{"id":39273,"date":"2015-03-18T13:42:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T18:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=39273"},"modified":"2015-03-18T15:24:28","modified_gmt":"2015-03-18T20:24:28","slug":"naim-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"?????????????????\"<\/a>With 25,000 members of the broad Jewish community across the United States and Canada engaged within more than 100 programs in honor of North American Inclusion Month (NAIM), the initiative to springboard and inspire awareness and sensitivity for individuals with special needs has made an impact.<\/p>\n

Acknowledged five years ago by the United States Congress, NAIM is an initiative of Yachad\/The National Jewish Council for Disabilities (NJCD), the Orthodox Union\u2019s agency dedicated to enhancing the opportunities of individuals with disabilities; promoting inclusion and independence through a full array of integrated activities; and ensuring their full participation in mainstream Jewish life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNAIM gave us the opportunity to reach out to new communities, to share our mission with Jews in new areas for the work we do,\u201d said Batya Jacob, NAIM national coordinator and Yachad\u2019s director of educational support services. \u201cIf programming was only coordinated in communities with Yachad chapters, it would defeat the purpose of the initiative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yachad chapters across the country reached out to regional cities without a Yachad presence, establishing honorary \u201csatellite chapters\u201d in Denver, Jacksonville, Richmond and Savannah.<\/p>\n

\"Savannah<\/a>
Members of South Florida Yachad and Savannah NCSY create an inspiring havdallah service wrapping up their Shabbaton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bringing their message to Savannah, members of South Florida Yachad took leading roles during services such as opening the Aron, receiving an Aliyah, wrapping the Torah, and delivering divrei Torah.<\/p>\n

Wrote Rabbi Eli Lob, director of Savannah NCSY and JSU and director of youth programming at Bnai Brith Jacob Synagogue in Savannah:<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople pay hundreds of dollars to experience the \u2018magical feeling\u2019 of Disney World. We want to enter a surreal environment where we can transcend nature and dreams come true. Forget about Disney World! You could feel the \u201cmagic\u201d permeating the entire Shabbaton! However, this was not some fleeting magical moment. This is the real thing! The fact that so many teens and adults who are outwardly different can bond together to form one powerful unit. A force that is unstoppable. A force called Am Yisrael<\/em>. The feeling of friendship and a<\/em>chdus <\/em>was palpable throughout the weekend. The ruach<\/em> that was created is one that lasts a lot longer than the weekend. It is a ruach<\/em> that is a lot stronger than any wind. It is a ruach<\/em> that declares that when Jews from all over and from all backgrounds bond together, there is no force in the world that can stop them!\u201d<\/p>\n

Teaming up with the OU Karasick Department of Community Engagement and Synagogue Services, Shabbat B\u2019Yachad\u2014Parshat Yitro\u2014focused to broaden Yachad\u2019s horizons through inclusion in the synagogue.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a convert, Yitro was accepted and included in the Jewish community, exemplifying how being welcoming to others is a Jewish ideal,\u201d explained Batya Jacob. \u201cCommentators also explain that the Ten Commandments were given to multiple generations, showing that the entire Jewish nation was included in hearing God\u2019s message.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 20,000 inclusion cards containing recommendations for creating an inclusive synagogue atmosphere were mailed to OU member synagogues across the continent.<\/p>\n

\"Baltimore<\/a>
Members of Baltimore Yachad at their Purim party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each synagogue also received a PowerPoint Presentation of Megillat Esther in time for Purim. More than 600 were sent out across the globe\u2014from Afghanistan to South Africa, Austria to London, Israel and Turkey. The Presentations were hosted on college campuses by the educators of the OU\u2019s Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC).<\/p>\n

A nation-wide program, \u201cCooking B\u2019Yachad<\/em>,\u201d encouraged the mindset of inclusion throughout the year with each chapter hosting cooking events such as pizza making, cupcake decorating, and chili cook-offs.<\/p>\n

\"Cleveland<\/a>
Cleveland Yachad held a challah bake in honor of the NAIM cook-off.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe mission of NAIM is to celebrate every individual\u2019s abilities and to create an inclusive Jewish community for all of its members, regardless of any differences or challenges they may have,\u201d stated Batya Jacob, Yachad director of educational support services.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach year brings new successes as communities that previously had no contact with us have been sensitized to the need to actively welcome and include individuals with disabilities in the community. Yet our mission continues as there are still more communities that have not seriously grappled with inclusion and virtually every community could do more.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With 25,000 members of the broad Jewish community across the United States and Canada engaged within more than 100 programs in honor of North American Inclusion Month (NAIM), the initiative to springboard and inspire awareness and sensitivity for individuals with special needs has made an impact. Acknowledged five years ago by the United States Congress,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":775,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nNAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With 25,000 members of the broad Jewish community across the United States and Canada engaged within more than 100 programs in honor of North American Inclusion Month (NAIM), the initiative to springboard and inspire awareness and sensitivity for individuals with special needs has made an impact. Acknowledged five years ago by the United States Congress,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-18T18:42:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-18T20:24:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Batya Rosner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Batya Rosner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/\",\"name\":\"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-18T18:42:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-18T20:24:28+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/69bade8a188706c98f053e793b2efd81\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/69bade8a188706c98f053e793b2efd81\",\"name\":\"Batya Rosner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2512983144e83677d175eaaa0ed12a4a0720e1edf8652d9b67602130b5df457?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2512983144e83677d175eaaa0ed12a4a0720e1edf8652d9b67602130b5df457?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Batya Rosner\"},\"description\":\"Batya Rosner is a staff writer of the Orthodox Union and ou.org\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/batya_rosner\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life","og_description":"With 25,000 members of the broad Jewish community across the United States and Canada engaged within more than 100 programs in honor of North American Inclusion Month (NAIM), the initiative to springboard and inspire awareness and sensitivity for individuals with special needs has made an impact. Acknowledged five years ago by the United States Congress,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/","og_site_name":"OU Life","article_published_time":"2015-03-18T18:42:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-18T20:24:28+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Batya Rosner","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Batya Rosner","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/","name":"NAIM 2015: Reaching Beyond, Impacting More - OU Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg","datePublished":"2015-03-18T18:42:24+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-18T20:24:28+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/69bade8a188706c98f053e793b2efd81"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/naim-2015\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/yachad-naim.new_.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/","name":"OU Life","description":"Everyday Jewish Living","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/69bade8a188706c98f053e793b2efd81","name":"Batya Rosner","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2512983144e83677d175eaaa0ed12a4a0720e1edf8652d9b67602130b5df457?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c2512983144e83677d175eaaa0ed12a4a0720e1edf8652d9b67602130b5df457?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Batya Rosner"},"description":"Batya Rosner is a staff writer of the Orthodox Union and ou.org","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/author\/batya_rosner\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/775"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39273"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39279,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39273\/revisions\/39279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}