Demeaning, distasteful, downright disgusting

Video capture [Source]

In 2016 I wrote about an organization called Refuah and Yeshuah [see "The Pesach seder and the children who won't be there"], offering to rid families of their children with disabilities on Seder night. It was, in my view, the height of distasteful.

The advertisement, which appeared in a local Hareidi business booklet, featured a young child with Down's being lifted by an adults hands. The text on the photo read:

"Chaimke's father has no questions!" 

Below the photo it continued:

'The most special Seder in the world' Many families with special children endure difficulty and cope throughout the year in silence. Refuah and Yeshuah holds a special seder for special children and gives them days of relief and joy on the Pesach holiday". 

The ad posted a phone number for donations.

I presumed that, in the years since, such a jarring project would be recognized as anachronistic and discriminatory and would have been, deservedly, ditched.

I couldn't have been more wrong. 

This year I found not one but two Hareidi organizations soliciting donations to fund their seders for children with disabilities. From the accompanying photos and video clips it is clear they too were targeting children with Down's.

Here's the way one of them, Alei Siach, touted the idea:

From bedikat hametz until packing away the Pesach dishes: The organization Alei Siach will carry out its revolutionary initiative for Pesach and will host at its Pesach retreat in Pisgat Zeev in Jerusalem, scores of special needs children and adults with heartfelt warmth for the entire holiday. Volunteers of the organization will thereby remove the burden and worry over the child from the parents and will enable them and their families to enjoy the holiday joy and true freedom.

The second organization, Giusim (which might be a fund-raising platform and the charity might be called Ohel Sarah - it's not at all clear), posted this bizarre wordless clip apparently depicting a child being excluded from the seder by his own family:

[If the video clip does not stream, I urge you to go to YouTube and stream it from there.]

One encouraging detail in this sordid picture is that when I saw it last night, Giyusim listed no more than 14 donors and a total of 4,886 shekels (roughly USD 1,350).