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Matan Koch, disability advocate who urged Jewish communities to ‘let everyone in,’ dies at 44

JL;DR SUMMARY Matan Koch, a significant advocate for disability inclusion, passed away at 44 after battling stomach cancer. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish EthicsJewish CommunitiesLos AngelesInclusionYale UniversityHarvard Law SchoolDisability AdvocacyCerebral PalsyMatan KochAda Compliance

Places mentioned

Los Angeles, California, United States
"Matan Koch speaks at Ikar, his Los Angeles synagogue, on Disability Shabbat, Oct. 18, 2025."
New Milford, Connecticut, United States
"Born in 1981, in New Milford, Connecticut, Koch was both brilliant and precocious and from an early age moved through a world not built for his body with clarity and determination, according to Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein, one of his four siblings."
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
"He held numerous appointments on disability rights committees, first at Yale and then as vice president of the New Haven Disability Commission."

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Cairo Item ID 80993
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-04-28 05:31:00 UTC
Curated 2026-04-28 08:30:43 UTC