Calgary Jewish Community Marks Disability Inclusion Month with Record-Breaking Event

by Jana Zalmanowitz, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(AJNews) – Calgary’s Jewish community packs a full calendar of programming run by various organizations. Many may not realize the story behind the inception of each of these events. This is often the case with programming run by Calgary Jewish Federation’s (CJF) Inclusion Program. On February 22, over 100 people registered for Inclusion’s most recent event celebrating Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). They registered to see a film featuring inclusion, and they left embodying the exact mission of Inclusion’s programming; They became a part of the conversation on disability and participation in our community.

Karina Szulc is CJF’s Manager of Inclusion of Disabilities. She has been in this role since 2014, doing what she calls “community gardening.” To understand this role, means to understand one of Szulc’s favourite analogies of inclusion. When you plant a seed, you have the expectation it will grow into a plant. But what if this plant doesn’t come out like you expect and doesn’t fit with your garden? You could try to change the plant. You can add fake leaves, paint it a different colour, cut off its thorns. Yet none of these will help the plant thrive. Instead, a good gardener changes the plant’s environment. It moves it to a different location for light, adds nutrients to the soil, adjusts watering, or places it with other plants that benefit its growth.

Instead of plants, let’s apply that concept to people. When people with a disability are part of the Jewish community, the goal is to modify their environment to become barrier free, so that person can thrive.  “Inclusion is a birthright,” explains Szulc. “Everybody has their right, from birth, to feel welcome in their community. To feel that they belong, are appreciated and that they can participate as themselves.” Celebrating JDAIM is one way in which Szulc tends to our “community garden,” creating spaces where all members see what it means to consider how every person can participate and be valued.

This year’s JDAIM event, “Chair or no Chair” featured the award-winning documentary Itzhak about violinist Itzhak Perlman. As a polio survivor, Perlman encountered many barriers in life. As a violinist, he was denied opportunities because it was the norm that violinists stand while they perform and Perlman was unable to do so. When Ed Sullivan welcomed Perlman onto his stage in 1958 with the option to perform seated, Perlman was able to play, and the world received the gift of his talent. “The question is ‘chair or no chair?’ Who is gaining by providing a chair and who would lose out by not providing it?” Szulc explains, circling back to our community. What would we miss out on by not making space for all people who want to be a part of our Jewish community?

While Itzhak was a feature of the afternoon, the lineup included many local nods to inclusion. Benji Weizman, a skilled Torah reader and member of Calgary’s Kesher club, began the schedule with the recitation of the prayer for meshane habriyot. This prayer celebrates the diversity found amongst god’s creatures. There was space to honour educator Andrea Scharfstein for her curation of PJ Library’s inclusive Simcha Series programming. The program also featured performances by local musicians, violinist Mariya Usachev Bukhta and pianist Rachel Kreyner. It’s fitting that an event focusing on disability and inclusion centered around music. “Music is one of the most inclusive experiences,” Szulc says.  “Music goes beyond words. When we are in a musical experience, we are all the same, together in the same moment.” This observation comes from experience, as Szulc brings her background as a musical therapist to her role with Inclusion.

Calgary has joined Jewish communities across the globe in celebrating JDAIM since 2013. “This is not an event that is targeting families with people with disabilities,” Szulc emphasizes. “This is an event that is meant to inspire and to reach the general community, to nurture an inclusive mindset.” This year achieved that goal, with milestone numbers for the celebration. Szulc noted that for only the second time, registration for the JDAIM event was full and even more people showed up than had registered. She noticed the event brought in many new faces, who have not previously attended Inclusion events and may now be inspired to think more about accessibility.

Szulc has always been amazed by the contributions of the community for Inclusion programming and this year surpassed the generosity of previous years. Because cost can be a barrier, the program is free, yet many people chose to contribute. There are some long-time donors, like Mr. Lenny Shapiro, who provide generous annual financial donations that Szulc says are instrumental in continuing Inclusion programming, yet there were a number of new donors as well. Szulc celebrates this not only because it allows her to allocate money to future programs and support but because it signifies success in inclusion awareness. “People in our community donate to many worthy causes such as Israel and Jewish education because we have very generous donors. Donations from this event demonstrate that Inclusion in the Jewish community is also being valued and recognized.”

To those who attended the JDAIM afternoon, they experienced a joyful event celebrating inclusion. Kol Hakavod to CJF Inclusion for inviting the community into a vital conversation on what it means to nurture diversity within our community and foster an appreciation for everyone within it. The tone and attendance at the event prove what Szulc is cultivating in the community. “Inclusion is not heavy and it is not specifically for people with disabilities. It is for everyone,” she says.