Passover night, the birthday of our people, is a special time for each of us to celebrate our own personal birth into freedom, and imagine ways to make our people more whole. We open the seder with, “Let all who need come and celebrate Passover,” and then engage the four children, each so differently gifted, all of whom must find his or her place at the table. And even more: We must seek and make welcome those who have not yet come to the table, to be attentive to what they need so that they feel comfortable and will want to be there, celebrating joyfully. Only then will we know that we are truly free. 

How can the stories we tell be inclusive of those with disabilities?

What makes you feel valued?

What does full inclusion look like at the seder table?

How can disability inclusion benefit your various communities, like schools, workplaces and synagogues?

Adapted from “A 21st Century Exodus: What Passover Can Tell Us About Inclusion,” produced as part of the Ruderman Chabad Inclusion Initiative.

Written by Ruderman Family Foundation for JewishBoston, March 2017.