As a rabbi, I have been fortunate to have traveled to Israel approximately 20 times in the last 15 years. Sometimes I went alone, sometimes with family, and sometimes I organized and led a congregational tour. On my most recent trip in July, I led a congregational tour with 56 people. During this tour, I saw a side of Israel I had never seen before, a side that was always there but to which I was not sensitive, a side which made me both sad and angry.
On the tour with me were a husband and wife whose sole means of mobility were wheelchairs. They brought their motorized wheelchairs with them. Because of this, one of the two buses I needed for the tour had to be equipped with a lift. Ten months before the tour, I contacted my travel agent and asked him to secure a tour bus in Israel that was
accessible. After much research, he told me that there was only one such bus in all the land and that he had reserved it for me. He said that there were school buses with lifts, but only one bus that was like the beautiful tour buses to which I was accustomed when leading a tour through Israel.
When we arrived in Israel and were met by our guides, I quickly realized how inferior the accessible bus was to the other tour bus. It was much older and much more worn. In addition, we quickly learned that the lift itself was very dangerous. It did not have any safety guards on its sides or in front to keep people from rolling off. However, we had no choice but to use this bus as it was the only one.
The situation concerning the bus was indicative of Israel’s lack of sensitivity to the needs of people with mobility problems, especially those in wheelchairs. Israel needs to consider their needs much more and has very far to go if it wants to be a country where all Jews feel welcomed whether they are citizens or visitors.
We found that many places we visited were not accessible at all. These included, ironically, those places that serve people with mobility problems or places that were educational institutions for adults and children alike. Most of the archaeological and historical sites and a number of the museums were only partially accessible. The hotels were also lacking accessibility. Five star hotels, which purportedly had handicapped accessible rooms, each lacked something that would have been required in the United States — a bar in the shower here, a larger room or doorway there. Many places that claimed to be accessible were not; a ramp at the entrance to one of the hotels was so steep that using it was dangerous; a dining room in one of the hotels could only be entered through a very tiny freight elevator if one were in a wheelchair. These are just a few of the very many examples I could give!
Yes, I could go on and on but it would become repetitive. Suffice it to say that on this tour, I learned that Israel is not a country for all Jews. I learned that our beloved state has a long way to go so that Jews with physical disabilities would feel welcomed in a caring and dignified way. I learned that the saying from Isaiah — “my house shall be a house for all peoples” — is not reality when it comes to issues of accessibility. Most of all, I am surprised that in a country where there are many with physical disabilities because of war, Israel has not met the needs of its disabled. I only hope this changes in the near future and that those with physical disabilities will feel as comfortable in Israel as I do.
Rabbi Steven A. Chester is the spiritual leader at Temple Sinai in Oakland.