Jewish Concerns: Making Judaism Accessible to the Deaf and
Hard-Of-Hearing
by Jana Stewart
30 November, 2008
Being an observant Jew on any level involves a great deal of effort. As
Jews we are commanded in the Torah, our holy book, to observe 613 mitzvot
(singular; “mitzvah”), or commonly translated as “commandments.” Observing
mitzvot is an enormous undertaking and involves a great deal of will power
and focus. It is also never easy.
Different Jews have different mitzvot to follow. Some are specific to the
land of Israel, some are time specific, and some are specific to men and
others to women. We have mitzvot that relate to the treatment of property,
each other and even the treatment of animals. What all of these commandments
do for us is to allow us to focus, completely, on the most trivial, mundane
aspects to our lives. They allow us to understand that what we do; how we
behave; all of it is important. All of it is holy. This is quite an amazing
concept.
However, with all of this focus on ritual and observance, there exists a
problem; the ability of every Jew to participate.
Prayer has replaced the animal sacrifices that were once prevalent during
the Temple period. Each prayer laid out in a synagogue service has a
specific melody, and is lead by a member of the clergy. Because of the
musical nature of services, Jews who are deaf or hard-of-hearing have
extreme difficulty in participating in synagogue life. The inability to
participate in the fundamentals of Jewish life causes one to feel isolated
from the community. It is because of this isolation that so many deaf Jews
are either non-observant or completely assimilated into surrounding
practices and cultures. Jewish Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children are often
unable to attend religious schools or Jewish Day schools. It is during
childhood that a person’s identity is formed, and with the lack of resources
for deaf children, their Jewish identity flounders. As a result, they feel
uncomfortable participating in synagogue life and are unable to celebrate
major lifecycle events such as being called to read the Torah when becoming
a Bar or Bat Mitzvah (a Jewish rite of passage) thus having no foundation to
connect them with Jewish life.
Currently, there are few synagogues that offer ASL (American Sign
Language) interpretation for deaf members. There have been several attempts
over the last century to solve this problem, culminating in the Jewish Deaf
Community Center in Southern California, Temple Beth Solomon in Tarzana,
California; a synagogue created specifically for the Jewish Deaf community
of Los Angeles, the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf in Skokie, Illinois, as well
as others. Though even with these organizations, the community is suffering.
All over the United States are deaf and hard-of-hearing Jews who have little
to no education due to a lack of resources available.
So what needs to be done to solve this? The greater Jewish community as a
whole, regardless of denomination needs to work together in order that ASL
interpretation is available in synagogues. The community needs to encourage
its members to study ASL in the hope that many will be motivated to become
interpreters, or even rabbis themselves. By learning to communicate with
each other, we can provide the best education for ourselves and our
children; allowing them to feel just how beautiful our traditions and
rituals are. Every Jew should be able to connect with his or her people and
culture. No one should be pushed away for any reason.
For information regarding American Sign Language (ASL), visit:
www.lifeprint.com
References:
Jewish Deaf Community Center. (1992-2008):
http://www.jdcc.org/index.php/site/about/
Lubman, Jeff. (1996). Deaf Jew in the Jewish Community. Jewish Deaf
Community Center. Retrieved 30 November, 2008:
http://www.jdcc.org/site/1996/nov-dec/art1.htm
Marcovitz, Liz. (2008, September 16). Opening Our Tent for the Hearing
Impaired. The Jewish Outreach Institute. Retrieved 28 November, 2008:
http://joi.org/blog/?cat=9
(2007, May 2) Sixty Deaf and Hearing-impaired Children Celebrate their
Bar and Bat Mitzvah. Council of Young Israel Rabbis. Retrieved 30 November,
2008:
http://www.youngisraelrabbis.org.il/heritage1.htm
(2008, September 18) Deaf and Hard of Hearing Concerns. Deaf Jews. Blog
Retrieved 30 November, 2008:
http://deafjews.blogspot.com/2008/09/hard-of-hearing-concerns.html
Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf. (2001-2002). Martin Hyman, webmaster:
http://www.tbsdeafjewish.org/about.htm