AMERICAN AIR FORCE PERSONNEL, AT UNDISCLOSED BASE, HAVE THEIR CELEBRATION ENHANCED BY OUR WAY’S POWERPOINT PURIM
Purim is past, preparations are well on the way for Passover, and yet from somewhere in the world, at an undisclosed location, comes word that the PowerPoint presentation of Megillat Esther, a project of the Orthodox Union’s Our Way program for the deaf and hard of hearing, made Purim more meaningful for American Air Force personnel based there.
Our Way is a division of the OU’s National Jewish Council of Disabilities.
The annual presentation of Megillat Esther, with Hebrew and English side by side through PowerPoint, allows for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, visually impaired, or lacking in Hebrew skills, to have an easily readable format to follow along with the reading. All a synagogue or other facility needs is a laptop with a projector and a screen where the disc is shown. The mouse of the computer serves as the place keeper on the screen. Graphics are included,
In response to a request from a military chaplain, United States Air Force Captain Mark Edelstein, Our Way Program Director Batya Jacob sent a copy of the PowerPoint program for use by the airmen during the megillah reading. “They thought it was cool,” Capt. Edelstein reports. “They were able to follow along. A lot of them can read Hebrew, but not well enough to find the place once they’re lost (even we experts have a hard time doing that).”
Capt. Edelstein, a native of Bellevue, Nebraska, who previously worked as a public defender and as a project coordinator for the Chai Lifeline organization, reports that he will recommend the PowerPoint presentation to his chaplaincy colleagues for future Purims.
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