For example, there is a large constituency of older Jews who missed out on having a Jewish education because they attended residential schools for the Deaf. As a result, they lack the basics that most rabbis and teachers take for granted when giving a lecture and are unable to appreciate what is being signed to them in temple services and sermons. TBS lay leader Roz Robinson says, "If the material of the sermon is over their heads and nothing they can relate to, the Deaf would be lost even with an interpreter because an interpreter doesn't explain anything. The interpreter only translates what is being said into sign language."

    It's also difficult for Deaf people to participate in group discussions with hearing people. Robinson, the only Deaf person in her family of four, has never been able to fully participate in the sisterhoods at either of the hearing shuts her family has joined. Although she can speak clearly, she said the few times she attended, she never spoke up, fearing that by the time she jumped in, the others would have already moved on to another topic, leaving her looking and feeling foolish.

    Our Way, a New York-based national organization run by Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, helps members integrate into hearing Orthodox congregations. Lederfeind, the hearing son of Deaf parents, noticed the lack of religious opportunities for Deaf Jews, and began working with Deaf Jewish teenagers. He gradually expanded the program to include family Shabbatons, programs teaching Torah by e-mail, and a sports program for Deaf children with separate gyms for boys and girls. The organization even has a matchmaking service, the Jewish Deaf Singles Registry (www.jdsr.org).

    Lori Moore, a North Hollywood mother of two boys and a teenage girl, leads the Our Way chapter in California. Her sons, Jason, 20, and Andrew, 12, are both Deaf. She said the family's involvement with Our Way has helped her children to integrate better into their community. Jason Moore, who is in New York, said that while there have been difficulties, there are advantages to having a hearing loss, such as the strength of the Deaf community. However, while some Jews would characterize themselves as Deaf first and Jewish second, Jason disagrees. "I am a Jew; deafness is secondary," he said. "Deafness only applies in this olam hazen (`this world') whereas being Jewish applies in this world and the next."

    The Moore family and Robinson, while on very different ends of the religious spectrum, do agree on one thing: hearing and Deaf communities should continue to strive for greater inclusion, on both sides. "TBS is open to all," Robin said. "Our services are completely voiced in addition to signed, so that anyone can follow along with us."

Grease: The Deaf Way Musical
    Shanna Grossinger, a ninth grade student at California School for the Deaf in Fremont (CSDF) will be in the cast performing "Grease: The Deaf Way Musical." The cast is composed of Deaf high school actors who will perform the play in American Sign Language while voice actors translate the dialogues into English.

    The play will be shown March 27-29, 2003 at CSDF's Little Theater, located at 39350 Gallaudet Drive, Fremont, CA. For more information, contact the Outreach Division office at the school at (510)794-3707 (TTY/Voice).

Cheerleaders Win International Competition
    Marlo Lovitch, 17, of Northridge was in the 10-member squad of cheerleaders from California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSDR) participating in the 1 st Annual Aloha International Spirit Championships (ISC) competition held at Waikiki Shell in Hawaii February 14 and 15, 2003. The team won first place in the Varsity Division.

    The Varsity Division consists of squads of cheerleaders, from 9th to 12th grades, with team members from the same school. Twenty-nine cheerleading squads from all over U.S. participated, mostly from California. CSDR Cubs cheerleaders performed in 1 st and 2nd rounds and the scores from both rounds were averaged for the final results. "We were all in shock," Coach Stacey Hausman said of the team's win. "I was jumping up and down like a hysterical person."

    The squad was the second Deaf group to ever compete in an international pep squad competition. They followed in the footsteps of Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, which competed nationally in 1992.

Parents of Deaf Children Struggle To Provide Jewish Education
    A story in the November issue of Hadassah Magazine spotlighted issues that parents of Deaf children face if they wish their children to receive a Jewish education. Four of Khana Globman's nine children are deaf. Mordekhai, the eldest, has the most residual hearing and best speech, so from the age of 12, he attended the Orthodox day school near his home in Philadelphia. Hearing aids and an auditory trainer that amplified the teacher's voice and blocked background noise were enough to mainstream him. Avrummy and Aron, the twins, and Yossi, the youngest, needed English and Hebrew interpreters in the classroom-provided mostly at the Globmans' own cost and supplemented by fund-raisers they organized. The English interpreter wasn't hard to come by, but finding someone adept in Jewish concepts as well as American Sign Language was a different story.

    Globman herself spent years interpreting by her sons' sides in the yeshiva. "The Jewish community has grown tremendously in terms of accepting kids with learning disabilities, even mental retardation, but deafness is a disability that is invisible," Glubriiail says. "People don't see that you're deaf, but it's tremendously isolating."

    Parents of deaf children often bear the cost-physically, emotionally and financially-of educating their children Jewishly. Though many synagogues and schools are open to providing interpreters, they rarely do so automatically or at their own cost. "Doesn't anyone recognize that these kids should be included?" asks Globman. To fill in the numerous gaps in awareness and sensitivity to those who are deaf and Jewish, parents have founded educational programs and outreach organizations.

    Aaron Margolis-Greenberg, now 14, was initially rejected by the day school in Indianapolis until a major donor with a partially deaf grandson found out, says his mother, Cassia Margolis. On the phone, it's almost impossible to detect any impediment in Aaron's speech. Still, "the school insisted he needed an interpreter," Margolis recalls. "I went to the classroom and helped the teacher in other ways." Many hearing parents want their children mainstreamed, she says, but not every child succeeds. "People think speech is a measure of intelligence. It's not," says Margolis. "Parents have to come to terms with the fact that their child is not a failure." Her 8 year-old daughter, Sarah, does not speak well and attends the Indiana School for the Deaf, where eight of 300 children are Jewish.

    Christian groups offer after-school Bible classes and activities, but no Jewish groups present similar programs. Margolis decided to create her own resources: she developed a series of eight ASL videotapes, called "Jewish Heritage and Holidays," available free of charge to the Jewish Deaf. "I intended them for children, but threequarters go to adults who say they never understood the Seder, never said Kaddish." The most important thing for Jewish identity, she says, is the family, heightened by the need for appropriate communication. "If the child doesn't speak well, the parents have to learn to sign, otherwise they will not be able to convey values," she says. "For those who have access to the hearing world, it's difficult but doable to access Judaism; for those who don't, it's almost impossible."

    For a longer version of this story, see www.hadassah.org and link to the November, 2002 issue.

Hebrew Class Taught In Sign Language
    Steven Lependorf conducts a weekly class in sign language for Lubavitcher students on Thursdays in Midwood, N.Y. Using the Code of Jewish Law bythe first Lubavitcher rebbe, Schneur Zalman, Lependorf read first in Hebrew, then in English and, finally, he spoke with his hands. The six men in the class then responded with their hands. All of Lependorf's students are either hard of hearing or deaf. This night's class included a discussion of the tallit, a four-cornered prayer shawl with fringes, tzitzit, attached to each end. "It is a commandment to do all in your power to make the tallit beautiful," Lependorf told the men, speaking at once with his voice and his hands. "You are saying, `He is my God. 1 will glorify Him. It is beautiful to serve the King."'

    A retired public school teacher, Lependorf, 56, has been an American Sign Language interpreter for 32 years. He has interpreted for former President Jimmy Carter, several New York governors and mayors and celebrities such as Beverly Sills and Dr. Ruth Westheimer. The classes began in November of last year in memory of Edward Goldberg, a World War II Navy hero who died that month.

    His son Michael, who lives in Midwood and has a hearing loss, asked friends to join him in a year of study. Goldberg explained, "It's a custom to study in memory of someone. We'll continue studying until the anniversary of my father's death - and beyond."

Deaf Actresses Appear On Lifetime Channel
    Marlee Matlin and Shoshannah Stern, both Deaf, had guest roles in the February 16th episode of "The Division." The Division is shown weekly on Sundays on the Lifetime Channel. In this episode, the show's top cops searched for a serial rapist who was targeting disabled women. The episode was part of Lifetime's campaign to promote awareness of violence against women.

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