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February 23, 2001/Shevet 30, 5761, Vol. 53, No.21
Breaking the sound barrier
Deaf Jews become a part of communal life
VICKI CABOT
Contributing Editor
Shirley and Charles Grossman help son, Stuart, practice his Hebrew signing of the holiday prayers.
Photo by Vicki Cabot |
On a recent Shabbat morning, Rabbi Harris Cooperman chanted the weekly Torah portion, the traditional Hebrew trope, or melody, enriched by the equally rhythmic signing of his counterpart, visiting Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind.
The pairing of spoken words and vigorous hand motions captured the power of the parashah (Torah portion) for both deaf and hearing worshipers.
"It was wonderful," says Shirley Grossman, who is hearing. She and her husband Charles, who is hearing, and son Stuart, who is deaf, attended the Feb. 2-3 regional Shabbaton for the deaf and hard of hearing sponsored by Our Way, a national resource and support organization, and hosted by Beth Joseph Congregation in Phoenix. Lederfeind is Our Way's national director; Cooperman is the principal of the Phoenix Hebrew Academy.
The week's parashah told the story of the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, and Rabbi David Rebibo, Beth Joseph's spiritual leader, drew on the text to speak about the obligation to reach out to those with diminished physical or mental capacities. It was not a darkness of the eyes that the Egyptians were forced to endure, said the rabbi, but rather, a more spiritually debilitating darkness of the heart. And it is that darkness that impedes our ability to "see" those with special needs.
It was a compelling plea to reach out to a community that suffers from intense isolation and has often felt excluded from Jewish life.
"Historically the Jewish community has been protective of the deaf," says Becca Hornstein, founding director of the Council for Jews with Special Needs, "but often the community found the challenge to incorporate them was just too great." The perceived indifference led to increased alienation and greater isolation from organized Jewish life. Hornstein says that CJSN, which serves Jews with a variety of special needs in the Valley community, and was the local liaison for The Our Way program, has about a dozen deaf Jews on its roster; she suspects that there are many more who either do not know about or do not choose to affiliate with the council. Lederfeind estimates that there are at least 10,000 deaf Jews nationwide; Our Way's mailing list numbers 2,300.
Hornstein cites the Jewish emphasis on prayer and study - and its obvious aural and verbal elements - as an impediment to inclusion of the deaf in the Jewish community. Also, as children, many older Jewish adults
were sent to residential schools which afforded little Jewish contact; today, with legal mandates for special education, many more deaf children live at home in Jewish environments and attend local schools.
Likewise, she notes, American Sign Language is a Christian-based language developed by Christian missionaries. Its Jewish vocabulary is limited, increasing the difficulty to explain religious concepts to those who sign (Some deaf individuals are oralists, relying on lip reading to understand speech.) And interpreting Hebrew to English speakers requires signers who can deftly translate from Hebrew to English to American Sign Language.
Robin Eichler, one of five interpreters regularly used by CJSN to help serve its deaf members, explains that the deaf have more difficulty understanding religion because it is abstract.
"It's not finite, it's harder to explain," she says. Eichler currently works with families of deaf infants and as the interpreter for the CJSN special needs adult b'nai mitzvah class that Stuart Grossman attends.
"It's easier to understand symbols rather than concepts," she adds.
Stuart Grossman has a grasp of understanding rituals of the holidays, lighting candles at Hanukkah, eating matzo on Passover and reciting kiddush on Shabbat. He followed Lederfeind's signing of the Torah reading intensely; he knows the story of the 10 plagues, says Shirley Grossman.
"I was happy," says Stuart Grossman of the Shabbat experience. Toward the end of the morning service, he was given the honor of opening the ark.
The Grossmans have long availed themselves of the local resources through CJSN and the national Our Way. Affiliated with the Orthodox Union, the organization reaches out to all deaf Jews, regardless of affiliation. Stuart Grossman was deaf from birth and graduated from the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf last year. He is employed by Bank of America.
Shirley Grossman says that materials prepared by Our Way have allowed her son to participate actively in the family's Jewish life. Stuart Grossman now has a prayer book compiled of Our Way mailers that have translated basic prayers into sign language.
"He does the prayers, (and) we do the explanations," says Shirley Grossman, who, like her husband and their daughter Naomi, has learned to sign. She says the family hopes the keenly anticipated Our Way Haggadah will arrive before Passover this year.
Likewise, the Grossmans have attended other Our Way events. Socialization with other deaf young people is important, and programs such as the recent Shabbaton, attended by some 20 deaf and hard of hearing adults and young people, including David Lifshits, a deaf Russian Jew who has worked closely with Our Way in New York, are much appreciated.
Lederfeind was surprised that many who attended the event, which included services, workshops and socializing, did not know one another.
He notes, however, that the Southwest is very different from New York City, where he lives and works, with its dense Jewish population and greater concentration of deaf Jews.
Lederfeind, whose parents are deaf, is hearing. Two of his six children are deaf. He says that the number of deaf Orthodox Jews is increasing because of the propensity to marry only within a small genetic circle.
"Orthodox people have a small marriage pool," he explains. "We are very closely related to each other."
Lederfeind says it is not uncommon for an Orthodox family in New York to have 10 children, three or four of whom are deaf.
His two daughters, ages 9 and 16, are mainstreamed at local girls' yeshivot and assisted by interpreters in the classroom.
Helping Lederfeind at the Shabbaton was Rabbi David Kastor of Baltimore, who is deaf.
Lederfeind stresses the importance for Jewish deaf to have Jewish role models.
Kastor's wife, Tchia, who is also deaf, has designed the attractive Our Way prayer materials distributed to members.
Currently, Our Way is planning one Shabbaton a month at different locations around the country. In addition, it sponsors an annual meeting for the Jewish deaf, a Big Brother/Big Sister program for its young members, a resource and support group for parents of the deaf, vocational services and a Jewish Deaf Singles Registry.
Bill Parker, one of the local adults who attended the Beth Joseph Shabbaton, is typical of many.
"He wants to find a girl," says Lederfeind, noting that Parker is no different from most Jewish singles and Our Way's inherently traditional mission.
"And we want to build more Jewish homes within the Jewish community."
Our Way can be reached at Ourway@ou.org or by telephone at 212-613-8234.
Council for Jews with Special Needs can be reached at becca@cjsn.org or by telephone at 602-277-4243.
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