So often our Jewish texts fail to speak to disabled experiences. What happens when we read disability justice texts as spiritual texts? This is a workshop for people who identify as disabled or chronically ill, and their allies, to connect — with each other, and with disability justice teachings – as they intersect with our Jewish lives. At this gathering, we will discuss excerpts from Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha’s The Future is Disabled, focused on the topic of disabled home and community-building as it relates to Jewish ideas of diaspora and sacred space.
Please join us if:
- You long for more disabled community or wonder what disabled community can look like
- You are interested in being a student of disability justice and are/or Torah
- The ongoing pandemic makes you feel like you have to choose between safety and connection
The Disability Justice Torah Circle is a space for Jews with disabilities to build community around Torah and engage Jewish text through a disability justice lens. The space nurtures and amplifies the voices of Jews with disabilities and produces “Disability Torah” to impact the broader Jewish community. This group is sponsored by SVARA.
Jess Belasco is a radical torah teacher, organizer, and community convener primarily focused on disabled and queer Jewish communities. They are very nearly finished with rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where they have focused on midrash and pastoral care. Jess runs the Disability Justice Torah Circle, which hosts classes, facilitates connection, and provides pastoral resources for disabled, high-risk, and chronically ill people who desire Jewish community.
