Tag Archives: accessible

The Jewish Deaf Resource Center Press Release

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The Jewish Deaf Resource Center (JDRC) applauds the Conservative Movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards (CJLS) for unanimously passing a historic Teshuvah positively impacting the lives of Jews who are deaf and hard-of-hearing.  With this Teshuvah, the Conservative Jewish Movement now recognizes that individuals who communicate in sign language are equals and that the Conservative Jewish community must strive to be accessible and inclusive.

On May 24th, 2011, the CJLS passed a Teshuvah stating the following in part:

“The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards rules that the deaf who communicate via sign language and do not speak are no longer to be considered mentally incapacitated.  Jews who are deaf are responsible for observing mitzvot.  Our communities, synagogues, schools, and camps must strive to be welcoming and accessible, and inclusive.  Sign language may be used in matters of personal status and may be used in rituals.  A deaf person called to the Torah who does not speak may recite the berakhot via sign language.  A deaf person may serve as a shaliah tzibbur in sign language in a minyan whose medium of communication is sign language.”

Alexis Kashar, president of JDRC said, “This is a historic moment as we deaf and hard of hearing Jews are now able to stand along with the larger Conservative Jewish community as equals.  We truly appreciate Rabbi Pamela Barmash’s pioneering efforts as the author of this Teshuvah.”

The Jewish Deaf Resource Center is a national advocacy organization whose mission is to build bridges between Jews who are deaf and hard-of-hearing and the individuals and organizations which serve the Jewish community throughout North America.

Beth M. Mann, Associate Vice President of The Jewish Federations of North American (JFNA), said, “JDRC has been a magnificent partner in widening the tent of Jewish communal participation, a shared mission for both the JDRC and the JFNA.  The responsum from CJLS represents a pivotal Jewish moment in our history as a people and our ever-expanding quest to provide a dynamic and magnetic community in which our people wish to participate.”

As stated by Rabbi Barmash, “This is yet another example of how Jewish law and spirituality, guided by the innovative spirit of tradition, embraces the challenges of the present.”

A copy of the full Teshuvah can be found at:

http://rabbinicalassembly.org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/2011-2020/Status%20of%20the%20Heresh6.2011.pdf

Press Release Submitted By:
JDRC Co-Founder
Naomi Brunnlehrman, MA
www.jdrc.org

 


 

The Future of Jewish Education

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What a week in New Orleans!  At the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, otherwise known as the GA, I had the opportunity to attend the first ever Jewish Futures Conference – an interactive conversation about the future of Jewish education.

Russel Neiss and Charlie Schwartz, two winners of a national competition to create 4 minute videos on the future of Jewish education, presented their vision of Jewish education becoming “open, discoverable and accessible”.  When they said this, my thoughts immediately went to special education and Matan’s credo, “For every child. For every community. The Gift of Jewish Learning.” A vision such as that presented by Neiss and Schwartz has the immense potential to include all types of learners.  It is up to the Jewish community as a whole – not just those of us in the field of Jewish special education – to turn that vision into a living reality.

At the GA, I also had the opportunity to attend a session entitled Creativity, Innovation, and Consciousness-Raising: New Approaches to Promoting the Strengths and Addressing the Needs of Individuals with Disabilities and their Families.  Panelists included Dan Guyer, MD, Co-Chairperson, Disabilities Work Group, Jewish Federations of North America, Isaac Zablocki Director of Film Programs, The JCC in Manhattan, Anita Altman, Deputy Managing Director, Government Relations & External Affairs, UJA-Federation of New York, Jaret L. Vogel Director, Special Needs Tax Credit Alliance, Inc., and Jay Ruderman President, Ruderman Family Foundation. They discussed many exciting opportunities for special education within the Jewish educational setting.  Each and every individual in attendance was deeply committed to providing a Jewish education to those with special needs.

The future of Jewish education and the need to include diverse learners should not be conceived of as individual and disparate ideas.  Rather, inclusion must be part and parcel of every discussion and every vision of the wonderful possibilities for the future of Jewish education.  At Matan, it is our hope that the conversations and connections made this past week at the GA will propel us all towards linking these ideas and, in the words of Neiss and Schwartz, create a system of Jewish education that is indeed “open, discoverable and accessible”.