How To Be Happy in Unhappy Times - Thoughts on 'Special Needs'

 In honesty, I’m having a lousy time at the moment – too much worry, too much hate and not enough joy.

If you are anything like me, here are a couple of IG reels that have lifted my heart, both connected to special needs.

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DYA2gY2u_mY/

and

https://www.instagram.com/reels/DX-QcSePKQ9/

As I was wiping away the result of some dust clearly having got in my eye … twice!, and thinking of posting this, the fact that both these posts feature special needs somehow figures into what was making these posts so special for me.

Two thoughts

One is thank you. I owe an enormous debt to everyone who has opened my eyes to what happens when we make accommodations to the needs of each individual in each of our particularities. I’ve been reading the newly published A Different Spirit: Creating Meaningful B’nai Mitzvah for Children with Disabilities (H/T Howard Blas and Ilana Trachtman). It’s, largely, a collection of first-person narratives of those who have been on a meaningful BM journey, or loved someone who was, or wasn’t supported, or teachers, tutors, rabbis and the whole constellation. And aside from picking up some terrific tips for our own approach at New London, I’ve realised that the image of God emerges from these encounters in a way that it’s so easy to miss ‘normally.’ I’ve had the privilege of supporting special-needs journeys many times, and every time I’ve felt more lifted by what I have gained than challenged by the effort. Thank you.

The other is an obligation. There are still so many who find a single door-entry into Jewish life unfit for their needs; whether that be ramps or amplification, or patience, or the technical skill brought by a diverse range of therapeutic professionals or … The object has to be that every human being, again, for me there is no getting around the essential place of the doctrine of Tzelem Elohim in this – the image of God is vested in each of us precisely in our peculiarity and idiosyncrasy – finds a pathway through which they can enter with decency and travel with pride. More to do.

But if, in the meantime, you want to feel a little happier about the world … click on the reels.