Shofar Sivan/Tammuz 5772
Jewish Family Congregation www.jewishfamilycongregation.org
June 2012
From the Rabbi’s Desk On June 16th, JFC will celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of Jason Kingsley. By itself, that is not a particularly striking statement, since we celebrate Bnai Mitzvah here all the time. What makes this occasion special is Jason, who is 37 years old. And he has Down Syndrome. In 1994, Jason and his friend Mitchell Levitz published a book, Count Us In, about growing up with Down Syndrome. Jason has appeared in the film Please Give, with Katherine Keener, and in several television programs, including Touched by an Angel, and is a proud member of the Screen Actors Guild. He and his mother recently spoke at the United Nations for the first International event focused on Down Syndrome. Jason works for Westchester ARC in Hawthorne, competes in the Special Olympics, and participates in SPARC, Special Program And Resource Connection, where he takes classes in film production, music enjoyment, and fitness.
and Raymond, who also have Down Syndrome. The gang always sits in the front row, and they always pay very close attention to what happens during the service. Many times, Jason has had a list of questions arising from the service, which he poses at the Oneg Shabbat or at our next study session. And some of his questions have stumped me! Jason will chant the last aliyah of the morning as his maftir, his own aliyah. He will of course chant the blessings before and after the reading, too. He’ll read the haftarah blessings and the haftarah itself in English, and, he will do Reader’s Kaddish. And he has picked melodies he likes for parts of the service; it will be lively and fun!
In his speech, Jason will discuss his Torah reading (from Number 15), he will describe some of the many mitzvah projects he has undertaken this year, including the Midnight Run, and he will express his appreciation to all those A couple of years ago, I was approached by Jason’s mom, who have helped him achieve his goal. In the speech, JaEmily Kingsley, to discuss the fact that her son had deson will dedicate his Bar Mitzvah to his father, who passed cided that he wants to have a Bar Mitzvah. Then I met away many years ago; it was his father who originally inalso with Jason, and we committed to a course of action. spired Jason to pursue the goal that he will achieve here Jason came to work with me every two weeks, until April; on June 16. since then we have been meeting weekly. After we had Early on in our work together, Jason decided that he spent some time on Hebrew and some other matters, we wanted to wear a tallit during services, so he learned the selected the date for Jason’s Big Day, and we have been blessing and the correct way of putting on this ritual garment. For his Bar Mitzvah, he will be wearing the tallit he working diligently together on prayers and liturgy. If you have been to a Friday evening service over the past and his mom picked out together. He is absolutely tickled to have his own tallit and a special kippah for the Big Day. year or so, you may well have seen Jason and his entourage: his mom, of course, her “significant other,” Dr. John Stadler, and one or both of Jason’s house-mates, Yaniv From the Rabbi’s Desk President’s Message Service Schedules SITGO Flyer Oneg Hosts Early Childhood Center June Bday/Anniv/Yahrzeits The Religious School Kids Ask the Rabbi
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