וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ, בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים בָּרָא אֹתוֹ And God created humanity in God’s image. In the image of God, God created them. כוונת התנא, משום כך יראה האדם להיטיב [...]
“Let the earth hear the words that I utter; May my discourse come down as the rain.” This week’s torah portion, Ha’azinu, begins with an aged Moses seeking to have the Israelites understand what [...]
As a Jewish professional, it breaks my heart when our organizations cannot make it possible to include everyone who desires to be part of our communities. As stewards of Jewish values within our [...]
Ten summers ago, we held our first session of Camp Yofi: Family Camp for Jewish Families with Children with Autism at Camp Ramah Darom. Of the many images from our first session in 2006, one [...]
As a lifelong Ramahnik and Ramah California Tikvah staff member, I was excited to spend time at the newest Ramah camp in Northern California (“Ramah Galim”) this past summer, helping start a [...]
It all started with a ramp, or a lack thereof. Scottie grew up in the synagogue community, a kid everyone loved. Neither the cerebral palsy diagnosis he received as a baby nor the wheelchair that [...]
I never want to turn anyone away. So when a parent comes to me to share that they have a child with special needs my inclination is to automatically say, “Yes! Come! We will figure it out,” [...]
We’ve probably all said it about something, without bothering to get the whole story: “That’s not FAIR!” At a deep level, most of us have instincts about what fairness actually is. We tend to [...]
The cycle of holidays in the Jewish calendar is described several times in the Torah, each with a different emphasis. For example, the listing in the Book of Vayikra describes the unique mitzvot [...]
I went to services with a group one Shabbat this summer, at a place where none of us were accustomed to going. Where we were or what we were doing together this summer are for other blog posts; [...]