Our Way for the Jewish Deaf Hosts Shabbaton in Palo Alto, May 11-12

19 Apr 2012

OUR WAY TO PRESENT SHABBATON IN PALO ALTO, FOR DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING, MAY 11-12

Our Way, the Orthodox Union’s program for the deaf and hard of hearing, will hold a Shabbaton in Palo Alto the weekend of May 11-12 at Congregation Emek Beracha, 4102 El Camino Real.

Our Way is dedicated to providing resources, services, and social programming for the Jewish deaf and hard of hearing. It is a division of the OU’s National Jewish Council for Disabilities.

The Shabbaton will feature Deaf Torah Scholar-in-Residence Rabbi David Kastor, and Deaf Hosts Shalomah and Polly Williams. The event is coordinated by Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, Director of Our Way.

It will also feature a special showing of the movie Ingelore, a documentary of how a young Jewish deaf woman and her parents were able to escape the Holocaust. The DVD will be shown in voice, sign language, and captions. Shabbaton topics will include “How to Pray: What to Say;” “Shavuot: When We Received the Torah;”and “The Ten Commandments.”
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Sholar-in-Residence Rabbi David Kastor graduated from Gallaudet University with a BA in Computer Science. He is married to an Israeli deaf woman, Tchia. He received his rabbinical ordination from Ner Israel in Baltimore, and started the Ahavas Israel School of the Deaf in Fredrick, MD. He has worked for Our Way as a Regional Representative of Maryland for more than 18 years.

Shalomah and Polly Williams moved to the Bay area from Los Angeles. They are parents of two little girls and work in the pharmaceutical industry. According to Mr. and Mrs. Williams, they saw that there was no organization in the Bay area that encouraged the meeting of the Jewish deaf, so Polly contacted Our Way to arrange a Shabbaton.

The cost of the Shabbaton is $35 per person, with scholarships available and discounts for families. Applications and checks (payable to Our Way Shabbaton) for a reservation should be mailed to Our Way, C/O Polly Williams, 697 Towle Way, Palo Alto, CA 94306. She can be reached by phone at 650-353-4579, or email {encode=”mailto:core4ever@gmail.com” title=”core4ever@gmail.com”}.

For more information about Our Way, contact Rabbi Lederfeind (relay/voice) at 212-613-8234 or {encode=”mailto:ourway@ou.org” title=”ourway@ou.org”}.

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