Disability and Chronic Illness: Reframing Texts from Torah to Today

February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion month. In this session, led by Rabbi Emily Aronson, we will unpack the ways in which Jewish texts have traditionally presented God as a 'healer' and 'curer' in relation to disability and chronic illness.  By breaking down these harmful theological ideas, we will build up a new model for Divine-human partnership inaccessibility.

Rabbi Emily Aronson was ordained from HUC-JIR in 2021.  She recently launched Chronic Congregation (@chronic_congregation), a project focused on the intersection of Judaism, Disability, and Chronic Illness.  She currently serves as the Interim Dean of Students at HUC New York, as well as the Reform Rabbi at the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU.  During rabbinical school, Rabbi Aronson served as the rabbinic intern in synagogues, pastoral care settings, and Israel organizations. Rabbi Aronson attended List College at the Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University, earning a B.A. in Jewish Thought and a B.A. in Ethnicity and Race Studies.