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News

In new film, Down syndrome

Published: Tuesday, February 5, 2008 8:06 PM EST

is no obstacle to prayer

By Wolfson

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Lior Liebling davens everywhere: in the backyard, in

school and on the swing set.

Some congregants at his Philadelphia synagogue, Mishkan Shalom, call him the

" little rebbe. "

" The Zohar tells stories of miracle children who were spiritual geniuses, "

one synagogue member said. " Well, that's what Lior is. "

Lior is the 13-year-old featured in the new documentary " Praying with Lior, "

which highlights the bar mitzvah of a Jewish child living with Down

syndrome. The character study of this charming boy tells of how Lior's

community successfully integrates him into communal life -- a challenge many

Jewish communities face with mentally and physically disabled members.

Several Jewish institutions, run programs to improve service to the Jewish

disabled, but experts say most Jewish institutions do not do enough to meet

their physical, religious and social needs.

" There are people sitting on the outside who desperately want to come in, "

said Christensen, the co-chairwoman of a Reform task force that

creates " inclusion committees " for disabled Jews in synagogues, community

centers and other Jewish institutions.

While the Jewish community has made progress in recent years, Christensen

said, it still has a long way to go in providing disabled members with

places to pray, learn and participate.

Down syndrome is of particular concern to Ashkenazim, who are predisposed to

the disease; approximately one in 27 carries the gene for Down syndrome.

In " Praying with Lior, " producer and director Ilana Trachtman follows the

teenager from his pre-bar mitzvah haircut to the bimah and beyond, checking

back with him two years later.

Though he struggles with baseball and schoolwork, Lior is able to pray with

sincerity, a feat encouraged by those close to him.

Like Lior's Reconstructionist community, the children and teachers at Lior's

Orthodox day school admire and accept him.

" There is no such thing as a disabled soul, " Besie Katz, the principal of

that school, the Politz Hebrew Academy told JTA.

Katz said the students at Politz accepted Lior because while they understood

that he had certain limitations, he also had strengths.

" God makes every person with a different test in this world, " one of Lior's

classmates says in the film. " We don't know what God's doing. When God made

it that Lior has Down syndrome, it also became a test to us -- how we treat

Lior, if we do things with Lior. "

Politz was able to accommodate Lior in part because of Orot, a

special-education initiative that places children with disabilities in

Philadelphia's Jewish day schools. Orot participants typically begin in a

secluded learning environment, and in time they experiment with integrated

classrooms.

" It is geared for the children to be successful in the mainstream

environment, " Beverly Bernstein, the program's educational director, told

JTA.

Orot is modeled on a program called Keshet started 26 years ago by a group

of parents frustrated by the lack of Jewish opportunities for their disabled

children.

Now those kids are adults, with some participating in Keshet's transition

program for 18- to 22-year-olds. It sets up participants with jobs if they

are able to work, and provides recreational programming for young adults.

Orot and Keshet's biggest challenge, like many Jewish organizations

dedicated to inclusion, is funding, organizers say.

They have been helped somewhat by Americans' growing awareness of people

with disabilities, which in turn has raised the consciousness of the issue

in the Jewish community.

Birthright Israel and the National Jewish Council for the Disabled, which is

part of the Orthodox Union, run a free trip to Israel for disabled Jews. The

council also runs summer and work programs for special-needs children and

adults.

Many Jewish communities are prioritizing the issue by designating staff

members to make their institutions more welcoming for people with special

needs.

Rabbi Dan Grossman, who spoke on a panel that followed a screening of the

film in January at the New York Jewish Film Festival, said he has worked to

make his Reconstructionist synagogue, Adath Israel of Lawrenceville, N.J.,

welcoming by offering seeing-eye dogs, a wheelchair-accessible bimah and

half a dozen reserved wheelchair spots in the pews -- and not in the back.

" Whoever takes the lead role in the congregation needs to take the position

that this is important to the identity of the community, " Grossman said of

the need to accommodate special-needs members.

" Moses stuttered, Isaac was blind, was probably hyperactive, " he

pointed out.

Lior's father, Mordechai Liebling, who is a Reconstructionist rabbi, worries

that his son will face a tougher environment as he becomes an adult.

Judaism places a high value on scholarliness and education, Rabbi Liebling

said, but it's equally important to value people with other abilities.

" I really have a lot of hope, " he said, " that the community will take

responsibility and do the right thing. "

" Praying with Lior, " will be screened at the Hartford Jewish Film Festival

on Monday, Mar. 24 at Beth El Temple in West Hartford.

For a full schedule of Festival events visit www.hjff.org.

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