Mishpatim -- February 2021

 Mishpatim - My Torah Portion Commentary -- February 13, 2021 

 

This week’s Torah portion contains rules regarding the treatment of slaves and mistresses. I struggled to understand what lessons our ancestors were trying to teach. Even though the Torah reflects the era’s norms, it is upsetting that the Torah condones slavery and men owning human beings. I compared these rules to the ten commandments. Thankfully, the laws in Mishpatim are no longer relevant, but the ones in the ten commandments are still meaningful. I suggest the reason for this is that the ten commandments apply to everyone. 

 

Under the Trump administration, we saw how quickly and easily laws that affect groups are created and overturned. Laws that affect everyone may be more challenging to develop and implement but are less likely to be overturned. 

 

February is Jewish Disability Awareness Month. Throughout the nation, presentations are being given that speak to the needs of people with disabilities. As a life-long disability advocate, I am proud of the progress the Disability Movement has made. Laws such as the ADA made the country much more accessible. Reasonable accommodations for disabled employees are mandated. Children with disabilities go to integrated schools. They have Individual Education Plans that try to guarantee they have the resources needed to succeed. There are fewer people with disabilities confined to institutions. 

 

Despite this progress, the percentage of employed disabled people remains the same as in the 1960s. Too many people with disabilities are homeless. The number of children with disabilities that do not finish high school remains alarmingly high. Prisons have replaced institutions where people with mental health disabilities get the help they need. Recent history showed us that laws aimed to help people in a marginalized class do not change society’s attitudes. We saw how quickly and easily these hard-fought civil rights advances could be lost.  

 

Instead of focusing on people with disabilities’ needs, let’s focus on how these needs apply to all of us. Shouldn’t we all have access to public places? Don’t we all need resources to live in the communities we choose? I never met a child who wasn’t ‘special’ and couldn’t benefit from an individual education plan. Why don’t all employees deserve reasonable accommodations? As long as our desires do not harm others, shouldn’t we all be able to live our lives to the best of our abilities with the resources we need? Although I don’t know of any cost-benefit analysis, I surmise that laws that affect everyone are more cost-efficient than those that affect sub-groups. 

 

Reading this week’s Torah portion reminded me that laws do not change attitudes or the caste system. While we may feel good that rules about treating slaves and mistresses may not be as applicable as they were in biblical times, the last few years clearly showed us how rampant sexism, ableism, anti-Semitism, and caste systems are.  

 

There are caste systems within caste groups. For example, within the disability cohorts, people who look ‘normal’ are higher up the chain than people that look and or sound different. People with Cerebral Palsy, like me, tend to be near the bottom. This hierarchy became clear to me the summer I spent at the rehabilitation center before my bar mitzvah. Each morning I heard nurses pick straws. The nurse who picked the shortest straw had to ‘feed the CP.’ Occasionally, when I went to the bathroom, a guy with paraplegia would come in, pick me up from the toilet bowl, throw me on the floor, and tell me that ‘throne’ was not for ‘CP.’ Years later, when I told my mother that Denise and I were engaged, she cried, wanting to know why I didn’t find a ‘nice Polio girl.’ 

 

During Jewish Disability Awareness Month, congregations listen to sermons and presentations about the importance of including people with disabilities in all aspects of life. In the last few years, I watched movements such as Black Lives Matter and the Me-Too grow. I saw audiences give standing ovations after viewing Crip Camp. While all these movements and events hope to change the general public’s attitudes, their actual impact is awakening and empowering their cohorts. It was invigorating seeing people who are Black, Brown, LBGTA, Disabled, Muslims, Jews, Latinos, victims of sexual abuse, and many other marginalized groups loudly and proudly proclaiming who they are and what we all need.  

 

Even if laws do not change society’s attitudes, it is critically important that we continue advocating for rules and regulations that change behavior in the most civilized way. This year my advocacy will focus on seeing that healthcare-for-all includes long-term community-based support services for all, regardless of income or assets. Until everyone can obtain affordable, accessible healthcare and the products and services they need to live the life they want, we won’t change our culture’s sexism, racism, classism, ableism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc. 

 

This week’s Torah portion shows us the importance of rules guiding people to practice their cultural values humanely. As we recover from the pandemic and leave the Trump era, we have a unique opportunity to create a ‘new normal' that reflects our values humanely. The general public’s attitudes may not change, but we can achieve our goals if we feel good about ourselves, realize what we all need, work together, and Go! Go! Go!