Faith, Companionship and Vulnerability: Standing With Families Who Have A Child With A Disability

Advertisement

Mother and disability advocate, Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, gets real about the experience of parenting. What does Judaism’s practice of Bikur Cholim (Attending to the Sick) have to teach us about shame, empathy, and supporting the families of kids with disabilities?

Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer is a freelance writer and educator based in Philadelphia. She is the author of two books of plays for children: <i>The Magic Tanach and Other Short Plays</i> and <i>Extraordinary Jews: Staging Their Lives</i> as well as <i>The Creative Jewish Wedding Book</i>.
Advertisement

Discover More

Yerushalmi Kugel Recipe

The sweet and peppery flavors of Jerusalem kcan remember passing through the Hasidic neighborhood of Mea She’arim in Jerusalem as a teenager and first seeing the mahogany-brown wedges of Yerushalmi (Jerusalem) Kugel . Curious, I bought a slice of the still-warm Sabbath delicacy, and was hooked. Unlike any noodle pudding I had tasted before, this one featured a sophisticated interplay of sweetness and peppery bite, with a subtle toasty flavor thrown in for good measure. The taste is surprisingly easy to recreate at home; all you need is a sure hand and the confidence to make a quick caramel of oil and sugar. Just when you think you’ve got your sugar dark enough, cook it a minute longer — you’ll see and taste the difference in the results. If you burn the caramel, start over — the second time’s often the charm. Although many American adaptations call for baking the kugel in a regular casserole dish, I prefer to bake mine in a soup pot or Dutch oven with less surface area, which creates a higher, denser end result.ugel.

Crockpot Lentil Soup Recipe

A Jewish tradition that goes back to the Bible.