Sacred Values

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Have I mentioned that I love this place? I wrote yesterday about my feelings being back in Israel and reconnecting with my family. Rather than glance over another series of interactions from today, I want to hone in with some detail about yesterday’s visit with my cousin Roie. Ami (Roie’s father) and I picked him up yesterday before Shabbat Dinner from his home in a unique and special place called Kishorit. Roie is a young adult with autism. He has been living at Kishorit for a number of years and I want to share just a bit about him and about some of what I learned during our visit.

According to their website, and for more than two decades, “Kishorit is a home for life for adults with special needs in the Western Galilee. It is a supportive community that provides a continuum of residential, social and vocational services. Kishorit members live full, independent lives, and mature and grow old with dignity.”

More than 100 residents live in Kishorit, including Roie. Ami shared that Kishorit's model of caring for the special needs population significantly differs from the more typical approach of inclusion that we see and hear about in the US. Indeed, Kishorit is only for adults with special needs. Each day, Roie will eat 3 meals in the dining hall, participate in social activities and field trips, and even gets to work closely with a horse every day (which he absolutely loves!). He lives in a suite style apartment with common space to share with his roommate.

This topic is of particular interest to me given that I volunteered for years in Los Angeles for a group of adults with range of developmental and cognitive disabilities, through LA’s Jewish Family Service. I always loved being with that community, getting to know them, sharing experiences like hiking, dancing and stargazing, and engaging in conversations that illuminated their rich and distinct personalities. When working with this population, one experiences the total absence of pretense and judgement, complete authenticity and honesty. Perhaps it was my relationship with Roie in my early 20s that inspired me to get involved with working with this population.

Roie and I always had fun together. We would play silly games like switching letters around on common words and seeing if we could understand each other. We would sit together quietly, hold hands and just enjoy each other’s company. We would name members of the family in the US ...note he would always smile and laugh at the sound of my father’s name. His inner beauty and spirit emanates from him through every interaction. Getting to spend time with Roie, once again, absolutely warmed my heart!

I have always been in awe of how Roie’s parents care for him, and am thrilled that they were able to find such an incredible home, where Roie will be able to live the rest of his life. Since Ami and Rachel moved up north, they are now just 20 minutes away and no doubt have some peace of mind that their beautiful son (now a man) is in a safe, stimulating, and enriching environment. And yet, the reality that the families of many others with special needs may not be able to care for their loved ones is not lost on me.

When I said goodbye to Roie last night, I thought about an inspiring program our Jewish Federation of Greater Portland funds in Israel. The impactful and moving “Krembo Wings ” program is “the only inclusive youth movement in Israel for children and youth with and without disabilities, providing weekly social activities for young people with all types of mental and physical disabilities together with their able-bodied peers. Established in 2002, Krembo Wings operates tens of branches across Israel, and welcomes thousands of young people aged 7 to 21 from all cultural, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.” Please read more about their incredible work on their website!

While Krembo Wings is just one of many programs, initiatives and organizations we fund, it offers an insight into the values that inform our work. I’m so proud to work for an organization that demonstrates compassion for those in need. I'm proud to be part of a movement that builds community. Whether supporting people with disabilities, investing in programs that support survivors of sexual violence, or equipping and empowering disadvantaged and disconnected youth living in the periphery of Israeli society, our Federation truly impacts the lives of countless Israelis.

My participation on the Jewish Federations of North America Campaigners Mission officially begins tomorrow night, as most (if not all) of my co-travelers arrive in Israel. During the next 6 days, we will network with each other and develop deeper connections. We will explore new methods of inspiring members of our communities in the US to invest in our collective work of enhancing and strengthening our communities at home and abroad. Many people I meet struggle understanding what it is that Jewish Federations do. I hope that subsequent blogs throughout the trip will help tell our story. I am writing these blogs in honor of my cousin Roie and the thousands of others that our funding supports each and every day. Thanks for reading them!

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