December 17, 1999

Signs of the Times
Our Way To Help Students Rediscover their Jewish Identity
At Annual Winter Convention

In the early 1900s, when deaf education was a relatively new concept, deaf people were referred to as "deaf and dumb" or were often simply called "deaf mutes." Many deaf children were misdiagnosed as retarded and forced to spend much of their lives in institutions. And deaf Jews felt alienated from the mainstream Jewish community.

But over the last 100 years, a technological revolution has brought about dramatic changes in the lives of the nation's nearly 11 million deaf and hearing impaired citizens. And for deaf Jews, the 20th century has witnessed a kind of religious revolution that has included significant efforts to enable full participation in Jewish life.

On the weekend of December 24-26, Jewish deaf teens from around the country will gather at the Orthodox Union's Our Way Winter Convention in Silver Spring, Maryland, to discuss the issues they face as deaf members of the Jewish community.

Participants will reflect on 100 years of remarkable achievements in deaf history and look toward their future as Jewish deaf and hearing impaired individuals living in the 21st century.

Our Way advisors will help the students, ages 13-19, address the challenges of growing up Jewish and deaf in America, hosting sessions on everything from how to answer missionaries (who place a special emphasis on targeting alienated Jewish deaf youth), to decision making on dating and intermarriage (an issue that is even graver within the Jewish deaf community than it is within the general Jewish population). The program will also feature a discussion of Jewish history led by the select group of students who will be the first Jewish deaf delegates on the "March of the Living" tour of Eastern Europe this Spring. The group will address the significance of their involvement in the March as a special commemoration of the doubly cruel treatment suffered by the deaf during the Holocaust.

"Many deaf teenagers have a 'who cares?' attitude about Jewish history. We have to educate them, convey the idea that each one is a vital part of our religion's timeline and instill in them the importance of transmitting our tradition to the next generation," said David Kastor, an Our Way regional representative who is deaf and an organizer of the convention.

The Orthodox Union first began reaching out to this long-overlooked segment of the Jewish population with the creation of Our Way in 1969 - soon after the first invention in telephone communication technology for the deaf. Today, a division of the Union's National Jewish Council for the Disabled, with chapters throughout the United States and Canada, Our Way is still the only program serving the needs of the Jewish deaf and their family members.

Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, National Director of Our Way, feels that the weekend provides a great opportunity to talk about the impact of the millennium in both Jewish  and deaf terms. "For the deaf, this century has been an incredible period in history. The development of scientific and medical technology - including the TTY system (which allows deaf people to "speak" on the telephone), open and closed captioning and cochlear implants - has been nothing short of miraculous. We want to help teens look at what has happened to the deaf world and what has happened to us as Jews over the past 100 years and consider what we can do for the future," said Rabbi Lederfeind.

To obtain more information on Our Way programs for the Jewish deaf, please call (212) 613-8234, e-mail ourway@ou.org, or write to Our Way/NJCD 11 Broadway New York, NY 10004.

Established in 1969, Our Way is the only Jewish movement reaching out to the deaf and hearing impaired across the country and bridging the gap between the hearing and non-hearing worlds. Through a vast array of programs including Shabbatonim (Sabbath retreats), holiday celebrations, a deaf singles registry, Torah study groups, summer tours, family retreats, conventions and special signing publications, Our Way provides spiritual and social opportunities for nearly 1,000 deaf youths.

The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of America and other countries, is a foremost leader in youth work, advocacy for the disabled, synagogue services, adult education and political action. Its kosher supervision label, the OU, is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 220,000 products in 62 countries around the globe.

www.ou.org

Comments? Requests? Questions?

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America Department of Public Relations Sharyn Perlman, Director Main Office: 11 Broadway, New York, NY 10004 Phone: 212-613-8221 Fax: 212-564-9058 E-mail: media@ou.org

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