Elie Klein, at The Blogs

Jun 15, 2025, 6:12 AM

The damage seen in Rishon Lezion a day after a ballistic missile attack from Iran, June 14, 2025 (Rishon Lezion Municipality drone team)

To this day, when you ask my father if he would like tea or coffee, he will respond "Yes." While his goal is to make the server smile, he is also genuinely torn between the two. In a somewhat...

May 28, 2025, 9:58 PM

Crisis, Conflict and the Kindest Generation

National Service volunteers at Jewish National Fund-USA affiliate ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran are all smiles while celebrating Yom Haatzmaut with residents and students with severe disabilities.

Growing up in the suburban United States during simpler times, I was largely sheltered from the storms of life. Though I marched and rallied for the freedom of fellow Jews around the world from a very young age, their trials...

Sep 5, 2023, 4:57 AM

On Pomegranates and Human Potential

A pomegranate's magical metamorphosis from flower to fruit perfectly exemplifies the promise of potential.

With Rosh Hashanah on the horizon, I am filled with excitement for the pomp and piety of the Jewish New Year. From rapturous prayer services to magnificent meals replete with ceremony and symbolism, I adore every element of this...

Feb 3, 2022, 8:26 PM

Will We All Scream for Inclusion?

Could we ever love, crave and adore disability inclusion at least as much as our favorite comfort foods?

As a Kosher foodie living in Israel, I am intimately familiar with the ever-potent power of novel and nostalgic comfort food. Within minutes of hearing about the newest offerings at our favorite restaurants or the childhood treats that clandestinely crop...

Dec 8, 2020, 5:54 PM

Chanukah and Inclusion Are Under Attack

There's an old joke that every Jewish holiday can be summed up with a single statement: “They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat!” The particulars behind the punchline are that we have survived a lot of hatred...

May 4, 2020, 1:26 PM

COVID-19: A master class in disability inclusion

ALEH has created a “protective cocoon” for its immunocompromised residents with severe disabilities, keeping them active, happy and calm, while shielding them from COVID-19. Does a truly inclusive world await them on the other side of this Coronavirus craziness?

I am so proud of us. All of us. Though the Coronavirus crisis bears an eerie resemblance to the pandemic portrayed in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Contagion’ (2011), one marked difference is the power of our humanity in 2020. While that cinematic...

Dec 12, 2019, 4:13 PM

The Miracle of Disability

From a young age, I was taught to recognize miracles. In grade school, my teachers underscored the multifaceted significance of our unprecedented Exodus from Egypt, emphasized the Purim story’s remarkable reversal of fortunes, and highlighted Chanukah’s inexplicable spiritual and military...

May 3, 2019, 6:55 PM

Lilacs at Auschwitz

One of my favorite elements of my childhood home in Baltimore, Maryland, was the lilac bush that grew wild along our driveway. No matter how hard my father and countless gardeners tried to tame it, the bush refused to...

Apr 24, 2017, 8:06 PM

Never Before Heard ‘Never Again’

At school, my sons received two candles bearing names of fallen brothers, Jews who fell between the cracks years after leaving grieving mothers. With kindled flame, we huddled close and all pronounced their names aloud, Never shall they be forgotten, unrecalled or...

Nov 23, 2015, 2:02 PM

Sons of Agony

Twice a year a simple question shakes me to my core, With heights of joy and depths of dread I'd never felt before. Their birthday candles burning bright, my two young sons review, How many years until they stand to shield the...

About Me

Elie Klein is a veteran nonprofit marketing professional and the North American Director of Advancement for ADI, Israel’s network of specialized rehabilitative care for those touched by and living with disability, and an international advocate for disability inclusion, equity and access.

Contact Me