OUR WAY TO PRESENT SHABBATON FOR RUSSIAN DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING IN FOREST HILLS, NOVEMBER 19-20
Our Way, the Orthodox Union’s program for the deaf and hard of hearing, will hold a Shabbaton in Forest Hills for Jewish deaf Russians the weekend of November 19-20 at Congregation Machane Chodosh, 67-29 108th Street in Forest Hills.
Our Way is dedicated to providing resources, services, and social programming for the Jewish deaf and hard of hearing.
The Shabbaton will include workshops on prayer, Shabbat observance and celebrating Chanukah; three meals and snacks; and a Saturday night activity, viewing the film “Ingelore: a Deaf Woman’s Escape from the Holocaust.” It will also feature two distinguished speakers, Rabbi David Kastor as Deaf Torah Scholar-in-Residence and Davydyan Livshiz, Deaf Guest Speaker. The Deaf Host will be Valdislav David Yusupov.
Rabbi Kastor received rabbinical ordination from Ner Israel in Baltimore and is married to a deaf woman, Tchia. He founded the Ahavas Israel School for the Deaf in Frederick, MD and taught there for two years. He has been the Our Way Regional Representative of Maryland for almost 18 years.
Davydyan Livshiz was born in Moscow and was educated in two universities. He comes from an observant Jewish home and built his organizational career in working with the deaf community in Russia. He has continued this work in New York. He will speak on “The Culture of Jewish Deaf Russians.”
Vladislav David Yusupov has lived in Rego Park for 20 years. In 2008 he graduated from Gallaudet University with a degree in accounting. Prior to that he graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in business adminstration. He is now working on a graduate degree in business. He looks forward to being the guest host.
Rabbi Eliezer Lederfeind, Director of Our Way, declared, “For the first time, we are having a special Our Way Shabbaton for native speakers of Russian, and we anticipate having RSL and ASL interpreters at the Shabbaton. We expect a large and enthusiastic audience from Forest Hills, Rego Park, Briarwood and other communities with large Russian populations in the New York area. The upcoming Our Way Shabbaton will provide an invaluable and memorable Jewish experience for all who attend.
The cost of the Shabbaton is $20 per person, with scholarships available and discounts for families.
Applications and checks (payable to Our Way Shabbaton) for reservation should be mailed by November 15 to Our Way C/O Vlad Yusupov, 62-32 99th Street, Rego Park, NY 11374. He can be reached at 718-289-4088 or dyusupov08@gmail.com.
For more information about Our Way, contact Rabbi Lederfeind at 212-613-8234 or ourway@ou.org.
www.ou.org