{"id":486077,"date":"2022-08-14T16:59:27","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T23:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/?p=486077"},"modified":"2026-02-12T17:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T01:18:42","slug":"emet-tauber-disabled-oracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/2022\/08\/14\/emet-tauber-disabled-oracle\/","title":{"rendered":"Emet Tauber: Disabled Oracle"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emet Tauber: Disabled Oracle<\/b><\/h3>\n

A different world is possible<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Noah Strauss<\/b><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

There was always a journalist, Joshua Bright, in the room with us in those dying days, in that season of our grief & mourning. Emet had found him on Instagram, I believe. This journalist was working on a long term documentary project about grief, death, dying, and palliative care. Emet wanted to have his story documented. Even in dying, he knew how connected he was to others, and he wanted to help others learn through his journey. His commitment to his convictions gives me chills and takes my breath away sometimes. The sheer courage of his vulnerability. He knew about the power of disabled witness, of personal storytelling as a building block of organizing. In every moment he lived and embodied his values. His name, Emet, means truth in Hebrew. He embodied what it means to live authentically.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, born in Memphis. His biological father, Larry, was a closeted cross dresser. Emet was in so many ways the fulfillment & manifestation of his ancestors\u2019 wildest dreams. He spoke with the deep wisdom of someone whose very DNA carried trauma. He knew where he stood from a historical\u00a0 perspective.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

His biological mom, Debbie, and his adoptive mom, Naomi, were lifelong friends who had met in elementary school. Naomi has low vision, so Debbie would read things aloud to her. I feel that this initial act of relational solidarity between two Jewish girls with different disabilities infused Emet with the implicit knowledge of disability community and solidarity. Debbie had EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome), like Emet, as well as some other disabilities. She died when Emet was nine years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet was extraordinary. So much of his wisdom feels prophetic now. I am not typically a religious kind of person, but part of me truly feels that Emet was a prophet, a lamed vavnik. To become the first rabbi with EDS, right before we entered the pandemicene. The way he knew his time. How he knew who he was, so young. He came out as trans at fourteen, and was the only out queer person in his entire school. How he became himself. How he found his people in his time. He really did receive ordination by virtue of the wisdom and teaching he embodied.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A garland that says \u201cYOU ARE MAGICAL\u201d in rainbow striped letters, draped over a white sheet.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Below are a few words said about Emet.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[Emet\u2019s
[Emet\u2019s funeral program. On the cover is a picture of Emet wearing a white and gray polka dotted collared button up shirt, with a gray bow tie. He has curly turquoise hair. He has a mustache and a nose piercing and is sitting in a power chair, smiling. Below it says Rabbi Emet Faye Tauber
August 30, 1994-March 25, 2019
In the background there are zebra stripes, rainbow pride flags, and trans pride flags.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAN OPEN LETTER TO EMET FROM THE <\/span>SVARA<\/span><\/a> FACULTY<\/span><\/p>\n

Read aloud at his funeral on March 27, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

This past summer the SVARA Faculty welcomed Emet into the bet midrash for a week of studying ancient texts in the woods with a community of queers, radicals, and seekers. From the first day, Emet was glowing, lit up with his love of Talmud and the process of learning it. The sugya, the text we studied, with Emet over the summer centered around the question of whether someone who is sick has the personal authority to decide to eat or not eat on Yom Kippur.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The text goes through a number of historical layers, beginning with a mishna that teaches us\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

that if there are medical experts present, they determine whether a sick person can eat on YK, and if there are no medical experts present, the sick person can decide for himself. If Emet were here, he\u2019d probably recite the text for you from memory. The gemara then picks up with a series of questions and discussions about the details of the mishna.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without fully giving away the complicated journey that the gemara goes on, I want to share with you that it’s conclusion is extremely radical.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of the text we hear from a later sage, Mar Bar Rav Ashi, who has thoroughly reworked the mishna, and teaches that for anyone who articulates their own needs, even if there are one hundred experts who say the opposite, we listen to this one sick person because, as it is written in the Book of Proverbs, Lev Yodea Marat Nafsho, \u201cthe heart knows the bitterness of its soul.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, each person is the truest authority of their own experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

In class, Emet shared with us his hiddush, a new revelation and insight about the text, a reading that was so illuminating, it caused an actual audible gasp in the room when he shared it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[A
[A green cactus with a red flower on it in a brown pot. It is surrounded by vibrant red, yellow, and orange light.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>At the conclusion of the whole sugya, Emet taught, the ultimate authoritative voice is brought in, the voice that supersedes the Mishna, the earlier tannaitic rabbis, and the voices of medical experts. That ultimate authoritative voice is embodied in a verse of Torah, which for the rabbis is the language of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>And, Emet pointed out to us, when God, the ultimate authority, speaks in the text, it is only to give God\u2019s own authority away, to give it back to us. To those of us who have been marginalized and disempowered out of telling our own story, who have not been trusted to make decisions about our own bodies and our own lives, from our own self determination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When God takes back power, for one brief moment in this text, from the rabbis and from the medical experts, the power is put into the hands of the marginalized. The ultimate image of authority places us, our hearts, and our souls, as the source of truth, knowledge, wisdom, and prophecy in our tradition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>As we learned Lev Yodea Marat Nafsho this past summer, it was Emet’s insight about how radically empowering God truly is in this text, that opened up and revealed the text for us as teachers and for the whole learning community. Emet pushed us to take seriously that each one of us could be, and should be, a source of Torah, an authority on our lived human experience, and divinely charged as such. His learning and his life embodied this radical Torah, of living your truth, and of doing so fiercely, because you know this is what God wants from you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most communal leaders would probably be too nervous to share with their wider communities that the core texts of Jewish tradition so deeply want those of us who have been historically disempowered to claim our strength, wisdom, and self determination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But Emet wanted to be this kind of rabbi. The kind that leads us to the moments in Jewish tradition that uplift and reimagine what we\u2019re capable of when we know that we can be bold, radical, and courageous, and that God has our back.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And he was this kind of rabbi.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A white canvass banner with Emet (Truth) & Justice written in Hebrew calligraphy: \u05d0\u05de\u05ea \u05e6\u05d3\u05ea
Around it are notes from those who loved Emet, in multicolored print.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read aloud at his funeral:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd still, the isolation of those living with trauma and chronic illness is the truest evil of ableism in our society.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn May of 2016 he wrote in a blog post, \u201cI am disabled, and I am DAMN PROUD. I am not in any way ashamed of my disability, nor do I think that disabled people are burdens or deserve to be marginalized\u2026\u201d He goes on to describe the pain and suffering associated with his progressive genetic disability and advocates, as he did in every part of his life, what the rabbis lifted up as truth. That Lev Yodea Marat Nafsho –\u00a0 that we are each the experts of our own lives. That only we can know what is best for ourselves.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[The
[The inside of Emet\u2019s funeral program.
Kaddish Yatom and its transliterations are on either side
The bottom has the Mourner\u2019s Kaddish translation into English
The background is rainbow pride flags, trans pride flags, and zebra stripes.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read aloud at his funeral:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rabbi Elliot Kukla:<\/span><\/p>\n

Healing Prayer for Ableism<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>May the one who blessed our ancestors, heal all the parts of our society that stigmatize, oppress, exclude, and deny us life-sustaining care, as sick and disabled people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Moses had a speech impediment and was appointed by God as the spokesperson for the enslaved Hebrew people with the help of his brother Aaron. So too, may each of us be granted the aids and access we need to be leaders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>When Miriam was sick the whole camp waited for her and stopped traveling for a week in the wilderness, until she was able to leave her tent. May our own communities surround us in our tents when we are unable to leave our homes.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hannah cried out her pain out loud in the Temple when she was infertile and the Priestly authorities called her \u201cmad\u201d, but tradition remembers this moment as the birth of personal prayer. We pray that soon the day will come when all of our cries of pain are recognized as the holiest of prayers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May the God of our ancestors bring us to a time when all of our unique strengths are celebrated, all of our diverse needs are met, and we can move together towards liberation for all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A piece of art on white paper depicting a woman wearing a red head covering, and surrounding her are yellow and green rings of light. It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPreparing for the end, Tauber considered his legacy: what causes did he want to support and what kind of world would he want to help bring about? He decided to steer a substantial amount of his remaining resources to Reconstructing Judaism. He and his family made a gift of nearly $70,000 to the institution to create a new need-based scholarship fund for rabbinical students. The Tauber scholarship will make a meaningful impact in the life of the recipient. Tauber also requested that each scholarship recipient deepen their knowledge of the community of people\u00a0 with disabilities through study or volunteer work.<\/span><\/p>\n

RRC (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College) student Sarah Barasch has gotten to know Tauber over the last two years. She said that, despite all his health challenges, he managed to travel to advocate on causes he cared deeply about, once Skyping into a rabbinic Hebrew class from an airplane on his way back from testifying before a state legislature about disability issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe taught me a lot about what it means to work really hard and try to get as much as you can out of the time you have,\u201d said Barasch. \u201cHe has set a really powerful example for dedication and commitment. Maybe he pushed me to envision what the rabbinate could be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While Barasch offered that it might sound clich\u00e9d, she couldn\u2019t help but think that \u201cif he could do as much with his short life as he did, I feel more inspired to do more with mine. Because of knowing Emet, the world has a lot more possibilities than I saw before.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A red lampshade with rainbow multicolored string lights draped over it. In the distance is a rainbow, with purple tulle draped over it.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Read aloud at his funeral:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEmet\u2019s father was of a different time and place, and lived most of his life as a closet crossdresser in the south. In many ways, Larry was one of Emet\u2019s roots and Emet fulfilled his father\u2019s unrequited queer life.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[A
[A rainbow piece of art, streaks of light swirled together]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cEmet was a grandchild of Holocaust survivors and the child of people who survived so much trauma and suffering. And deep in your kishkes Emet, you always understood that it was better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive. One of the things I loved best about visiting you Emet, was I could count on you to be so delightfully chatty. He always had stories to tell and Torah to share. In the words of the Palestinian-American poet, Naomi Shihab-Nye, Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things. And oh did Emet know loss.”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[THOSE
[THOSE WHO DO NOT LEARN FROM OUR PAST ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT
(Purple font on blue paper)
Rainbow stripes diagonal across the paper. It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cEmet, you never stopped trying to help people. Even in your last days, when you were raising money for your own wedding, you donated to other people\u2019s fundraisers. Rabbi Linda and I each recounted you lying in bed screaming, so frustrated and so determined to get your power chair and hoyer lift to someone who could use it. On February 5th you posted on Facebook, \u201cI need to get a hoyer lift from philly to Michigan (I sold it on ebay) I\u2019ll pay you and give you a great deal. Please it\u2019s very important to me.?????….\u201d Your never stopped trying to help other people, to be of service. That is the kind of rabbi and person you were.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\"[RESILIENT
[RESILIENT in rainbow
Attached to the wall with stickers of crutches, a stethoscope, a bandaid, a first aid kid, medicine, and rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

A mutual aid network formed around Emet. It was made up predominantly of queer & trans disabled people. There were several rabbinical students and rabbis. There were a number of organizers. At any given time, there were at least five or six other Jews with EDS and\/or other connective tissue disorders in the room with us. It was a real braintrust of disability and chronic illness, and in particular of EDS. It was based in interdisability community solidarity, the idea that we are connected while varying in individual experience. It was a project of repair.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A white wood block with the words \u201cus. friends. always.\u201d in black letters. It is draped in white tulle.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>One of the consequences of ableism is a belief that disabled people don\u2019t have anything to contribute; that we are recipients of help, but not providers of it. Emet\u2019s mutual aid network was organized autonomously by queer and trans people with a variety of different disabilities. It was a glimpse of a new and different kind of world, a vision for systems of care. We waited on no one to do it for us. We knew we were the ones we were waiting for, and we could build a new world for ourselves. It is this glimpse of a different world that has sustained me through these pandemic years. I know it is possible because I saw it. My friend is still teaching me. He taught me everything I would need to know about chronic illness, disability, and grief.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hospice center where Emet passed away was originally founded to care for HIV\/AIDS patients in a time when few hospice centers would accept them. I always visualized the queer and trans networks of care that gathered in these rooms before us. Care work is revolutionary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A profile shot of the television in Emet\u2019s hospice room. Purple tulle, multicolored lights, and purple flowers are draped over it. In the background the door is visible, covered in pieces of art made by queer and trans people.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emet was a lifeline for many in online chronic illness communities, as he gathered information and resources about his illness. He knew that with underdiagnosed diseases like EDS and ME\/CFS<\/span> (myalgic encephalomyelitis\/chronic fatigue syndrome)<\/span> & Long COVID, in the absence of official biomarkers, the symptom profile of patients is the biomarker- that we are bodies of knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Caring for Emet wasn\u2019t easy, and it took every single one of us. It took him asking for what he needed, showing all of us that asking for what you need is holy. It is inviting your community into a covenant with you, a relationship elevated to the level of obligation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A flower made up of multiple kinds and colors of fabric on orange paper]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For example, Sarah Barasch\u2019s fierce love of Emet and visionary perspective made us see how much more was possible in what we could create together. Sarah was committed to ensuring Emet had what he needed, whether that meant organizing pain medication, sourcing IV Benadryl during a nationwide shortage, or organizing us to take shifts. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A rainbow heart with the word Love in large black lettering. It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Emet taught us about building a world centered around disability. We always used Zoom to ensure a virtual option. We physically brought Shabbat services to him in hospice. It was a gift to have ritual leaders\/facilitators who collaborated to organize services and rituals in Emet\u2019s hospice room. This is how faith can look centered around chronic illness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[The
[The television in Emet\u2019s hospice room. There is purple and white tulle, multicolored rainbow lights, and purple flowers draped over it. In the background art is visible on the walls.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each of us had something to give, and a way to help. We were so fortunate to have such capable, creative ritual facilitators\/leaders\/chaplains, (and organizers) in Zusha, Eli, Lonnie, Sarah Barasch, Sarah Brammer-Schlay, May, Rory, Sophie, Nora, and Rabbi Linda.<\/span> Zusha always set an intention for us, and helped frame our time together in hospice. Eli taught us a chant that began with the words \u201cI am a revolutionary.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Ritual reminded us this too is holy, and sometimes prayer is a bridge to the next moment when we do not know what to do. Rituals of grief matter, and I am all the more grateful for our time together in hospice and shiva because of these plague years in which grieving rituals have been stolen from us. Ritual marks time. Judaism is a religion of time, rather than place. It is said in Jewish tradition that Shabbat is a palace in time. The sweet time we had together in hospice was a palace in time, marked and set apart by ritual.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[The
[The Jewish radical calendar, set at the month of Adar 2 5780 on the Jewish calendar (March 2019)]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a Jewish custom, shmira, to sit with and read aloud to the deceased person until the funeral. I sat shmira for Emet, and decided to read Fun Home, because it is not often one reads Fun Home in a literal funeral home. Emet also saw himself in the story of Fun Home, as a queer trans person with a closeted queer parent whom he lost at a young age. As my shift ended, I saw the Tahara team arrive. Tahara is a Jewish ritual washing and preparation of the body. I recognized many of our friends on the Tahara team, and I felt reassured that Emet was in good hands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A more color more pride progress rainbow pride flag, draped over a window.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet\u2019s energy is out in the universe now, with every sick & disabled person advocating for themselves. In these dying days. In this season of our grief.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Crip Camp<\/span><\/i><\/a> was released on the first anniversary of Emet\u2019s death, or Yahrzeit, March 25, 2020. It is said that in Jewish history there are no coincidences. I was struck by how much Camp Jened reminded me of Emet\u2019s hospice room. Perhaps because Emet also went to summer camp growing up, at Camp Kinderland. Camp Jened was founded by a Jewish couple. We sang a lot of camp songs together in hospice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A blue card with a rainbow flag, a zebra sticker, and the name Emet. A white paper card with Emet in black cursive writing. Under it is a rainbow background with a drawing of Emet, a white disabled trans man with bright blue hair, sitting in his wheelchair, wearing a black t-shirt and gray shorts. His t-shirt says \u201cProtect Trans Kids\u201d in white letters. He is holding a speech in his lap. The card is signed by Nico. A white candle is next to the card. White tulle is draped over the dresser, as well as blue ribbon. A plant is in the background.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>Both Camp Jened & Emet\u2019s hospice rooms were these places of interdisability community, disabled joy, and mutual aid, where disabled people helped each other, and saw each other.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[Purple
[Purple tulle ribbon draped around a piece of art.
The piece of art is a rainbow made of various fabrics and materials, on gray paper. Under the rainbow are the words \u201cStronger Together\u201d in black cursive handwriting on white background. It is attached to the wall with white flower stickers and tie dye rainbow tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>There was a lot of joy in Emet\u2019s hospice room. Life took place in it. There were days when Kaden, Michael, Michaela, and Rachel, Emet\u2019s sister, visited, and we had a waxing party or painted our nails or dyed Emet\u2019s hair, and Michael would try to teach me the Hebrew alphabet (I did learn it after all, Emet). Emet lived into his femme gender expression and inner queen, reminding us all of the femme magic of care. Emet and I sent each other pictures of fancy dresses we liked, always saying jokingly \u201cis this too much?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\"[A
[A rainbow butterfly with a green feather body, silver glitter wings, rainbow beaded wings, gold and glitter wings, on gray paper.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"[A
[A femme person with Brown skin and shoulder length wavy hair looks over their shoulder. Their outfit is made of different fabrics, like a green polka dot shirt, a pink feather, and black and white and red polka dotted skirt.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We were so fortunate to have the braintrust of EDS and connective tissue disorders: Shayn, Stacey, Bex, Nico, Gavi, and Joan, who consistently showed up for Emet, who sat together and shared wisdom about their experiences. Shayn and Gavi frequently stayed overnight with Emet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Daniel, Mikki, Jordan, and Davi coordinated caring for Emet\u2019s service dog, Roxie. Some of my favorite days included visiting Emet and taking Roxie for a walk around the city while Emet napped. We all had some way to help.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of us belonged to different chapters of Emet\u2019s life, but a community formed. Michael, who went to high school with Emet, taught me the Hebrew alphabet. One day I sat and talked with Emet\u2019s childhood rabbi from Riverdale while Emet napped.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A childhood picture of Emet\u2019s sister, Rachel, swimming with a dolphin which appears to be nuzzling her. She is wearing a life vest and smiling. It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape. Next to it is a card with the words \u201cenjoy every moment.\u201d It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape. Below is a card depicting trees, also attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I decorated Emet\u2019s hospice room with art from the art studio space at Creating Change 2019. It was art made by queer and trans souls and I thought it might bring him comfort to be surrounded by beauty and the love and joy of other queer trans people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[\u201cQueer
[\u201cQueer AF\u201d in alternating Red, Silver, Black paint, on red paper. \u201cTHEY THEM\u201d in black handwriting. It is attached to the wall with rainbow tie dye tape.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Judy Heumann and Denise and Neil Jacobson, who went to Camp Jened and were featured in Crip Camp, are all Jewish and children of Holocaust survivors. Emet was a grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, who passed away this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think about the legacies of Holocaust survivors still playing out through the work of their children and grandchildren, and their inherited resilience. I feel this sense that the spirits of our ancestors are guiding us towards healing, justice, and right-relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A blue card with a rainbow flag, a zebra sticker, and the name Emet. A white paper card with Emet in black cursive writing. Under it is a rainbow background with a drawing of Emet, a white disabled trans man with bright blue hair, sitting in his wheelchair, wearing a black t-shirt and gray shorts. His t-shirt says \u201cProtect Trans Kids\u201d in white letters. He is holding a speech in his lap. A white candle is next to the card. White tulle is draped over the dresser, as well as blue ribbon. A plant is in the background. On the right is a dark navy blue copy of Leviticus.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>I am so grateful now that I can always find Emet in Jewish text. I can encounter his love of Talmud by studying it myself. I wish I could talk to him about theology on my path to the rabbinate, but I still feel like I exist in a dialogue with Emet, always thinking about what he would say about these plague days.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"[A
[A blue copy of \u201cTanakh: The Holy Scriptures\u201d is partly covered in shadow.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"[A
[A multicolored ceramic portrayal of the Jerusalem skyline sits on a shelf. A card is next to it. In the background there is a rainbow pride flag.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

My partner and I started dating about six months after Emet\u2019s death. My partner and I both have different disabilities, and we help each other. I feel connected to Emet in the nature of our interdisability solidarity.<\/span><\/p>\n

The pandemic began soon after we started dating. We watched a lot of sci-fi shows in quarantine, like <\/span>Stargate<\/span><\/i>, and\u00a0 <\/span>The Expanse<\/span><\/i>. My partner is into sci-fi, and I understand why. They joke sometimes that their BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid) makes them a cyborg. Sci-fi is speculative fiction, in which we can imagine different futures, and different kinds of bodies and body modifications. We are in the middle of a mass disabling event, and our society will need to adapt to the needs of disabled and chronically ill people. A Disabled futurism allows us to be imaginative about what it could look like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Emet was dying, he began to lose his vision and his hearing. When he began to lose his vision, he wanted to learn Braille. When he began losing his hearing, he wanted to start learning ASL. Anyone who visited remembers the sign he made for his door, saying \u201cnew friends always welcome.\u201d He was always looking for ways to be adaptive, and to learn from those already living with those disabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"[A
[A sign saying EMET, in block letters with patterns, like stripes, and polka dots, inside them. Below it is a yellow arrow pointing to the right, indicating Emet. It is attached to the wall with white flower stickers.]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

***\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It continues to feel eerie that the world began living on the timeline of illness so soon after a prophet of illness left this world. His life is part of the fabric of my being now. At Emet\u2019s funeral, the ceremony closed with two readings:<\/span><\/p>\n

TONY KUSHNER, FROM ANGELS IN AMERICA<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNight flight to San Francisco;\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

chase the moon across America.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God, it\u2019s been years since I was on a plane.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we hit 35,000 feet we\u2019ll have reached the tropopause,\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

the great belt of calm air, as close as I\u2019ll ever get to the ozone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I dreamed we were there. The plane leapt the tropopause, the safe air, and attained the outer rim, the ozone, which was ragged and torn, patches of it threadbare as old cheesecloth, and that was frightening.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But I saw something that only I could see because of my astonishing ability to see such things:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Souls were rising, from the earth far below, souls of the dead, of people who had perished, from famine, from war, from the plague, and they floated up, like skydivers in reverse, limbs all akimbo, wheeling and spinning.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And the souls of these departed joined hands, clasped ankles, and formed a web, a great net of souls, and the souls were three-atom oxygen molecules of the stuff of ozone, and the outer rim absorbed them and was repaired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing\u2019s lost forever. In this world, there\u2019s a kind of painful progress. Longing for what we\u2019ve left behind, and dreaming ahead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At least I think that\u2019s so.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

GRACE BY DENISE BENITEZ<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200b<\/span><\/p>\n

I always knew the river was there,<\/span><\/p>\n

but it went underground<\/span><\/p>\n

or dried up in certain seasons,<\/span><\/p>\n

or taunted with a deluge of rain<\/span><\/p>\n

and then a long dry summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

At last the season came,<\/span><\/p>\n

my body taken by the river,<\/span><\/p>\n

my soul in its drowning embrace.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recognition came the words.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is what I know:<\/span><\/p>\n

My cells speak to me in a secret language.<\/span><\/p>\n

My body adores breath and benevolence.<\/span><\/p>\n

All hearts rest in the same Great Heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is nothing to fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the heart of contraction, there is a magnificence<\/span><\/p>\n

of space, a lifetime of universes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything is moving sensuously.<\/span><\/p>\n

Everything, given half a chance,<\/span><\/p>\n

given the slightest invitation,<\/span><\/p>\n

given the smallest opening of the fist,<\/span><\/p>\n

is leaning toward Love.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emet taught me what it truly means to live with chronic illness and disability, and what it means to live in dying days, in a season of grief. Emet\u2019s hospice room offered us a lab, a portal of sorts for re-centering and re-imagining the world around disability and illness. We can utilize these pandemics as a portal. We are closing Shmita year on the Jewish calendar, in which we allow the land to lie fallow, an opportunity for a season of rest and renewal. At the close of Shmita year, we prepare seven years ahead for the next Shmita cycle. Everything is dreaming ahead, moving towards Love.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/h4>\n

For more about Emet<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

https:\/\/www.kol-tzedek.org\/emet.html<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.reconstructingjudaism.org\/news\/facing-death-rabbinical-student-teaches-others-about-living-life\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/advocacymonitor.com\/ncil-mourns-the-loss-of-emet-tauber\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n
\"Noah,
Noah, a white trans masc non-binary person with short brown hair, smiles at the camera while holding a milkshake. They are wearing a short sleeved green shirt with red, orange, and pink flower pattern on it.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Noah is an organizer and Jewish educator. Noah has been teaching at Jewish Children\u2019s Folkshul for four years and is currently working on their masters in Judaism and Human Rights at Gratz College, with the goal of pursuing rabbinical school. Noah\u2019s writing has been featured in Jewish Currents, New Voices, The Jewish Daily Forward, Jewschool, and Lilith Magazine. Their writing about Judaism and disability can be found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>. Their patreon can be found here: <\/span>https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/DisabilityTorah<\/span><\/a> and also on their <\/span>linktree<\/span><\/a>. Find them on Twitter <\/span>@NoahTzedek<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pictures by Shayn Pulley\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Art made by queer and trans people of the Creating Change 2019 art studio space\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Decorating by Noah<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Support Disability Media and Culture<\/b><\/p>\n

DONATE<\/b><\/a>\u00a0to the Disability Visibility Project\u00ae<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emet Tauber: Disabled Oracle A different world is possible\u00a0   Noah Strauss   There was always a journalist, Joshua Bright, in the room with us in those dying days, in … Continue Reading Emet Tauber: Disabled Oracle<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":486094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6701202,1],"tags":[8437,587152944,587152867,11124,587153017,587152865,587152347,587153153,587152866,587153029],"class_list":["post-486077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-blog-posts","category-uncategorized","tag-death","tag-disabled-oracles","tag-disabled-rabbis","tag-dying","tag-grief","tag-judaism","tag-queer-disabled-people","tag-queer-trans-disabled-people","tag-rabbi","tag-vulnerability","post-has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/emet-twitter.png?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4H7t1-22rX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/disabilityvisibilityproject.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}