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…he has taught me more than I will ever be able to teach him…

by Madelyn Schaeffer, TAP teen, Adath Israel I have known the special needs child whom I am currently working with at my Hebrew School for about a year or two. I’ve worked at the camp that he goes to over the summer for years and I was even an assistant teacher in his older brothers classroom in the past. When I was assigned to this kid, this silly and hyper little boy, I didn’t think much of it; I thought teaching Alex would be like any other experience I’ve had with special needs kids, I thought I would need more [...]

By |February 25th, 2014|Categories: TAP|0 Comments

A Challenge is Good…

by Abbe Goldstein Or Hadash I work with a boy named Jeffrey almost every Sunday at Or Hadash. Jeffrey is in fourth grade and has Down Syndrome. I enjoy working with Jeffrey because he poses a challenge for me, and it is good to be truly challenged every once in a while. In the beginning, he would always hit me and say things such as “I hate you!” It has been a learning experience on not just how to deal with Jeffrey’s behavior, but how to control my own behavior. I can’t yell at him, and can’t show him that [...]

By |February 25th, 2014|Categories: TAP|0 Comments

If You Build It, They Will Come

By Jaime Bassman, Consultant, Whole Community Inclusion / Back in the 1980’s, after the movie “Field of Dreams” was released, I heard a particular line from the film that was frequently quoted (and often misquoted): “If you build it, he will come.” When the Pew Study, A Portrait of Jewish Americans, was released in the fall of 2013 (and the hand wringing over the future of American Judaism began anew), it spurred many organizations to consider how to rebuild their institutions and offer fresh, relevant programming in order to keep Jews in the fold.