Jewish Match

    We are pleased to announce the debut of a new online magazine for Jewish Singles at www.jewishmatch.com

    What is JewishMatch? JewishMatch is a lifestyle offering, dedicated to providing its members with specific tools and information needed to make "Jewish single life" healthy, rewarding and fun. JewishMatch.com will be the leading site devoted to bringing our singles together in a dignified environment. As a whole, it also provides singles with a comfortable global space in which to interact.

    JewishMatch is a magazine for YOUR lifestyle. We promise to deliver scintillating and relevant content on topics such as Romance, Health, Work, Money, Food, Relationships, Shopping, Travel, Astrology, and a bissele Torah to boot.

    A comprehensive, international calendar of events, with geographic links will be a fundamental part of JewishMatch. Other features will include advice from the experts, chat rooms, message boards, dating services, matchmaking services, and personals. All our basic services are free, with special features available for paying members. Our magazine will reflect the entire spectrum of Jewish religious, social and political thought from left to right, Orthodox to secular.

    Many of the articles within each issue are from those who live, eat, breathe, and enjoy their single status. They share their ups and downs, their joys and pains, and their hopes and fears like all of us. In so doing, they are giving us the opportunity also share of ourselves. These articles will hopefully generate some thought provoking comments in our forums and chat rooms.

    Come to JewishMatch.com and check it out.We look forward to your visit.

Marlee Matlin Shatters Stereotype
   Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin appeared as Dana Sue Lacey, owner of a floral shop in Memphis, TN in the Lifetime TV movie "Where the Truth Lie" aired recently. Associated Press' Beth Harris s Lacey was helping the state senate campaign for when the friend is suddenly murdered. As the sole witness, Lacey becomes the prime suspect. "It's certainly different for me," Matlin was quoted by AP through longtime friend and associate Jack Jason, "I do feel I get stereotyped. Being a woman and being someone who's deaf, they would say, 'Oh no, no, no, she couldn't possibly do that and we couldn't possibly believe that the murderer.' I wanted the audience to have the sympathy and use it against them in a way... I avoid roles that have to do with deaf stories. Don't misunderstand me, I have to accept the fact that I'm a person who's hearing-impaired, but I don't want the story to be about being deaf," she said. Matlin said she wasn't being offered the roles she wants, so she formed her own production company, Solo One. "If you want to be out there working, you have to come up with it yourself," she said. Matlin as an executive producer for the first time on "Where the Truth Lies," along with her interpreter Jason, who wrote the story. Matlin said that although she is never satisfied, she feels more self-confident as she gets older. "I have plans for what I'd like to do," she said. "I have ideas of what I'd like to do and I'm not afraid to put them to work."

RIT Student Receives Soccer Award
   Joshua Berman, a first-year applied computer technology student from Brighton, NY, received the Bello Snyder Memorial Physically Challenged Award from the Rochester Jewish Community Center in June for his achievements as a deaf Jewish athlete. He played left wing for the Rochester School for the Deaf Wildcats soccer team last year, when he scored nine goals and had 10 assists in the team's 11-2-1 season. He helped lead the Wildcats to both a first-place finish in the Western New York Christian Athletic League and to the championship of the league's postseason tournament. Berman also was named to the All-America first team, and RSD's team was given a high ranking for its record and schedule by coaches of deaf schools across the nation.

Jackie Roth Commercial Gets Award

    On October 24th during the 17th Annual Media Access Disability Awareness Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills, CA, the 'Publix Super Markets' commercial in which actress Jackie Roth appeared as 'Flower Girl' won an award as the best commercial. Roth also appeared in three episodes of 'Guiding Light', a soap opera on CBS TV earlier this year.

Succoth Party In New Jersey
   Philip & Lynne Jacob's house was the site of the 'Celebrate Succoth under the Stars' party co-hosted by the Jewish Deaf & Hearing Impaired Council and the Our Way/NCSY on Thursday September 30th.

Deaf Bar Mitzvah In Connecticut
   Isaac Schaeffer celebrated his bar mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Newington, CT on October 9th. Schaeffer, who is profoundly deaf, led the hearing congregation in sign language. In reading from the Torah, Schaeffer also even used Hebrew Sign Language. The entire service was interpreted and Rabbi Bennett also signed the blessing. The Schaeffer parents say "we know there are Jewish parents struggling with how to bar mitzvah their Deaf child and we would be happy to share our experiences. One year ago when we picked a date for Isaac's bar mitzvah we did not know how it could be done. Now that it is complete we can only say it was a wonderful event. We have come to believe that G-d understands and accepts prayers in sign language."

Father Of Deaf Child Struggles For Jewish Funding
   In the January/February 1999 issue of JDCC News, we reported that the Jewish Education Council in Montreal, Canada had decided to cut funding to enable Ryan Duchoeny to participate in classes. Frank Duchoeny, Ryan's father, recently filed a complaint against the Jewish Education Council (JEC) with the Quebec Human Rights Commission on behalf of his 8-year-old profoundly deaf son, Ryan. He explains that Ryan had received services of a sign language interpreter/shadow for 1 1/4 years which made it possible for Ryan to attend a supplementary Jewish Hebrew School program. The Jewish Education Council (JEC), the central body for Jewish Education in Montreal which is part of Federation CJA, an umbrella organization for all Jewish agencies, required Duchoeny to undergo a financial means test and eventually determined that he should pay at least half the cost of the needed interpreter/shadow in addition to the full cost of admission to the school. Duchoeny feels that on principle and universal access, a financial means test "should not be contingent nor expected from the parents of a handicapped child". Duchoeny believes that the Quebec Human Rights Commission is morally obligated to seek and require that educational institutions, be they private or secular, provide Interpreters and/or Shadows for handicapped children.

Melave Malka In California
   Lori Moore with Our Way/Jewish Deaf announces that they are hosting a Melave Malka event in North Hollywood, CA on Sunday, November 6th. A comedian and writer from 'The Tonight Show' is scheduled to appear. Melave Malka, which literally means "to accompany the queen", is a get-together, like a picnic, at the end of the Sabbath to "usher out the Sabbath Queen".

Actor Bernard Bragg Headed For Germany
   Bernard Bragg returned to Berlin, Germany in September to work with the German Deaf Theatre Company in their production of Bragg's play 'To Whom It May Concern'. After working on blocking and character development, Bragg will direct its opening night in Weimar and tour to several cities. Three lecture presentations were also scheduled.

Recent TV Shown Featuring Jewish Deaf People

    Marlee Matlin, Joshua Soudakoff and Rebecca Lovitch appeared on 'Chicken Soul for the Soul' broadcast on PAX TV on September 28, 1999. Also Rebecca Lovitch appeared on CBS TV's 'Walker, Texas Ranger' and will air sometime in December. Marlee Matlin was guest star on CBS TV's 'Judging Amy' which airs on November 2, 1999.

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