PHAD Hosts Forum On Jewish vs. Deaf Cultures
    Alan Abarbanell from Chicago, IL is scheduled to give a lecture during a panel discussion with hearing parents of Deaf children and Deaf parents with hearing children at the Rose Olanoff Community Center in Philadelphia, PA on April 1 8th. This forum, Jewish Deaf vs. Jewish Hearing Culture" and the issue of The Status of the Deaf Person in Jewish Law" is being hosted by the Hebrew Association of the Deaf.

Hospital Found Guilty Of Discriminating Under ADA
    Judge Robert W. Sweet of Federal District Court in Manhattan, NY on April 17th found the Mount Sinai Medical Center guilty of discriminating against the husband of a Deaf couple for not providing a sign language interpreter during Lamaze classes. The hospital also did not provide interpreters during birth of the couple, Jeffrey & Naomi Bravin's newborn son, Ethan Raymond nor the following week when the baby was treated for low blood sugar in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit. This occurred in 1997 when the Bravins were living in New York City. The birth, according to their attorney Alan J. Rich, was like a Marx Brothers movie" with Mrs. Bravin Trying to interpret between contractions, to explain what [Jeff] Bravin was supposed to be doing. The judge ruled that the hospital violated state and Federal laws requiring accommodations for the disabled, but rejected the class-action claim of the Bravins and the Civic Association of the Deaf of New York City, a watchdog group on the legal rights of the Deaf. The judge, after ruling in favor of the Bravins, scheduled the decision on the amount of damages for May.

Annual Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Commemoration Interpreted
    Sign language interpreters will be provided during the 22nd Annual Warsaw Ghetto Uprising - Yom Hashoah Holocaust Commemoration sponsored by Westchester Jewish Conference on Sunday, April 11th at Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, NY. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer will be guest speaker. Admission is free. For information, e-mail to jdm@jdm.net

Interfaith Program On Catholic & Jewish Differences
    Monsignor Thomas Hartman, a Roman Catholic priest, and Rabbi Marc Gellman, a reform Rabbi, is scheduled to participate in "An Inter-faith Program of Frequently Asked Questions and Surprising Answers" at Beth El Synagogue Center in New Rochelle, NY. A sign language interpreter will be present.

Feldman 'Hot' At Basketball
   Kristin Feldman, a 17-year old junior at the Learning Center for the Deaf and her teammates have compiled a 261 record including 12-1 in the Independent League, good for first place, reports Jeff Sullivan with the Globe, she having averaged 26 points, second in Eastern Massachusetts, and 17 rebounds. She scored her 2,000th career point and finished with 2,092 making the Learning Center the first Massachusetts high school to have both a boy and a girl score 2,000 points! "I tend not to worry about the future", says Feldman, who was interviewed while competing in a tournament in Winthrop, MA, "Today is more important to me. I don't believe in me, I believe in my team..." Feldman was also recently named a first-team All-American and her school was ranked No. 1 in the country by Silent News, a monthly national newspaper. She also competes in soccer, volleyball and track and field although basketball Has become her focus".

Bragg Mini-Autobiography Play At CSUN
    This year's Deafestival 1999 event at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) held on Friday & Saturday April 16-17th was a new play, 'Laugh Properly, Please' written   and directed by world acclaimed Deaf actor Bernard Bragg who also performed along with students in his CSUN theater class and Joshua Soudakoff. Two performances were held at the Performing Arts Center in the university's Student Union. While tales of the play is derived from Bragg's life experiences, the focus was on Growing Up Deaf in a World Made for Hearing".

Our Way National Conference Coming Up In June
    Congregation K.l.N.S. in Chicago, IL is hosting the Our Way national convention from June 3-6th. The theme is 'Generation to Generation' which involves learning about your past, present and future. There will also be workshops, displays and guest speakers. Libby Chernoff, mother of a 15-year old Deaf son Daniel, is organizing the convention. Registration, which includes program participation, meals and sleeping accommodations, is $125 and some scholarships may still be available. For more information, contact Our Way, 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001 before May 25, 1999.

Zisman Receives MWDCC Leadership Award
    Isadore Zisman, a long time supporter of the Washington Society of Jewish Deaf (WSJD), was.the recipient of the Frederick C. Schreiber Leadership Award from the Metropolitan Washington Deaf Community Center (MWDCC) on Saturday, March 6th. Alfred Sonnenstrahl was master of ceremonies. WSJD president Steve Brenner was also present and spoke kind words about Izzy who was inducted to the Jewish Deaf Congress Hall of Fame at Chicago in the leadership category during the 1996 convention.

2001 JDC Announces Co-Chairs
   The Jewish Deaf Congress (JDC) has announced in their latest issue that Debbie Sonnenstrahl and Steve Brenner have agreed to co-chair their JDC Conference in 2001 which will be held in Baltimore, MD. Brenner has been JDC's treasurer since 1990 and Sonnenstrahl was keynote speaker during the 1998 JDC conference in Los Angeles, CA. The conference has been scheduled for August 14-19, 2001.

Jewish Deaf College Students Form JDC Affiliate
    Stephanie Robins and Erick Posner from California State University, Northridge (CSUN), Clarisse Plosk and Larisa Aranbayeva of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., Regina Kiperman, president of Wolk Center on Jewish Enrichment and Melinda Weinrib, director of Wolk Center at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, NY have co-founded a new group for college students who are Jewish Deaf. This historic meeting took place at the home of Jewish Deaf Congress treasurer Steve Brenner and JDC board member, Dorothy Brenner over the first weekend in March. This new group is being called "Collegiate Jewish Deaf Congress" (CJDC), with the mission to "advocate Jewish traditions, ideals, education, religion and havurah for college students who are Jewish and Deaf". It shall be funded through grants, contributions and membership dues. The initial goals set for the first year shall be: outreach and public relations, leadership training, and resource development. For information, contact Erick Posner at 13215 Ingres Avenue, Granada Hills, CA 91344, e-mail eposner@csun.edu or call 818/677-1578 TTY or fax to 818/993-2695.

TDI Gala Recognizes Jewish Deaf Leaders
   Among those Jewish Deaf individuals honored during the 30th Anniversary gala celebration of Telecommunications for the Deaf, Inc. (TDI) held at Gallaudet University's Kellogg Center in Washington, D.C. was Stephen Brenner, Alfred Sonnenstrahl, Barry M. Strassler, Lee Brody (deceased), Larry Goldberg, Pamela Holmes, David Saks (deceased) and Karen Peltz-Strauss. Copies of TDl's 30th Anniversary commemorative GA-SK newsletter is still available by contacting TDI in Silver Spring, MD.

Busy Month For Actress Marlee Matlin
    Looking at the website of the Deaf Entertainment Foundation, we could see how busy Marlee Matlin has been during the month of April: between April 12 and 18th she had appearances on the Howie Mandel Show, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, Fox and Friends, and Freak City!

'Interpreting Shabbat' A Topic At RID
    One of the topics that will be covered at the convention of Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf (RID) in Boston, MA this August will be 'Interpreting a Shabbat evening Service'. Molly Wilson, a CODA and ASL interpreter trainer will lead this workshop along with Rabbi Debra Reed Blank who teaches liturgy at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. The description for this five hour program says "Without knowing the source language of the Jewish Prayer book, interpreters have often been unsure about the meaning of the liturgy. This track emphasizes the structures, themes, theology, and historical development of a Friday night Shabbat service." Both Wilson and Blank are also involved with the Jewish Deaf Resource Center (JDRC) founded by Marla Berkowitz in New York City.

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