#jdaim

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Did you know that February is Jewish Disability Awareness Acceptance, and Inclusion Month? In this month we celebrate Jewish figures who were and are disabled, so here a few of my favourite:

Yitzchak (Isaac): He became blind either from angel's tears falling in his eyes at Akedat Yitzchak, or from old age. Either way, his blindness made him disabled.

Yaakov (Jacob): He was left with a permanent leg injury after sparring with the angel.

Leah: She was described as being constantly crying and having swollen eyes. This can be interpreted as her having chronic depression, which is disabling.

Chushim: Dan's son, who was deaf. He was the one who ended up killing Esav after he tried to hold up Yaakov's funeral.

Moshe (Moses): He had a lisp since he was a child, and had so much difficulty communicating that he needed his brother Aharon to act as a translator.

Ehud ben Gera: A prophet and leader of the Jewish people, some commentaries interpret him as having a congenital limb difference in his right arm.

Shimshon (Samson): Rabbi Yochanan in the Talmud interpreted Shimshon as having been born with a limp in both his legs.

Shaul (Saul): He had severe depressive episodes for which he required David to comfort him with music.

Mephiboshet: Yonatan's son who was either bow-legged or had some kind of spinal injury. He was adopted by King David after Yonatan's death.

Rav Sheshet: An Amora in the Talmud who was blind. He was said to have memorized an immense wealth of knowledge that made his colleagues tremble in awe.

Franz Kafka: A writer and novelist, he suffered with depression and long-time chronic illness from contracting TB.