INCLUSIVITY

We will hear, tell, and celebrate the thousands of stories contained within the Wise world. In all we do, we will hold ourselves accountable to being a community for all, connecting people across racial, ethnic, family, economic, and ideological lines. From many worlds, from many perspectives, we will build one community of Kavod (respect, כבוד).

• We will invite and celebrate the diversity of our ethnicities and cultures, sexual and gender identities, physical and intellectual abilities, religious observances, economic circumstances, and political perspectives.
• We will honor each other, welcome each other, and — most importantly — recognize that in our Wise home, everyone sits and is nurtured at the same table.
• Wise will be a community that encourages discovery of others and in which every participant is seen and appreciated for their unique gifts.
• We will commit to ensuring that every aspect of community life at Wise will embrace the diverse and ever-changing lifestyles, needs, and abilities of the people in our community.
• We will design all our offerings in a manner that recognizes our kaleidoscope of family makeup, worship style, and cultural practice and places them within the context of our Reform Jewish values.

What does this look and feel like in our space, our programming, and our everyday interactions with one another? In the model of our ancestors, we’ll begin with a B’rit, a covenant — a commitment we make to each other. In this case, it is a Covenant of Inclusivity, tenets to guide our hearts and shape our behaviors.

Stephen Wise Temple and Schools Covenant (B’rit, ברית) of Inclusivity

1. There are no strangers here.
2. Be open in heart and mind.
3. Start with empathy.
4. Make room.
5. Make welcome happen.
6. Appreciate difference; nurture commonalities.
7. Know your comfort zone; be willing to step out of it.
8. Ask genuine questions; explore your assumptions.
9. Share your story; hear the stories of others.
10. Seek meaningful connection.

We have crafted these ten principles of inclusivity inspired by the Ten Commandments of our tradition. Similar to those foundational precepts, these ten principles will be understood and lived by different people in different ways — but reflect our underlying hope, and expectation, that all who seek to make Wise their sacred home will find a Makom Kavod (מָקוֹם כָּבוֹד), a place of honor, in this community.

Truly living our value of inclusivity every day, in every way, asks something of each of us. From our behaviors to the language we use in our classrooms to the policies set by our leadership to the way we construct and use our physical spaces — and much more — adhering to this Covenant will shape who we are today…and who we will be in the future.

We invite you to join us in this most sacred task.

Learn more about the Wise Way Forward.

February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to raise awareness and foster acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities and mental health conditions and those who love them.

Each week during February of 2023, we shared features and teachings about how Stephen Wise Temple and Schools have put those values into action as we strive to become an even more inclusive, welcoming, and accepting community for all.