Non­fic­tion

Just Human: The Quest for Dis­abil­i­ty Wis­dom, Respect, and Inclusion

  • From the Publisher
September 1, 2021

Judaism calls upon us to con­tin­u­al­ly improve our world. Just Human tells the sto­ry of a blind Jew­ish woman’s jour­ney toward build­ing inclu­sion for all. Born with­out sight, Dr. Arielle Sil­ver­man has spent a life­time explor­ing ways to fos­ter respect and inclu­sion for all of us whose bod­ies or minds dier from the norm.

In Just Human, she reflects on her for­ma­tive years and presents unique anec­dotes from her life that car­ry teach­able moments for all of us. She recalls the feel of her mother’s embrace, the smell of her grand­par­ents’ brisket, the inner sen­sa­tions of a pre­teen crush, the music on her wed­ding day, and schol­ar­ly lessons from her dis­ser­ta­tion research. Her words paint pic­tures from her mind’s eye: a vision of a world where we can rad­i­cal­ly accept our­selves and our fel­low humans, while at the same time work to change sys­tems of inequal­i­ty. Reflect­ing from gen­er­a­tion to gen­er­a­tion, Arielle looks toward the future, con­sid­er­ing how we can build a more inclu­sive world for those who come after us.

Discussion Questions