Disability

Social Issues

Biblical texts describe people with disabilities as an organic part of the community. Halakhic texts analyze how certain disabilities can affect the fulfillment of particular commandments, with some rulings being reevaluated in light of modern medical technology and contemporary understandings. Rabbinic literature, with its emphasis on learning, discusses tailoring education to the needs of the pupil, including those with disabilities. Works throughout the Jewish textual tradition explore the concept of disability from a range of perspectives.

Notable Sources

All Sources

Respect and Dignity for All

TANAKH

The book of Leviticus includes laws dictating the proper treatment of individuals. Among these laws, the Torah commands one to treat the blind and the deaf respectfully.

You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am יהוה.

Leviticus 19:14

Personalized Divine Interaction

MIDRASH

All the Israelites in the desert received manna each day to eat, and they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from God. Yet, Midrash Tanchuma, a medieval collection of midrash, discusses how both the manna and God’s voice were tailored to the individual needs and abilities of each Israelite.

Observe that His voice went forth to each Israelite in accordance with the individual’s capacity to receive it. The elders, the men, the youths, the little ones, the sucklings—each heard it according to his own capacity. Even Moses heard it according to his capacity, as it is said: Moses spoke, and God answered him by (with) a voice (Exod. 19:19); that is, with a voice that Moses was able to comprehend. Thus, it says: The voice of the Lord was powerful with strength (Ps. 29:1)…

Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 25:5-7

Inner Vision and Spiritual Insight

TALMUD

Rav Sheshet was a Babylonian rabbi who lived in the third-fourth century CE and was blind. The Babylonian Talmud tells of his wisdom and insight, even when others question his abilities because of his blindness.

The Gemara relates: Rav Sheshet was blind. Everyone was going to greet the king and Rav Sheshet stood up and went along with them. This heretic found him there and said to him: The intact jugs go to the river, where do the broken jugs go? Why is a blind person going to see the king? Rav Sheshet said to him: Come see that I know more than you do. The first troop passed, and when the noise grew louder, this heretic said to him: The king is coming. Rav Sheshet said to him: The king is not coming…

Berakhot 58a:10-12

A Redemption for All Abilities

TANAKH

The book of Jeremiah offers visions of hope and redemption for all, including those with disabilities.

I will bring them in from the northland,
Gather them from the ends of the earth—
The blind and the lame among them,
Those with child and those in labor—
In a vast throng they shall return here. They shall come with weeping,
And with compassion will I guide them…

Jeremiah 31:8-9

The Paradox of Divine Contraction

COMMENTARY

The kabbalistic concept of tzimtzum (contraction) explains how the infinite nature of God can contract to create a finite world, illustrating the paradox of divine self-limitation. The Malbim, a 19th-century biblical commentator, explores the idea that God limits God’s own abilities to make room for the world.

And the Lord said: Then He informed him about the part [of this information] that is partly incomprehensible and partly comprehensible. And that is how finite existence emerged out of the Ein Sof [the Unlimited One], who is limitless, and how multiplicity came out of unity and how the place that encompasses all of the worlds came to exist from One who is above place, time, limit, or any change. As the sages of secrets received the secret of contraction [tzimtzum] about this quandary: And it is written at the beginning of the Etz Chaim(1:2), "At the beginning…

Malbim on Exodus 33:21:1

The Burden of Exile

LITURGY

Selichot is recited leading up to the High Holidays and on other fast days. Its poetic pleas for forgiveness and mercy include a description of the debilitating impact of exile.

Our endurance is weakened by the burden; crippled and lame are the survivors of death. Without rest, they stray and wander, they labor and strive, while others reap.

Selichot Nusach Polin, Second Day 4:8

Jacob's Sons' Unique Blessings

COMMENTARY

At the end of the book of Genesis, Jacob blesses his children. Israeli scholar Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky’s essay on this parashah explores the varied and unique abilities and insights each child brings.

Jacob looks out at his sons and sees that the people that will come out from them/him encompasses many varied strengths, and that each one of his sons represents differing inner tribal pieces, differing communities; an assortment of cultural phenomena, and social classes that will exist within the Jewish people. This observation is his blessing to them, a blessing for the road: You should know that each one of you has an important task within the Jewish people, each one of you is a touchstone for a particular approach and perspective.

Karati Bekhol Lev, Vayechi 5:14

The Burden and Redemption of Blindness

MIDRASH

Blindness appears in texts both literally and metaphically. Midrash Tehillim, an ancient collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Psalms, explores the burden of blindness and God’s healing in messianic times.

"The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. There is no greater pain and suffering than blindness. It is similar to someone who passes by a caravan of camels and donkeys loaded with goods. An equal amount was given to each animal, and they were all charged with carrying the provisions for all of them. The owner of the caravan warned them to be careful not to put straw in one animal's load, saying, "I know what I have given him." They entered the country to unload their cargo. The owner of the house allowed them to do so, but first he had them unload the animal that he had charged the most…

Midrash Tehillim 146:4

Spiritual Heaviness

CHASIDUT

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov was a prominent Chasidic leader. In his work Likutei Moharan, he acknowledges how debilitating depressive feelings can be for one’s spiritual life.

For it is known that when a person becomes depressed over his gross physicality and evil deeds, and he sees how very distant he truly is from holiness, it generally makes him completely incapable of praying. He cannot even open his mouth at all, due to the magnitude of the depression, sadness and heaviness that come over him when he sees how exceedingly distant he is from God.

Likutei Moharan 282:2:8

Moses's Eloquence in Vulnerability

COMMENTARY

Moses's struggle with his speech impediment reveals a profound vulnerability. Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, a contemporary scholar, explores Moses's personal challenges, emphasizing his self-awareness and the unique weight of his leadership role.

Again, Moses listens silently to God’s long speech commissioning him and foretelling the narrative of the Exodus. Only in chapter 4, after a scattering of brief questions, does Moses begin to speak his mind: “They will not believe me, nor will they listen to my voice” (4:1). Repeatedly, he speaks of his inability to speak: “Please O God, I have never been a man of words, either yesterday or the day before, or now that You have spoken to Your servant; I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” (4:10)…

Moses; A Human Life, 4 Moses in the Family; Mirrors and Foils 12

Hannah's Plea for a Child

JEWISH THOUGHT

In the book of Samuel, Hannah pleas before God to give her a child. Rabbi Moshe di Trani, a 16th-century rabbi in Safed, discusses her prayer.

And that is why [Hannah] said, "Lord of the Hosts, of all of the hosts and hosts that You created, is it difficult in Your eyes to grant me one son" (Berakhot 31b:7): Since I am naturally fit to give birth, for I am not barren, as behold I am included in all of Your hosts that You created, such that it should not be difficult in Your eyes to give me the portion that is fitting for me amongst the hosts that You created.

Beit Elohim, Shaar HaYesodot 4:17

The Divine Purpose in Madness

MIDRASH

When David flees from King Saul to the Philistines, he feigns madness to escape their wrath. Yalkut Shimoni, a medieval compilation of midrashic interpretations, discusses how madness, which seems like a burden, can in fact prove helpful.

And David arose, and fled that day from before Saul: This is [the meaning of] the verse, He has made everything beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11), everything that the Holy One, blessed be He, made in His world is beautiful. [David] said before the Holy One, blessed be He, "Master of the world, everything that You have made in Your world is beautiful except for madness, [and] wisdom is more beautiful than everything. What benefit is there from the madman, [that] man tears his clothes in the marketplace, and the children mock him and chase him, and the people laugh at him…

Yalkut Shimoni on Nach 131:1

Learning Beyond Words

TALMUD

The ancient world widely believed that one who couldn’t speak also couldn’t learn. The Babylonian Talmud relates a story that challenges this assumption.

The Gemara asks: Is that to say that one who is not able to speak is not able to learn? But consider the following incident. There were two mute people who were in the neighborhood of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi. They were the sons of the daughter of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda, and some say that they were the sons of the sister of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Gudgeda. Whenever Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi would enter the study hall they would also enter and sit before the Sages…

Chagigah 3a:4-5

Faith in Adversity

TALMUD

Nachum Ish Gam Zu was a sage with multiple disabilities. The Babylonian Talmud relates his attitude to such challenges.

§ The Gemara relates another story about a rundown building. They said about Naḥum of Gam Zu that he was blind in both eyes, both his arms were amputated, both his legs were amputated, and his entire body was covered in boils. And he was lying in a dilapidated house, and legs of his bed were placed in buckets of water so that ants should not climb onto him, as he was unable to keep them off in any other manner. Once his students sought to remove his bed from the house and afterward remove his other vessels…

Taanit 21a:8-11

The Power of Patience in Education

TALMUD

A patient teacher can have a profound impact on a student with trouble learning. The Babylonian Talmud relates a story in which Rabbi Perida patiently taught his student until his student succeeded.

Having discussed the importance of reviewing one’s Torah study, the Gemara relates that Rabbi Perida had a certain student whom he would have to teach four hundred times, and only then would he learn the material, as he was incapable of understanding it otherwise. One day they requested Rabbi Perida’s presence for a mitzva matter after the lesson. Rabbi Perida taught his student four hundred times as usual, but this time the student did not successfully learn the material…

Eruvin 54b:20-21

Inclusion in the Synagogue

RESPONSA

The inclusion of individuals with diverse abilities in religious roles challenges traditional limitations and promotes a more inclusive community. B’Mareh HaBazak, a contemporary collection of responses to halakhic inquiries, discusses the participation in synagogue of one who is wheelchair-bound.

Question: Can a wheelchair-bound man be a prayer leader for the community? Can he go up to [publicly recite blessings over the reading of] the Torah? Answer: A wheelchair-bound man may serve as the prayer leader and go up to the Torah. His integration into the life of the community in all of its aspects is the Torah way, not like the decision of one of the latter decisors of our day.

B'Mareh HaBazak Volume VII 3:3-4

Blessings for Varied Conditions

HALAKHAH

A blessing allows observers to express and temper their responses to the world. Rabbi Joseph Karo's authoritative 16th-century code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Arukh, details specific blessings for various life situations, reflecting a sensitivity to human diversity.

Upon seeing a lame person, an amputee, a blind person, a person afflicted with boils, or a person with vitiligo (who has small spots on their skin), if they have been like that since birth, one recites the blessing "Blessed be He who varies the creatures." If they became like that later in life, one recites the blessing "True Judge." Some people say that one only recites the blessing "True Judge" if one feels sorry for the person, and that one does not recite the blessing for a non-Jew, and that one only recites the blessing the first time one sees the person…

Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 225:9

Standards in Sacred Service

TANAKH

Priests were responsible for performing the rituals of the Temple. The book of Leviticus sets a specific standard for priests serving in the Temple, requiring certain physical requirements.

Speak to Aaron and say: No man of your offspring throughout the ages who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the food of his God. No one at all who has a defect shall be qualified: no man who is blind, or lame, or has a limb too short or too long; no man who has a broken leg or a broken arm; or who is a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a growth in his eye, or who has a boil-scar, or scurvy, or crushed testes. No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer יהוה’s offering by fire…

Leviticus 21:17-24

Mobility Aids and Jewish Law

MISHNAH

According to rabbinic law, certain vessels can become ritually impure, while others cannot; carrying is one of the prohibited actions on Shabbat, unless the item is worn by its owner. The Mishnah, the first codification of Jewish law from the early third-century land of Israel, discusses whether mobility aids are considered vessels and whether or not one is permitted to take them outside on Shabbat.

One with an amputated leg may go out on Shabbat with his wooden leg, as it has the legal status of a shoe; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. And Rabbi Yosei prohibits going out into the public domain with the wooden leg, since he does not consider it to have the legal status of a shoe. And if the wooden leg has a receptacle for pads, a concave space at the top of the leg into which pads are placed to cushion the amputated leg, it assumes the status of a wooden vessel and can become ritually impure…

Mishnah Shabbat 6:8

Compensation for Injuries in Jewish Law

TALMUD

According to Jewish law, one who causes injury to another must compensate the injured party for the injury and for the time the injured must take off work to heal, among other compensations. The Babylonian Talmud outlines how these financial compensations are calculated for various physical disabilities.

Rava says: If one severed the hand of another, he gives him the value of his hand as compensation for damage, and for loss of livelihood the court views the injured party as though he were a watchman of cucumbers. If one broke the leg of another, he gives him the value of his leg as compensation for damage. And for loss of livelihood the court views the injured party as though he were a watchman at the opening to a courtyard, because he cannot work even as a watchman of cucumbers…

Bava Kamma 85b:10-11

Relatedראו גם

Priests with Blemishes

Creation

Blind People

Inclusion

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