This week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim, features the following prohibition: “You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:13). This line is discussed in the Talmud using a figurative interpretation - that we are prohibited from causing others to commit a transgression. But let us not pass over a more literal reading of the commandment - that we must create spaces that are accessible to people with disabilities and that we must act with compassion towards people with disabilities.
At the Hebrew Educational Alliance, we strive to ensure that individuals with disabilities and their loved ones can actively participate in all aspects of religious life and take on leadership roles within our congregation. Read more about HEA disability inclusion on this new page on our website.
The HEA’s disability inclusion committee, in a collaborative effort with our Board of Directors and Jewish Family Service’s Jewish Disabilities Advocates group, has worked to create a list of actions that will make our facilities and programs even more accessible to people with disabilities. One of the actions on that list is to hold a facility tour during which people with disabilities and their loved ones can give feedback to staff about how to enhance accessibility. Tour attendees can share their thoughts out loud via a paper form or a digital survey. Tours will meet at the HEA (3600 South Ivanhoe Street, Denver, CO 80237) outside the main door - the door from the lower parking lot. We will be holding accessibility facility tours on the following dates:
If you or your loved one has a disability of any kind, such as a physical, developmental, emotional, or intellectual disability or neurodivergence, your participation in one of these tours would be greatly appreciated. Your insights and experiences are invaluable to us. If you would like to attend, please register by clicking the link above for either date. If you cannot attend one of these tours but have thoughts about accessibility to share with our committee, please share your thoughts through the registration form or call our office at (303) 758-9400.
Thank you for helping to make the HEA a warm, welcoming, and inclusive community, a community in which we are all Kedoshim - holy.
