c. 2004 Religion News Service

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Advisor, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.)

(UNDATED) As president of the Union for Reform Judaism, my rabbinical colleague Eric Yoffie spends much of his time traveling throughout the United States. With remarkable insight, Yoffie has observed that more genuine interpersonal relations and authentic emotions take place inside America’s busy airports than in many staid houses of worship.

Sound strange? Not at all. I believe Yoffie is correct.

Passengers in wheelchairs generally receive special consideration even in our most crowded airports and even during the busiest travel seasons of the year. I have witnessed repeated examples of stressed-out security and airline personnel showing tenderness and solicitude for the disabled men and women who are confined to wheelchairs or motorized scooters. Extraordinary attention is also given to individuals requiring a walker because of either advanced age or physical infirmities.

It is not simply that an airport employee pushes a person in a wheelchair through the long airport corridors toward a departure gate. It is rather that disabled people are also carefully assisted in both boarding and leaving an airplane. The wheelchair-users almost always receive tender loving care at both ends of their air travels.

Is such solicitude and care regularly provided for physically disabled worshippers at our synagogues, churches, temples and mosques? My answer, based on years of attending all manner of religious services in a myriad of settings, is sadly, no.

Of course, the Americans with Disabilities Act enacted by Congress in 1990 mandates that all new public buildings must be wheelchair accessible with adequate ramps and elevators. But have all our older houses of worship been sufficiently upgraded to meet the unique needs of people who require wheelchairs, scooters or walkers?

More importantly, do rabbis, priests, ministers and imams make certain their religious services, classes and other programs are “user friendly” for the men, women and children who cannot walk or climb stairs?

Clergypersons love to preach about “family values,” but many of them could take a lesson on that subject from what Yoffie and other passengers constantly hear and see at airports. We all know the familiar mantra that is intoned at departure gates: “Parents traveling with small or young children will board the flight first. We ask the other passengers to please step aside to allow them to board early.”

I recently noticed that one major airport now has an inviting play area near the departure gates for weary parents and restless youngsters. Most airport restrooms and the airplanes themselves frequently provide diaper-changing tables for parents traveling with small children.

But is such preferential treatment extended to parents and youngsters at our houses of worship? Not always. Many synagogues do feature “Tot Shabbat” services, and churches and mosques offer special events for children.

But many religious institutions still do not provide regular baby-sitting facilities so parents can attend services, weddings, funerals, classes or other events. Sadly, I have visited some houses of worship that do not have a playroom for small children and toddlers. Diaper-changing facilities are slowly appearing in some places, but many buildings are still without such parental necessities.

And then there are the poignant moments that take place at airports.

We have all seen three generations of one family patiently waiting and then warmly embracing relatives as they deplane and head for the baggage claim areas. Hugs, kisses and tears _ these emotions are sometimes contagious as other passengers look on with joy as families are reunited in airports.

We have also seen painful farewells as loved ones depart from one another, sometimes forever. Again there are hugs, kisses and tears at such tender moments, but unlike reunions, airport good-byes are tinged with sadness, even grief.

Too often, houses of worship which are meant to be the spiritual venues for all of life’s dramas are actually too button-downed with an undue emphasis placed on decorum and dignity. Too often, the full expression of emotions related to the powerful human feelings of union, reunion and release are frequently downplayed, even absent, in many synagogues, churches, temples and mosques.

Perhaps it’s time for seminaries, members of the clergy and congregational leaders to take field trips to observe the extraordinary emotions and acts of loving kindness that are on daily display at America’s airports. Once there, they would quickly discover that our elderly, disabled and young children _ some of society’s most vulnerable people _ are given the special care and attention they need and deserve.

KRE/JL END RNS