February is Jewish Disability Awareness month at Temple Beth Shalom. Join us for our special programs!

February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month (JDAM) and Temple Beth Shalom’s Inclusion Committee and membership committee are sponsoring many programs to celebrate it! JDAM is designed to raise awareness and foster the inclusion of people with disabilities and their families in Jewish life in our community. All programs are at Temple Beth Shalom, located at 193 East Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ 07039.

Friday February 27 6:30PM we will have our Shabbat L’Khulam service. It is a Shabbat Shalem, a Sabbath made whole by inclusion of all of its members. This service welcomes those of all abilities. Cantor Sharon Knoller leads this program, created as a warm, nurturing, supportive environment for families with members of all abilities. This is an interactive service where you will be encouraged to dance, play instruments, and pray from your heart. You need not be concerned about distracting anyone because of a family member’s physical, cognitive, emotional, or behavioral issues. Everyone is welcome! Snacks will be served!

Saturday February 28, 6:45PM-8:15PM we will host a Magical night! The night will begin with a warm Havdallah service followed by a magic show featuring magician Tommy Knucklehead. Light refreshments will be served.Price: $10 for TBS member families of 2-4 persons. $5 for each additional person.$18 for non-member families of 2-4 persons. $5 for each additional person. Seating is limited in order to facilitate an intimate, sensory-friendly environment so reserve your tickets now. Tickets will not be sold at the door. RSVP is required by 2/25; if the event is sold out prior to that, you will be contacted and your money refunded.A quiet break room will be provided, as well as gluten free snacks. Please contact TBSInclusion@gmail.com for more information and to discuss any need you may have for further accommodations.

New this year is our affiliation with the the WAE (Wellness, Arts, Enrichment) Center Program of the Jewish Service for the Developmentally Disabled. Throughout February, we will be providing space at TBS for them to display part of their Chairs of Inclusion display, which was developed in honor of their tenth anniversary of JSDD’s WAE Center. Ten life- sized chairs had been commissioned from professional artists, each of whom has worked with the Center’s member artists to create a chair as an art/sculpture object. The chairs represent our commitment/belief that every person is entitled to a “seat at the table”– in our community and our family lives. The goal of the project is to shift perceptions about people with developmental disabilities and broaden the public’s awareness of policies about inclusion.To follow up on this relationship with the WAE center, in honor of JDA, Rabbi Dorsch will be having his Teen Leadership program visit the WAE center and get to know the members of this very worthwhile community.

We are proud to have been among the first MetroWest ABLE awarded congregations. Our mission for JDAM this year, was to demonstrate how we have achieved our mission to ensure that all our committees and arms as well as our religious and pre-school offer inclusive programming,

• Our Family programming recently had a Havdallah program, where, for the second year in a row, they provided a quiet space and other accommodations for the comfort of families with those needs.
• Our PTA is planning their annual Purim carnival, where for years now they have generously open the “bouncy house” for families with special needs prior to the general opening.
• This year Rabbi Dorsh and the Teen Leadership program, Leah Beker’s religious school student volunteers, hope to also offer a quiet room with sensory-friendly activities throughout the Purim carnival time to meet the needs of all children within our community.
• This past year was our third annual High Holy Day inclusion program.
• We began our fourth year of our Shabbat L’Khulam program. This service is 6:30PM on the following Friday nights: 2/27, 3/13, 4/17, 5 / 8, and 6/12
• We applied for and received Metrowest Able grant for the second time, to support adaptations in the building to ensure accessibility.
• TBS installed an ADA compliant automatic door at the entrance to our building, through the generous donation of an anonymous donor.

The TBS Inclusion committee is proud if its achievements and accomplishments. We celebrate our achieved but ongoing mission of ensuring all programming at TBS promotes the opportunity for full inclusion and participation of all people in religious and communal life. Temple Beth Shalom is located at 193 East Mount Pleasant Avenue, Livingston, NJ and information can be found at http://www.tbsnj.org/