st
Oil' Ridding Ourselves Of False Notions
By MARY KORETZ
Vocabulary
Mary Koretz of Oak Park has taught
both children's and adult classes in
Yiddish at the Workmen's Circle.
neies
veil
mentshn
veib
eingenemen
por
kukn oif
vunderlech
frei
vu
nitst
hob gebitn
I was watching the neies on
television veil on a recent visit to
Los Angeles. The two anchor
mentshn, as it happened, were
husband and veib. They were
competent, eingenemen and an
unusually handsome por.
My friend, who was also kukn
oif the program said, "Isn't it
vunderlech that she feels frei to
keep her hands on the desk vu they
are so visible. Then, too, she nitst
them so naturally in spite of their
deformity."
I hob gebitn my gaze from the
newswoman's ponim to her hent.
Indeed they were zayer deformed.
There were sach fingers gefelt
and other disfigurements as well. I,
too, hob getracht it marvelous that
she could occupy aza a public
position and feel free to display her
abnormality.
How veit we have come in
freeing ourselves from the ridiculous
bagrif that anything different, in a
physical sense, was to be bahaltn.
Not only are the impaired made to
suffer a loss ober those of us who
are not so disadvantaged farlirn
something, too.
Vie did we arrive at the idea, az
people with physical imperfections,
were best not seen? I gloyb that we
entertained the primitive notion that
azelche conditions were punishment
for some evil doing. Perhaps the
korbn, or some other member of his
mishpoche, was the perpetrator of a
sin. But there is genug guilt
engendered in normal human
behavior to onrirn all people. Why
then are we not ale afflicted?
I'm grateful for the increased
visenshaft that has brought about a
change of attitude. I'm dankbar for
the street curbs gemacht to
accommodate wheelchairs; for the
lifts fashioned to hoist such
benklech onto trains, buses and
cars. When, in a krom, I come upon
someone shopping in an electric
wheelchair or see a kind
mainstreamed, other than being
confined to a special class, or
participating in the Special
Olympics, I'm filled with frayd. After
all, if it should happen to me or
someone I love, we could still live a
satisfactory life.
news
while
people
wife
pleasant
couple
watching
wonderful
free
where
uses
shifted
ponim
hent
zayer
a sach
gefelt
hob getracht
aza
veit
bagrif
bahaltn
ober
farlirn
vie
az
face
hands
very
many
missing
thought
such
far
notion
hidden
but
lose
how
that
gloyb
azelche
korbn
mishpoche
genug
onrirn
ale
visenshaft
dankbar
gemacht
benklech
krom
kind
frayd
believe
such
victim
family
enough
touch
all
knowledge
grateful
made
chairs
store
child
joy
Pesach Family Affair At JARC
By RENA FRIEDBERG
Changing the dishes. Searching
the house for chametz. Shopping
for Passover groceries. Preparing
the seder meal. And the always
challenging, "What to serve for
lunch during Passover?!"
Common Passover rituals in
most Jewish homes, repeated
twelve times at JARC.
At JARC, the six men or women
with developmental disabilities living
in each of the twelve Haverim
"The seder meal at a
Haverim Home has
become a meaningful
and heartwarming
tradition with the
guidance and caring of
volunteers who lead
them."
Homes celebrate the Festival of
Freedom with their own special
traditions and memories just as all
families do.
Everyone participates in the
holiday within the range of his or
her abilities and skills — from
shopping and preparing the festive
meal, to simply enjoying the seder
songs. With caring and trained staff,
along with many volunteers,
Passover is a meaningful and
enriching experience for each JARC
participant.
JARC's links with the
community are never stronger than
at Passover.
Next week, when the homes
begin to prepare for the holiday,
they will have some very special
help. Students from the bar and bat
mitzvah class of Hillel Day School
will visit several homes to help
wherever they are needed —
bringing dishes up from the
basement, cleaning out cabinets,
and Bedichat Chametz, the
searching for chametz with a
feather and candle. Now a two-year
tradition, the visit is part of a year-
long cooperative project between
the students and the JARC
residents.
The seder meal at a Haverim
Home has become a meaningful
and heartwarming tradition with the
guidance and caring of volunteers
who lead them. Among them is
David Barg, who has led JARC
seders for 12 years. The group may
vary, but at Mr. Barg's seders, one
thing is present — lots and lots of
singing! Because of his annual
contact with JARC, Mr. Barg has a
unique perspective on JARC.
"One year, I may meet a
resident who has recently moved
into the home from living years in
an institution. He doesn't talk and is
very withdrawn," Mr. Barg said.
"Next year, he proudly tells me he
is working and is doing a lot of
things for himself, and clearly is
more independent. As if it's time-
lapse photography, I can really see
what living in the community has
meant to this person."
And with each seder
leader; including JARC board
members Harriet Gelfond, Rabbi
Bruce Aft, and Seymour Greenstein,
the concept of freedom in relation to
JARC does not escape them.
"Many of the JARC residents came
from places where they were not
free," Mrs. Gelfond remarked, ". .
from institutions where they did not
have the freedom to choose, to
complain, or to have the opportunity
to celebrate Passover."
Participants in JARC's DeRoy
Independent Living Program and
the Maas Supported Independence
Program who live independently in
their own horns or apartments enjoy
their own seders.At last year's pot
luck seder for the DeRoy program,
JARC board member Bill Cohen
and the participants together read
from the Haggadah and discussed
freedom as it applied to their own
lives as persons with disabilities.
As they do throughout the year,
many temples and synagogues
open their hearts to JARC and
Passover by inviting residents and
participants of the other JARC
programs to second-night seders.
Community groups also help JARC
celebrate the holiday, such as the
Orchards Hills ORT chapter which
delivers Passover supplies to
individuals in the JARC DeRoy
Independent Living Program.
Even with 12 homes and the
two independent living programs,
there still remain nearly 300
individuals waiting for placement.
Some of these people live in
institutions where they have no
access to celebrating Passover;
others are isolated from the Jewish
community. For them, JARC helps
bridge the gap by sending Passover
packets which contain matzah, a
Haggadah and candles, a gesture
which provides a link with their
heritage.
Rena Friedberg is development
coordinator for JARC, a Jewish
Association for Residential Care for
Persons with Developmental
Disabilities.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
L 11
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