YACHAD Blog

Me and My (Camp) Shadow

NORTHWOOD, N.H. — For the first time, this summer individuals with special needs will be given an opportunity for educational and social experiences with full inclusion in Camp Yavneh. Yachad, The National Jewish Council for Disabilities and Camp Yavneh, a mainstream overnight camp in Northwood, N.H., are partnering to offer a shadow program. With the […]

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Special Education Beyond the Big Apple

In the halls of Phoenix Hebrew Academy you may meet a young man with cerebral palsy. The 13-year old relies on a walker and wears a soft helmet on his head in case he falls, but he is perhaps best recognized by the peers around him, who offer to carry his books and assist him […]

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NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More

With 25,000 members of the broad Jewish community across the United States and Canada engaged within more than 100 programs in honor of North American Inclusion Month (NAIM), the initiative to springboard and inspire awareness and sensitivity for individuals with special needs has made an impact. Acknowledged five years ago by the United States Congress, […]

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State Legislators To Special Needs Delegation: Education Tax Credit Bill Is Good For All Schools And For Public School Teachers

  The Education Investment Incentives Act—also known as the Education Tax Credit—is good for both public and non-public schools: this was the message shared by many of the state legislators who met with today’s 50-person delegation, composed of individuals with special needs and mainstream high school students, who went to Albany to push for the […]

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Judge Richard Bernstein, Blind from Birth, Leaves His Bench to Highlight New England Yachad Shabbaton in Boston, March 6-8

Justice Richard Bernstein has great affection for Yachad. Blind from birth, Justice Bernstein, who was elected to the Michigan Supreme Court in November 2014 – the first blind justice to sit on this court – has participated in a variety of  events, including running in the Miami Marathon and Half Marathon (formerly the ING Miami […]

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Op-Ed: Speak out to make U.S. more inclusive for disabled

By William Daroff and Lynne Landsberg | February 23, 2015 1:12pm WASHINGTON (JTA) — A quarter-century ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act became the law of the land. That’s 25 years of progress, of advances that have improved the lives of people with disabilities beyond what was previously possible. The Jewish community has joined in those efforts […]

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Yachad Presents Purim PowerPoint Megillah Readings for the Deaf & Others with Special Needs

This Purim, which begins Wednesday night, March 4, Yachad will once again be offering its PowerPoint presentation free of charge to synagogues and organizations interested in promoting Inclusion for all who wish to be part of the mitzvah of listening to Megillat Esther. The presentation is directed at the deaf and hard of hearing, the visually […]

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Camps promote inclusion, job skills with burgeoning vocational programs

Like many 22-year-olds, Ben Nadis has somewhat murky career goals. Though he likes his job at the Kroger near his house in Farmington Hills, Mich., he doesn’t want to work there forever. Maybe he’ll be on TV instead, he jokes – he’s not sure. But Nadis isn’t like most 22-year-olds. He was born with developmental […]

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Honoring Her Children, A Yachad Parent Runs For Glory

After seeing some posts on Facebook a few months ago, I called my husband, David, and told him that I was thinking of running the Miami Lifetime Half-Marathon with Yachad. His first response was “You know you don’t run,” soon followed by “You are out of your mind,” and finally(sigh,) “Just let me know where […]

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Yachad Celebrates 30th Birthday!

New York, NY – Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, dedicated to inclusion for all Jewish children and adults, is celebrating 30 years of service to local, regional and international communities. Yachad, which, translated from Hebrew, means “together,” offers those with special needs a way to participate in events and programs which help weave […]

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