Houses of worship should make allowances for members with special needs
An extraordinary religious service event took place recently at the Chabad Jewish Center of Monroe, when 14-year-old Jesse Martinez celebrated his bar mitzvah. “There was not a dry eye in the house,” said Rabbi Eliezer Zaklikovsky, director of the congregation.
Martinez is autistic, with limited communications’ skills that made it difficult, though not impossible, for him to speak the traditional Hebrew words at the ceremony, when, according to Jewish tradition, he became a man. At the bar mitzvah, he left his place with his mother in the sanctuary, moving to seats with the men, closer to the Torah.
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About The Author
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts is founder of Support for Special Needs and has been a regular contributor since its inception in May 2010. A mom to two kids with special needs, she didn't want other parents to feel what is the often isolating world of raising a child (or two!) with disabilities. Her kids had kidney transplants at the age of eight and will need liver transplants in the future as a result of ARPKD/CHF. They both have vision disorders and learning disabilities.