Special Needs and the Jewish Community
About ten years ago I was working for an agency that worked with children and teens (and their parents) who were emotionally disturbed. Some of these children/teens were also intellectually challenged. Three of the children I worked with were from the same family. All three were intellectually challenged as well as emotionally disturbed (their older brother had molested all three of them). I found the work challenging – and at times downright difficult – but I would not have given up that … [Read more…]
Return to the Jewish Mission
Saul Singer, an opinion columnist who appears in the Friday Jerusalem Post, wrote on 7 March about the Jewish mission. The article was entitled, “From survival to purpose.” Here are some of the pieces of his article that I found particularly interesting: To modern Jews, the idea of a Jewish mission is either antiquated, messianic (in the sense of unreal) or radical. Many Jews have a vague notion that they had a mission. They are roughly cognizant that monotheism, a strange notion when it … [Read more…]
Me and Christmas
Avi and Tamara invited me to cross-post and guest-post, so here I am crossing and guesting from Accidentally Jewish. All right, fine, I’ll admit it. This was a harder-than-expected Christmas for me. I got teary eyed during Will Farrell’s Elf. I got choked up watching Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t mind the Christmas Carols so much. I made the Christmas Tree. I made ornaments. I wrapped presents with no care about the significance of the color paper. I accepted a stocking and filled stockings. I … [Read more…]