Brainstorming With Brooke

 JDAIM      February is JDAIM (Jewish Disability Awareness Inclusion Month).      I fit squarely in the target group for this month as a Jew with a disability.  Of course it's nice to think that everyone should want to be kind to people with disabilities in February or every other month and regardless of their faith.      In Judaism, the Hebrew phrase" B'tzelem Elohim" comes from the Torah. In Genesis 1:27 it is explained that all people are created in God's image. If everyone is created in God's image, then we each should be treated with dignity and respect regardless of our differences.      T here are all types of disabilities and all types of accommodations that synagogues can offer those who come to worship that carry through the teaching of B'tzelem Elohim. Wheelchair accessibility is obvious. It would probably be easy to find someone to sign the service in ASL for deaf congregants. For those with vision challen...

    I'm really late with this post.      For about fifteen years I have been hosting a gingerbread holiday party at my house. It started out as about ten people including a few kids and adults decorating homemade gingerbread houses. These homemade houses require nine cups of flour, two cups of molasses and are baked over the course of a full day in stainless steel molds that I have had for over a decade. Over time, the party has grown to about seventy guests, mainly because the kids have more friends and their families are invited as well as my friends and their families. We still bake a few houses in the stainless steel molds, but I admit that I buy the rest pre-assembled. At the party, the kids decorate their houses(I’m pretty sure that as much candy goes on the houses as in their mouths.) For many people who suffer a traumatic brain injury one of the resulting impacts is perseveration. Generally speaking, perseverating manifests as the...