A Call for Justice – Parshat VaYeira
Our patriarch Abraham is venerated by our tradition for many good reasons. He is a most dedicated and obedient servant to God, having been willing to leave his homeland with his family and travel [...]
Give the Kid a Pencil
When we, at Matan, discuss what it means to include every student in Jewish education, we often refer to such things as creating welcoming spaces, using differentiated instruction to meet a wide [...]
Bison Have Inclusive Instincts
This summer, my family took an eight-hour tour of Yellowstone National Park. We saw flora and fauna, smelled sulfur coming from geysers, got rained on, took many photos and heard more [...]
Journey Forth to Inclusion and You Shall Be a Blessing – Parashat Lech Lecha
Just one month ago, Jewish families around the world stood together on Yom Kippur, pledging to transform ourselves and our world. After taking an honest measure of who we are and who we could be, [...]
Helping Children Understand Siblings and Friends with Special Needs
The largest minority in America is the population of people with disabilities. Children live in a world full of people who are different from each other in all sorts of ways. Helping them to [...]
Included, Everyone
The following post originally ran on the blog of the Huffington Post. The poster for a middle school dance at my son’s school was blocked out in uneven, handwritten letters: SCHOOL [...]
Everyone on the Ark – Parashat Noach
Midrash is a rabbinic commentary on the bible that clarifies legal points so that we can derive lessons through literary devices. We use stories, parables, and legends to help understand, fully [...]
A Normal Dyslexic Day
This post, written by a 16-year-old with dyslexia, originally ran on the blog of Learning Ally, a national non-profit dedicated to helping blind, visually impaired and dyslexic students succeed [...]
Of Every Kind – Parashat Bereshit
The Torah opens with the story of creation. In the first chapter of Genesis, we are taught that all people were created in the image of God. The text relates that God created fish “of every [...]
Words to Live By: Matan’s Divrei Torah Initiative
A former Matan Board member and accomplished self-advocate, Jason Lieberman, believes that contained within EVERY Torah portion is a message of inclusion. We have have published several of [...]
Crafted by Cornershop