“There were many factors in my decision to pursue Jewish special education as a career. My parents provided me with a deep appreciation for the importance of each individual. They considered helping someone in need one of the greatest virtues one can possess…. My parents also taught me about the importance of Jewish education. My father would travel after work from Worcester to Southbridge, Massachusetts, to run a small Talmud Torah school…. My mother was a first grade Hebrew teacher and General Studies Principal of the Worcester Hebrew Day Academy…. My interest in special education began while listening to her stories of working with students with learning and behavior problems….

I have recently begun to realize, more and more, how profoundly my students have affected my life. They taught me that there are few things in life more powerful than the human spirit, that although each was challenged by life in a unique way, each was capable of reaching greater heights than those set by society. Each is a creation of G-d, capable of making significant contributions. And, most important, each should be entitled to assume his or her rightful place in the Jewish community….

During the past twenty-three years I have witnessed some extremely exciting events: Four retarded youngsters won the Boy Scouts’ coveted Ner Tamid Award. (The rabbi informed me that few of those who had received the award under his auspices were as knowledgeable and worthy as my students.) An autistic youngster became an appropriate participating member of our prayer service. Marty, a cerebral-palsied young man, became a television program director. Countless numbers of children who are retarded, deaf, blind, emotionally disturbed, or orthopedically handicapped prepared for and celebrated their bar or bat mitzvah.

All this occurred mostly to the amazement of family, friends, and educators…. They have all taught me the fundamental concept which Dr. Reuven Feuerstein calls ‘human modifiability.’ People can change.”

“Rabbi Schloss’s dream is that every Jewish person have the opportunity to make his or her own unique contribution to Jewish life. To make this dream a reality, Rabbi Schloss has worked tirelessly as an advocate for the right of every Jewish child to receive an appropriate Jewish education; the privilege of every Jewish person regardless of ‘difference’ to find a place in the Jewish community, and the responsibility of every educator to recognize, respect, and address the individual needs of each child. Rabbi Schloss has helped make Jewish special education an issue which the Jewish community can no longer set aside. Thousands of ‘different’ Jewish children received and are receiving a Jewish education thanks to his efforts…. Thousands of once disenfranchised and frustrated Jewish parents throughout the United States can thank Rabbi Schloss for his role in the creation and continued growth of educational and social programs, camps, and community living facilities now serving their children.”

Dr. Don Well

“My first encounter with Rabbi Martin Schloss was as a parent of a child with learning problems, who was seeking to identify a Jewish supplementary school which could prepare him for his bar mitzvah…. As a result of his heroic efforts, special education became a recognized discipline within Jewish education. I will never forget that first telephone conversation. His warmth and concern were obvious, as was the disappointment that we both felt because there was then nothing appropriate to meet the particular needs of my son. This is no longer the case.”

Anita Altman

“I cannot adequately express my enormous admiration for his achievement, passion, commitment, dedication, and courage. Rabbi Schloss began his work when the Jewish community was not attuned to the special requirements of the learning and developmentally disabled child. Working with a myriad of organizations and founding his own when needed he broke through the many fears and stereotypes prevalent about Jewish special education. His dictum ‘Every Jewish child deserves a Jewish education’ was initially met with disregard. Now it has become the banner of every Jewish special education program…. It is no exaggeration to say that there is not a day school in the country which has not been affected directly or indirectly by his important work.”

Rabbi Joshua Fishman