Disability Torah Project
@disabilitytorah.bsky.social
Uplifting disabled wisdom in order to grow the library of disability Torah through weekly publications, and uplifting disabled wisdom more generally.
linktr.ee/disabilitytorahproject
linktr.ee/disabilitytorahproject
“On Tisha B'Av, we join the eternal chorus of the broken, the mourning, the unconsoled. We refuse the theology of everything that happens for a reason and embrace the theology of Lamentations: sometimes things are simply ruined, and the agony is real.”
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/tis...
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/tis...
When Comfort Becomes Cruelty — Disability Torah Project
By Om Green “When Comfort Becomes Cruelty” | Tisha b’Av | 5785
www.disabilitytorahproject.org
August 3, 2025 at 6:08 PM
“On Tisha B'Av, we join the eternal chorus of the broken, the mourning, the unconsoled. We refuse the theology of everything that happens for a reason and embrace the theology of Lamentations: sometimes things are simply ruined, and the agony is real.”
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/tis...
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/tis...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
One of the most frustrating things about being physically disabled is I have never seen an ablebodied person (who has not had to take care of a disabled parent) understand what it means to be physically disabled
Not one. There is just that little education on the topic
Not one. There is just that little education on the topic
July 13, 2025 at 11:36 AM
One of the most frustrating things about being physically disabled is I have never seen an ablebodied person (who has not had to take care of a disabled parent) understand what it means to be physically disabled
Not one. There is just that little education on the topic
Not one. There is just that little education on the topic
"...the systems are not made for us. We are the ones who most clearly see the world’s brokenness, and so we most clearly hear the call to get creative and make something new."
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/bal...
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/bal...
If You Could Speak My Language — Disability Torah Project
By Kochav Yehudis “If You Could Speak My Language” | Parashat Balak | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
July 9, 2025 at 3:24 PM
"...the systems are not made for us. We are the ones who most clearly see the world’s brokenness, and so we most clearly hear the call to get creative and make something new."
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/bal...
www.disabilitytorahproject.org/writings/bal...
We’re inviting contributions for the Disability Torah Project, a growing collection of writings that explore the weekly Torah portion with a focus on disability. Details at link below. Fun and supportive opportunity!
www.disabilitytorah.org/write-with-us
www.disabilitytorah.org/write-with-us
Write With Us — Disability Torah Project
www.disabilitytorah.org
July 1, 2025 at 11:24 PM
We’re inviting contributions for the Disability Torah Project, a growing collection of writings that explore the weekly Torah portion with a focus on disability. Details at link below. Fun and supportive opportunity!
www.disabilitytorah.org/write-with-us
www.disabilitytorah.org/write-with-us
“Grief tells us that we have loved and the deeper that love, the larger the vessel for the grief. Allowing ourselves to feel the grief in whatever capacity is possible is transformative, because it shows our systems that we can do hard things."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/chu...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/chu...
Serpents and Spirals of change: Letting teshuva be our guide — Disability Torah Project
By Lior Gross “Serpents and Spirals of change: Letting teshuva be our guide” | Parashat Chukat | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
July 1, 2025 at 11:16 PM
“Grief tells us that we have loved and the deeper that love, the larger the vessel for the grief. Allowing ourselves to feel the grief in whatever capacity is possible is transformative, because it shows our systems that we can do hard things."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/chu...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/chu...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
If your “accessible” shul says “if we make this accommodation for you, we’ll have to do it for everyone” - that’s not inclusion, it’s avoidance.
Access isn’t about making exceptions.
It’s about reshaping the space so everyone actually belongs.
Access isn’t about making exceptions.
It’s about reshaping the space so everyone actually belongs.
June 18, 2025 at 1:55 PM
If your “accessible” shul says “if we make this accommodation for you, we’ll have to do it for everyone” - that’s not inclusion, it’s avoidance.
Access isn’t about making exceptions.
It’s about reshaping the space so everyone actually belongs.
Access isn’t about making exceptions.
It’s about reshaping the space so everyone actually belongs.
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
If you don’t know your needs, you won’t see the meltdown coming.
You’ll blame yourself for “losing it” instead of recognizing the warning signs.
Understanding your needs isn’t selfish.
It’s survival.
It’s how we interrupt the cycle - before the crash.
You’ll blame yourself for “losing it” instead of recognizing the warning signs.
Understanding your needs isn’t selfish.
It’s survival.
It’s how we interrupt the cycle - before the crash.
June 12, 2025 at 7:39 AM
If you don’t know your needs, you won’t see the meltdown coming.
You’ll blame yourself for “losing it” instead of recognizing the warning signs.
Understanding your needs isn’t selfish.
It’s survival.
It’s how we interrupt the cycle - before the crash.
You’ll blame yourself for “losing it” instead of recognizing the warning signs.
Understanding your needs isn’t selfish.
It’s survival.
It’s how we interrupt the cycle - before the crash.
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
Most people are far closer to becoming disabled and/or homeless than they realize.
All it takes is one accident, infection, virus or stroke of bad luck.
Your life can change in an instant, and no one is the exception.
You can’t “try harder” your way out of it, and it’s not a personal failing.
All it takes is one accident, infection, virus or stroke of bad luck.
Your life can change in an instant, and no one is the exception.
You can’t “try harder” your way out of it, and it’s not a personal failing.
June 16, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Most people are far closer to becoming disabled and/or homeless than they realize.
All it takes is one accident, infection, virus or stroke of bad luck.
Your life can change in an instant, and no one is the exception.
You can’t “try harder” your way out of it, and it’s not a personal failing.
All it takes is one accident, infection, virus or stroke of bad luck.
Your life can change in an instant, and no one is the exception.
You can’t “try harder” your way out of it, and it’s not a personal failing.
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
This is even true where a person's disability does not impact ability to go to an office in an obvious way. Meal/food prep is a big burden for me because I essentially cannot eat anything I did not make myself at home. WFH/hybrid takes some of that load off and makes my diet better.
Not only can working from home make you happier, for many disabled people it allows them to remain in the workforce
It gives them autonomy & independence. Flexibility to attend doctors appointments and care for their health
It’s a crucial accommodation, and removing it will harm disabled lives
It gives them autonomy & independence. Flexibility to attend doctors appointments and care for their health
It’s a crucial accommodation, and removing it will harm disabled lives
Scientists have studied remote work for 4 years and have reached a clear conclusion: working from home makes us happier - Caring Minds United
Scientists have spent four years diving deep into the world of remote work and stumbled upon a powerful truth: working from home genuinely makes us
www.cmu.fr
June 15, 2025 at 11:23 PM
This is even true where a person's disability does not impact ability to go to an office in an obvious way. Meal/food prep is a big burden for me because I essentially cannot eat anything I did not make myself at home. WFH/hybrid takes some of that load off and makes my diet better.
"I have access to the inner wilderness and Promised Land... There are times of sensory overload when I cannot feel the seed of compassion, yet that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. This is what faith is all about."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shl...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shl...
The Ambiguity of Promise: An Autistic Interpretation — Disability Torah Project
By Harper Hazelmare “The Ambiguity of Promise: An Autistic Interpretation” | Parashat Sh’lach | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
June 16, 2025 at 1:33 PM
"I have access to the inner wilderness and Promised Land... There are times of sensory overload when I cannot feel the seed of compassion, yet that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. This is what faith is all about."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shl...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shl...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
You spent years not knowing.
Masking. Struggling. Blaming yourself.
Now you know you’re autistic - but that’s just the beginning.
My workshop for late-identified autistic humans is a space to unlearn shame, rebuild trust in your brain, and meet yourself with compassion.
Masking. Struggling. Blaming yourself.
Now you know you’re autistic - but that’s just the beginning.
My workshop for late-identified autistic humans is a space to unlearn shame, rebuild trust in your brain, and meet yourself with compassion.
June 9, 2025 at 1:33 PM
You spent years not knowing.
Masking. Struggling. Blaming yourself.
Now you know you’re autistic - but that’s just the beginning.
My workshop for late-identified autistic humans is a space to unlearn shame, rebuild trust in your brain, and meet yourself with compassion.
Masking. Struggling. Blaming yourself.
Now you know you’re autistic - but that’s just the beginning.
My workshop for late-identified autistic humans is a space to unlearn shame, rebuild trust in your brain, and meet yourself with compassion.
"We all lose when disabled people do not have access to leadership. There is a difference between creating a community inclusive of disabled congregants, and creating a community in which disabled people lead."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/beh...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/beh...
Solidarity — Disability Torah Project
By Noah Strauss “Solidarity” | Parashat Beha'alotcha | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
June 9, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"We all lose when disabled people do not have access to leadership. There is a difference between creating a community inclusive of disabled congregants, and creating a community in which disabled people lead."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/beh...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/beh...
People with disabilities of all kinds were in the Torah. People with hearing loss and chronic pain and neurodivergence and limb differences. How many of them were counted because they could ... carry arms? No way to know. But they were there. They had to be.
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/bam...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/bam...
What can we do? We do what we can. — Disability Torah Project
By puck glass “What can we do? We do what we can.” | Parashat Bamidbar | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
May 27, 2025 at 11:48 PM
People with disabilities of all kinds were in the Torah. People with hearing loss and chronic pain and neurodivergence and limb differences. How many of them were counted because they could ... carry arms? No way to know. But they were there. They had to be.
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/bam...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/bam...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
Rest is a holy covenant, not a privilege
Rest Is a Holy Covenant, Not a Privilege — Disability Torah Project
By Mati Boulakia-Bortnick “Rest Is a Holy Covenant, Not a Privilege” | Parashat Behar-Behukotai | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
May 19, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Rest is a holy covenant, not a privilege
“Only when a community is fully inclusive, that is, fully integrated with people with disabilities [...] can we fully reach our true potential as a community.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/emo...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/emo...
Parashat Emor: A Disability Perspective — Disability Torah Project
By Jason Lieberman “Parashat Emor: A Disability Perspective” | Parashat Emor | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
May 12, 2025 at 9:37 PM
“Only when a community is fully inclusive, that is, fully integrated with people with disabilities [...] can we fully reach our true potential as a community.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/emo...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/emo...
“Torah of Pikuach Nefesh comes through our bodies— their insistence on living, their inconvenient, frustrating, and life-altering symptoms. It can be hard to listen. But our bodies speak Torah, and sometimes what they teach is to stop, to rest, to survive.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/ach...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/ach...
And You Shall Live Through Them — Disability Torah Project
By Miriam Saperstein “And You Shall Live Through Them” | Achrei Mot-Kedoshim | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
May 7, 2025 at 2:38 PM
“Torah of Pikuach Nefesh comes through our bodies— their insistence on living, their inconvenient, frustrating, and life-altering symptoms. It can be hard to listen. But our bodies speak Torah, and sometimes what they teach is to stop, to rest, to survive.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/ach...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/ach...
“She suggested that [mitzvot in Leviticus] might instead be a reminder that in certain circumstances we need to be gentle with ourselves and present with our bodies as they are, especially when we wish they were different.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/taz...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/taz...
Coming Clean: Niddah as a Strategy for Healing and Self-Care — Disability Torah Project
By Leah Ari Ruzkowski “Coming Clean: Niddah as a Strategy for Healing and Self-Care” | Parashat Tazria-Metzora | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
April 28, 2025 at 12:46 PM
“She suggested that [mitzvot in Leviticus] might instead be a reminder that in certain circumstances we need to be gentle with ourselves and present with our bodies as they are, especially when we wish they were different.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/taz...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/taz...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
Are you an autistic member of the clergy, spiritual leader, or a seminary student?
No matter what our faith backgrounds may be, we share in the experience of being autistic, disabled, and holding space for our spiritual communities.
Now, a space for us.
theautisticcoach.as.me/clergy-semin...
No matter what our faith backgrounds may be, we share in the experience of being autistic, disabled, and holding space for our spiritual communities.
Now, a space for us.
theautisticcoach.as.me/clergy-semin...
April 23, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Are you an autistic member of the clergy, spiritual leader, or a seminary student?
No matter what our faith backgrounds may be, we share in the experience of being autistic, disabled, and holding space for our spiritual communities.
Now, a space for us.
theautisticcoach.as.me/clergy-semin...
No matter what our faith backgrounds may be, we share in the experience of being autistic, disabled, and holding space for our spiritual communities.
Now, a space for us.
theautisticcoach.as.me/clergy-semin...
“Disabled people often encounter narratives, sometimes from within ourselves, that frame our need for support as weakness or failure. But Leviticus offers a different model: holiness emerges through structured interdependence.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shm...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shm...
A Torah I Cannot Carry: Disability, Holiness, and the Divine — Disability Torah Project
By Mat Wilson “A Torah I Cannot Carry: Disability, Holiness, and the Divine” | Parashat Shmini | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
April 21, 2025 at 12:30 PM
“Disabled people often encounter narratives, sometimes from within ourselves, that frame our need for support as weakness or failure. But Leviticus offers a different model: holiness emerges through structured interdependence.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shm...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/shm...
“I can tell you the desert and Promised Land are not mutually exclusive. And that is actually a pretty good thing. Every day, even at my worst, my life has been filled with mini Promised Lands.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pes...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pes...
That Time I Spent Passover in a Psychiatric Hospital — Disability Torah Project
By Deena Nyer Mendlowitz “That Time I Spent Passover in a Psychiatric Hospital” | Pesach | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
April 15, 2025 at 5:51 PM
“I can tell you the desert and Promised Land are not mutually exclusive. And that is actually a pretty good thing. Every day, even at my worst, my life has been filled with mini Promised Lands.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pes...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pes...
"But those very things which make us strong—how we move through the world, how we present ourselves, who we love, and how we adapt and survive—are being cast as blemishes, now more than many other times in recent memory."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
Beasts and Birds: On (Im)Perfection — Disability Torah Project
By Trinidad Gómez “Beasts and Birds: On (Im)Perfection” | Parashat Vayikra | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
March 31, 2025 at 1:07 PM
"But those very things which make us strong—how we move through the world, how we present ourselves, who we love, and how we adapt and survive—are being cast as blemishes, now more than many other times in recent memory."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
“Gathering the tzitzit reminds me that I can still be uplifted, united with a selfhood I love but do not always understand, united with a people I love but do not always understand, and united with a God I love but do not always understand.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pek...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pek...
Side By Side Among Bells — Disability Torah Project
By Rabbi Jonah Rank “Side By Side Among Bells”| Parashat Pekudei | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
March 24, 2025 at 1:25 PM
“Gathering the tzitzit reminds me that I can still be uplifted, united with a selfhood I love but do not always understand, united with a people I love but do not always understand, and united with a God I love but do not always understand.”
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pek...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/pek...
Stay connected! Subscribe to the Disability Torah Project newsletter and get powerful new Torah insights from disabled writers delivered to your inbox each week.
www.disabilitytorah.org/subscribe
www.disabilitytorah.org/subscribe
Subscribe — Disability Torah Project
www.disabilitytorah.org
March 17, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Stay connected! Subscribe to the Disability Torah Project newsletter and get powerful new Torah insights from disabled writers delivered to your inbox each week.
www.disabilitytorah.org/subscribe
www.disabilitytorah.org/subscribe
“It is through recognizing the way we must act carefully in order to survive, that we’re able to get through each day. It’s a concept as integral to the lives of disabled people as it is to Jewish tradition."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
A Blueprint for Tomorrow: Building the Mishkan — Disability Torah Project
By Fen Argoff “A Blueprint for Tomorrow: Building the Mishkan”| Parashat Vayakhel | 5785
www.disabilitytorah.org
March 17, 2025 at 7:06 PM
“It is through recognizing the way we must act carefully in order to survive, that we’re able to get through each day. It’s a concept as integral to the lives of disabled people as it is to Jewish tradition."
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
www.disabilitytorah.org/writings/vay...
Reposted by Disability Torah Project
Please take a couple of minutes to read this piece.
It's important.
"We have ignored the perspectives, stories & voices of disabled people for so long that their actual needs, feelings and experiences are hardly acknowledged."
It's important.
"We have ignored the perspectives, stories & voices of disabled people for so long that their actual needs, feelings and experiences are hardly acknowledged."
I've Been Paralyzed Since I Was 3. Here's Why Kindness Toward Disabled People Is More Complicated Than You Think
Editors Note: This is a boldly honest look at how people with paralysis have to deal with "overly kind" (well-meaning) offers of help. It's a uniquely
facingdisability.com
March 13, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Please take a couple of minutes to read this piece.
It's important.
"We have ignored the perspectives, stories & voices of disabled people for so long that their actual needs, feelings and experiences are hardly acknowledged."
It's important.
"We have ignored the perspectives, stories & voices of disabled people for so long that their actual needs, feelings and experiences are hardly acknowledged."