is proud to be on the Steering Committee of the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Collaborative, a group of more than two dozen faith-based organizations working to advance disability rights and inclusion.
For more information on this issue, contact Lillie Heyman.
