Jewish
Deaf Tidbits |
Andrew Cohen, a junior at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville, PA, became the first athlete in Franklin Regional history to win a gold medal at the Pennsylvania State Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Track and Field Championships in Shippensburg, PA. His throw of 170 feet, 9 inches in the discus was good enough to beat defending champion Ed Ruiz of William Tennent, who threw 168 feet, 10 inches. “Winning the title was a nice feeling,” Cohen said. “It was a pleasure that I got to represent my school and coaches.” Cohen may be Deaf, but that doesn’t stop him from achieving his goals. “Nothing is impossible,” he said. “If you want something, you have to work at it. Nothing falls into your lap.” His mother, Debby, proudly said that he’s a straight-A student. Cohen loves computers, travel and animals but his love in track is throwing the discus. John Siko is throwing coach for the Franklin Regional track team. “He really works hard at the discus,” Siko said. “I’ve never coached an athlete so dedicated to the sport. Cohen is constantly throwing the discus on his own. He comes back to the practice field in the evenings and on Saturdays and Sundays.” Cohen, who has the second best throw in the state, began throwing the discus in eighth grade and quickly became the best thrower in junior high school. He also competed on the wrestling team and was a swimmer before turning to track. Previously he had captured the WPIAL discus title with a school record throw of 171 feet, 3 inches and broke the school’s longest standing record as a sophomore with a throw of 153-4. “I have plenty of blisters to prove it,” Cohen said. His future goal is to attend the University of Southern California and compete in the 2005 Deaf Olympics. USC has a great track tradition and offers what he intends to study: animation. Meanwhile, Cohen said, “I’m very happy. It’s going to take a while for me to cool down.” His father, Ted Cohen added, “He is the best thrower in Pennsylvania and he may be the best deaf thrower in the country.”
Dubowe Featured In Olam
Rabbi Rebecca L. Dubowe is an Associate Rabbi at Temple Adat Elohim
in Thousand Oaks, CA. In the Summer 2003/5763 issue of Olam Magazine,
which bills itself as “a conversation on the timeless and the spiritual”
she writes, “People tend to forget that we all have limitations. We were
not born perfect but rather unique, each created in G-d’s image. My
limitations may be more visible than others but I am proud of being deaf.
I do not hide my deafness because I truly accept who I am.” To read her
entire article, visit http://www.olam.org and click on “Treasure
Chest”, then scroll down for “The Gift of Silence.”
Bob Weinstock, Ham Operator
It’s not often you see the words “Deaf” and “radio” in one
sentence, but there are Deaf amateur radio operators. Bob Weinstock knows
because he is one himself. He got his first license when he was age 13 and
today holds the Extra Class license, the highest level available for
amateur radio operators. “I learned morse code in Boy Scouts,” Weinstock
explained, “and my older brother got his ham license soon afterward, so
naturally I followed in his footsteps.” He said that morse code is fairly
easy for Deaf people because the dots and dashes are “just like the pure
tones in a hearing test.” Weinstock has won several morse code
competitions using a cable connected from the radio to his hearing aid, or
by putting his hand on the receiver speaker to help him copy code
correctly.
Germany’s Lost Deaf Generation
In 1975, Mr. Horst Biesold, a teacher of deaf students in Bremen, West
Germany, was curious. He loved sports especially deaf sports. He was
hearing but he knew many deaf people, and because he loved deaf sports, he
had many deaf friends. Mr. Biesold wondered why none of his deaf friends
had children. Finally, he asked one of his friends about it. The man was
very embarrassed. But he told Mr. Biesold the truth: The German government
had sterilized him. Under the Nazis in the 1930’s, the government had
removed his testes—male reproductive glands— so that he could never father
children. Stunned, Mr. Biesold began to do research. He wanted to find out
how many deaf adults in Germany could not have children. His research
discovered that: 17,000 deaf people were sterilized in Germany in the
1930’s; Catholic priests and Jewish rabbis tended to protest
sterilization; Protestant ministers tended to support it. Deaf people had
a Nazi organization; their Nazi organization supported sterilization. When
people were sterilized, no medicine was used for pain; the reproductive
glands—testes in men and ovaries in women—were removed without anesthetic;
one-third of the people who were sterilized were under 18 years old; 9% of
the people who were sterilized were women, pregnant more than six months,
as part of forced abortions. By 1940, sterilization was replaced by
murder; the Nazis called it “mercy killing.” About 150,000 handicapped
people—including 1,600 deaf people—were killed by the Nazis. “Mr.
Biesold’s work was so important,” said Marla Petal, who invited Mr.
Biesold to speak at the Temple Beth Solomon of the deaf in 1983. “The
Nazis hurt deaf people beyond belief. They murdered and maimed them and
they wiped out a generation of their children. Deaf people were among the
first victims of the Holocaust.”
Update on "Threat Matrix" TV Show
"Threat Matrix,'' an ABC show scheduled for TV's Fall 2003 season,
includes Shoshannah Stern, a Fremont, CA resident who plays a computer
whiz on the government's anti-terrorist team. Stern credits California
School for the Deaf in Fremont (CSDF) for much of her success as a young
actress. Stern's father was the director of instructional services at the
school. She said, "The people at the school were my mentors, the ones who
gave me support to say `I know you can do this' before even I thought I
could do this." Stern went on to attend Gallaudet University in
Washington, D.C. She got her first acting job after Warner Bros. e-mailed
her, asking her to guest star on their series "Off-Centre.'' She landed
the role, which led to other work on "Providence,'' "Boston Public,''
"ER'' and "The Division.''
On "Threat Matrix'' there will be a person signing behind Stern as a
way of recognizing that her character is also deaf, but deafness will not
be the central part of her character. "This is really a wonderful
opportunity not only for me, but for the entire Deaf community,'' she
said, adding that most Deaf characters on TV are about their deafness. "I
don't wake up every day going, `Gosh. I'm deaf. How do I brush my teeth?
I'm deaf.' (Her character Holly's) deafness is just part of the package.
It's part of who she is. It maybe will shape her choices, it may shape who
she is, but it's the same as me. It's the closest-as possible character
that I've ever played as myself, being
me. Only I can't really work on computers.''
Israel Government Ignores Deaf Rights
Moshe Ivgi is a teacher for Deaf children in Israel. He teaches his
students that they are able to get ahead despite their perceived
limitations. But Ivgi, himself deaf, is no longer convinced by what he is
teaching. "I don't want to tell them that our government is apathetic,
that they relate to us like we are ghosts," Ivgi said. He is particularly
disappointed by the government's behavior in the wake of a strike last
year by deaf activists representing the 6,000-strong community. The Israel
government agreed to provide every deaf citizen a bimonthly communications
allowance to purchase batteries for hearing aids and other tools and every
four years, NIS 3,000 to obtain a hearing aid. Unfortunately, a
departmental dispute within the Israel Government has most social services
offices refusing to process the applications. As a result only 10 percent
of deaf Israelis have received the subsidies to which they are entitled.
In January, Giora Rosenthal, head of the Union of Local Authorities (ULA), told directors of the municipal social services departments that the National Insurance Institute (NII) should be dealing with the deaf, not them, and also claimed that the Welfare Ministry had not discussed arrangements with the joint coordination committee before placing these new "special needs" responsibilities on the municipalities. Most municipalities followed Rosenthal's instructions and did not assist Deaf clients. Smaller authorities decided to continue providing aid to applicants and have thus far received 600 aid applications of which 500 have been approved.
Dalia Berlinsky, director-general of the Israel Association for the Deaf, said she does not oppose the transfer of care for the deaf to the NII, but said this process could take two years and people cannot wait for services. She offered the services of the association's social workers and volunteers to help the local authorities deal with the deaf citizens' requests. The Or Yehuda municipality took up Berlinsky's offer. The Welfare Ministry and the ULA agreed to set up a committee to discuss the issue and submit conclusions to the joint coordination committee, a process that is expected to take several weeks.
Deaf Holocaust Survivors Sought
Dr. James Tresh, founder of the National Deaf Academy, is looking
for Deaf Holocaust survivors to interview for a book he is writing. Dr.
Tresh may be contacted at the National Deaf Academy, 19650 US Hwy. 441,
Mt. Dora, FL 32757, 352/735-9570 (TTY), ZhivagoIV@aol.com (EMail).
JDC Conference News
The Jewish Deaf Congress Conference July 7-12 in Las Vegas, NV
featured Roz Rosen, Lauren Teruel, and Debi Meranksi [formerly
Sonnenstrahl] as keynote speakers, and Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe and Darby
Leigh as plenary speakers. Award recipients: Eileen & Fred Katz inducted
into the Hall of Fame. Rebecca Lovitch: Plapinger Youth Essay. Brian
Saperstein: Celia & Leonard Warshawsky
Young Adult Award and Dorothy Brenner: Anna & Henry Plapinger Award.
Current officers are: President Martin Florsheim, Vice President Barbara
Boyd, Board at Large Dorothy Brenner, Myron Goldman, Alfred Weinrib, and
Marla Berkowitz. The only board position up for election was Treasurer,
and as there were no candidates, the JDC Board is looking for someone
willing to fill the slot for two years until the next Congress which was
announced for July 4-9, 2005 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay Hotel in
Tampa, FL. The website for the 2005 Jewish Deaf Congress will be
http://www.jdc2005.com.