JDAIM Community Conversation

February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). Founded in 2009, JDAIM is a global initiative that raises awareness, fosters acceptance, and promotes the full inclusion of people with disabilities in Jewish life.

Recently, Matan published a study,  Closing the Inclusion Gap: A Report on Disability and Belonging in Jewish Life, which revealed widespread challenges across the Jewish community in creating accessible and inclusive spaces for people with disabilities. Despite good intentions and a desire to foster belonging, Jewish spaces continue to struggle to provide appropriate access and accommodation — but we can change this!

In honor of JDAIM, Shalom Austin Jewish Family Service has invited a professional in disability inclusion –working outside of the Jewish communal space — to facilitate an unbiased community conversation around where we are today, where we could improve going forward, and actionable next (or first) steps our organizations can take. Through guided discussion and conversational prompts, we will operate as a Jewish communal “think tank” to share ideas, workshop solutions to shared challenges, and walk away with enhanced clarity on what we can do in 2026 to improve inclusion and accessibility in Jewish spaces.