Cindy Kaplan, Gateways Parent
Voice from the Gates: Honoring Erik and Jennifer Bittner

When I walk into Gateways on Sunday mornings, it does not feel simply like a program that is trying to accept various children with special needs, it feels like a place where truly every special child belongs and deserves their Jewish education.

My daughter, Mira, who is 9, recently started her third year at Gateways this Fall.  When we first learned about Gateways several years ago, I was a bit hesitant to send Mira  because everything in Mira’s world was integrated and Gateways was specifically for children with special needs.   Mira has Cerebral Palsy, and while she continues to make progress in many areas, on her own timeline, she is not yet walking on her own and is non-verbal.  Vocal? yes. Verbal, no. Mira has two brothers, the older brother, Noah, attends the Boston Jewish Community Day School,  and her younger brother, Micah just started preschool this Fall.

When Mira was about to enter first grade, a time when many children start attending Sunday School, I couldn’t help myself from aknowledging how much "this kid loves her Judaism"!  She beams when we sing Bim Bam as we welcome Shabbat into our home, she bounces with joy as we sing the blessings and she takes pride in her role of removing the challah cover.  Enrolling her in a typical Sunday school program would be difficult, if not impossible, so we decided to give Gateways a try. 

I remember handing her over to her high school volunteer her first morning at Gateways and being struck by the fact that I told this young woman less about my child than any other care giver we have had, yet somehow I felt incredibly secure, trusting and relaxed. I am amazed by the dedication, comfort, and openness of the teen volunteers and have witnessed  from the support and training that Gateways provides for them, that they are comfortable and open to any child that comes their way. While Mira does not speak, she is very expressive and we know that she loves going to Sunday school every week. She enters and leaves with a smile on her face. 

What Mira learns in the classroom with her peers, such as blessings, songs, holidays and rituals, she carries over to our home, our synagogue, and beyond. In fact just this past summer we all attended a family camp in Wisconsin where her brother Noah spent the summer.  Aside from rock climbing and kayaking, we all made challah together as a family and participated in Shabbat services. Over the weekend, I bathed in delight celebrating Shabbat with my whole family away from home.  Gateways has helped Mira learn that Judaism belongs to her, each member of her family and the larger community. 

My feeling about Gateways being only for children with special needs has changed.  I have seen the children benefit from teachers who are trained to look at the classroom with an eye for each individual.  Rather than taking an existing curriculum and adapting it for the kids, the curriculum has been developed from the very start in a way that figures out how to provide access for each child in the program.  The check in procedure at Gateways on Sunday morning is a visual, tactile, and active experience.  Kids find both a photo of themselves to drop into the attendance basket and a photo of their teen volunteer to hand to them as they enter the classroon.  This is meaningful ritual for Mira and we were fortunate to have had her school adapt the same procedure.

This year we have started to prepare my son for becoming a Bar Mitzvah.  I also know with complete confidence that in a few years, with the support and education of Gateways, we will begin planning for Mira to become a Bat Mitzvah as well.