Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf

by Sharon Ann Soudakoff

Did you know that there is a school where a deaf or hearing person can study to become a rabbi or Jewish educator in the deaf community? The Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf (HSD) started accepting students in September, 1992.

HSD was formed by Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer with Congregation Bene Shalom (CBS) of the Deaf in Skokie, Illinois, an independent synagogue affiliated with both the Reform and Conservative movement. He decided that it was time to establish a seminary of the deaf.

Involvement With Deaf

Goldhamer, who is hearing, explains that he was watching a TV program, 'The Phil Donahue Show' in Cincinnati, Ohio where he was studying at Hebrew Union College in 1969 when a hearing Catholic priest explained of his efforts to 'save' many deaf people for Jesus including people with names of Bernsteins, Goldbergs, and Rocklands. "Those deaf people were Jewish!!!," Goldhamer thought to himself, "I thought it was awful that the Jewish deaf should find G-d in that church."

The next day, Goldhamer tracked down the Hebrew Association of the Deaf (HAD) in Chicago and spoke to a student rabbi who said he was tired of working for the deaf community and wanted a hearing pulpit. "I asked him to introduce me to the deaf Jewish in Chicago. I flew in to Chicago to meet with these people, and fell in love with, the deaf people and I never looked back since then.

"My first service in Chicago was the High Holidays", Goldhamer recalls, "I didn't know one sign, I came two weeks before the Holidays. I stayed at the home of Celia and Leonard Warshawsky, and they both gave me crash courses in sign language, 8 to 10 hours a day."

Why HSD?

Goldhamer admits that "Even though, I was honored to serve the deaf Jewish community, I knew in my heart that it is better to have a deaf rabbi." When I approached different Jewish seminaries to teach deaf students, pay for interpreters, teach deaf studies and deafness in Jewish religion, they all said 'No'.

I felt frustrated that my dream having a deaf rabbi would never happen. So I invited wealthy Jewish people and well-respected deaf leaders to join me in building a new Jewish deaf seminary."

HSD is now in its fourth year. Is Goldhamer happy with its progress? "We are very pleased the way things are with Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf."

Any memorable and frustrating moments? When I first "met with Chancellor of Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and they accepted of us as a partner in establishing a new seminary of the deaf"..."when we graduated our first deaf teacher of Jewish studies. The frustrating moment was that it was very hard to convince hearing people that deaf people can become rabbis."

JTS and HSD has an agreement where they both raise money for interpreters - students get rabbinic ordination from HSD and its faculty of rabbis and which is also affiliated with JTS. It is an independent ordination of their affiliation.

About HSD

Goldhamer explains that "We are in a five year program and we send fourth year students to study the Conservative seminary in New York. During the four years at the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf in Skokie, studies include rabbinic literature, Hebrew Bible, liturgy, modern Hebrew, Jewish history and Jewish philosophy and theology." Students must meet the requirement of five years of studies, pass all classes with a "B" average or better, and be able to demonstrate proficiency in both Hebrew and sign languages before they can be ordained as a independent Rabbi.

During the fourth year, students attend the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York of which HSD is affiliated with. Rabbi William Lebeau with JTS says that they "recognized the right of any Seminary to ordain students and the contacts we have had with the HSD have put us in touch with outstanding rabbinical students very much dedicated to their rabbinic studies and to their work with the Deaf Community."

HSD started with a grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and individuals, and is located at Congregation Bene Shalom, an integrated congregation of deaf and hearing people. "The faculty and myself will ordain every student that graduates and meets the right requirements", Goldhamer says. "We have seven rabbis, Ph.D. teachers, a deaf teacher, and our seminary administrator, Nona Balk who is deaf."

Employment Opportunities?

HSD provides training not only to become ordained as a rabbi but also for other professions. There is a two-year program for students wishing to obtain teaching certificate as Jewish educators in the deaf community.

So far, one deaf student, Kelly Fleming of Guelph, Ontario has received a teaching certificate. As HSD is currently in its fifth year, no students have been ordained as rabbis yet, but David Kay of Chicago, Illinois who is hearing has just completed his fourth year of rabbinical studies. There is currently a total of five students enrolled, of which two are deaf.

"We will do our best to help our students to find jobs", Goldhamer elaborates, "We already have the promise of some deaf leaders living different parts of America to help in any way possible."

Reconstructionist Movement

There was some dialogues with Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, (RRC) in Philadelphia about possibility of being an affiliation for HSD students. RRC wanted to have control over who to hire and who to admit as students, but they did not want to help with financial arrangements, so no agreement was made.

A hearing impaired Rabbi, Daniel Grossman was ordained at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), but he did not need any interpreters as he has very minimal hearing loss and was able to follow the teachers. The whole student body was 30 to 40 students so it was a small school. Other than him, no other deaf person has applied so RRC did not have an opportunity. A disabled person couldn't go into their old school building as it was not accessible so the school moved to another site and this disabled person was able to attend classes on the ground floor. Rabbi Grossman says he believes if there was a deaf application that RRC would look into it and would be willing to work something out with the interpreting and other accessibility issues.

Some people question the need for HSD if HUC (Reform) and many Yeshivas (Orthodox) do provide accommodations to meet the needs of deaf students. Some feel that HSD standards do not meet the higher standards established by HUC and Yeshivas.

Jewish Deaf Clubs

How many Jewish deaf communities have rabbis, even hearing rabbis? Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf has a part time student rabbi from HUC. Why can't hearing students at HSD go to existing rabbinical programs and learn sign language and study deaf culture etc., then work for the Jewish deaf community? The Hebrew Associations in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Temple Beth Or of the Deaf, Toronto Jewish Society of Hearing Impaired, Jewish Community Center Association of Florida, Jewish Deaf Society of Baltimore, Washington Society of Jewish Deaf all go to hearing temples where interpreters are provided for High Holidays and occasional Shabbat services. CBS and Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf in Arleta, CA are the only organizations with a full time Temple with their own buildings, while others are in temporary facilities like a club house where they gather to meet for holidays, services, lectures, etc. 

As Goldhamer, himself has pointed out, he knows it is better to have deaf Rabbis. Shouldn't we be out there recruiting deaf prospects instead of hearing students which is the whole purpose to meet the needs of the Jewish deaf community? To this day, only a handful - five Deaf Rabbis - exists in the world! And none of them work in the deaf community as full time Rabbi of the deaf. They either work at a hearing congregation, or get invited to do special services such as High Holidays, weddings, and funerals in the Jewish deaf community.

The National Congress of Jewish Deaf has 12 affiliates and only Brooklyn Hebrew Society of the Deaf in New York and Jewish Deaf Community Center has used Rabbi Fred Friedman for High Holidays services. The rest have hearing rabbis and some sign for themselves or use interpreters. Congregation Bene Shalom is the only one that has a full time Rabbi. Rabbi Fred Friedman was the official Rabbi for NCJD convention in 1990 and also led Orthodox services during the NCJD convention in 1992 and 1994. He was the official Rabbi at the World Organization of Jewish Deaf's convention last year. Rabbi David Rabinowitz has done bar mitzvahs with deaf students in Michigan. Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe has tutored deaf students in preparing for their bat/bar mitzvahs. She was asked to perform weddings, however she had to decline due to her contract obligations outside of the Temple and hopes to be able to change that clause for her future jobs. Dubowe also assisted with services during the NCJD convention in 1988. Rabbi Daniel Grossman was the official Rabbi for the 1986 NCJD convention.

Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf

4435 West Oakton

Skokie, Illinois 60076

TTY/Voice: 847/677-6724

In the next issue, we will feature interviews of HSD students and their experiences.

JDCC Home----July August Table of Contents---September/October HSD article