Can the Deaf Hear Megillah?

Joshua Soudakoff

So what do you do when you have a room full of people who are deaf or hard of hearing and a megillah?

I was honored to help lead the recent First International Jewish Deaf Purim Shabbaton in the quiet, yet sizeable Jewish community of Rochester, New York. With a registration roster of people coming from as far as Baltimore, Maryland, to across the border from Toronto, Canada, it was indeed a unique event. Approximately thirty to forty people attended this weekend-long event, most of them deaf or hard of hearing. The participants varied in their Jewish backgrounds—from the unaffiliated and unaware to the more observant and knowledgeable.

I first came to Rochester as part of the summer Merkos Shlichus program last year. During this time, I had the opportunity to develop friendships with many members of the local community. In the process, they invited me to make my presence in their community more permanent.

To this end, I went for a short visit to Rochester during Chol Hamoed (the intermediate days) of Sukkos last fall. It was just long enough to fit in a family sukkah party and a movie night at the local university, Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). RIT is home to a large college program for deaf students at National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)—one of the 8 colleges within RIT. (This is one of the main reasons why this relatively small town has a larger-than-usual percentage of deaf residents.)

As I am a second-generation member of a deaf family, I was able to communicate directly with everybody in our native language – American Sign Language (ASL). More than just waving hands, ASL represents a distinct and fascinating linguistic and cultural community. To overlook the differences in culture and perspective between the deaf world and the mainstream world where people can hear is to lose the opportunity to truly connect with deaf people.

And then—the recent Purim Shabbaton! We had a full weekend crammed with programs, from a Shabbos dinner on Friday night to a Sunday brunch to mark the close of the Shabbaton. Our events often continued past the posted scheduled times – a sure sign that everyone was enjoying themselves too much to want to leave!

There were several highlights that I wanted to mention, for it was moments like these that concretized the importance of this Shabbaton.

During our Shabbos lunch, we played a game called “Hamantashen vs. Latkes.” The gist of the game was to host a debate between two teams on the virtues of each holiday dish, and how it compared with the other. The joy I saw on the faces of the participants, and the spirited and creative ways they came up with suggestions and ideas touched me. More than anything, this showed that being part of a group and working together to achieve common goals are important catalysts for becoming inspired – which was exactly what this Shabbaton was all about.

After lunch, we gathered together to play a game of Jewpardy! – a trivia game that quizzed the players on their Jewish knowledge. I was the host of the game, while our guest (deaf) rabbi – Rabbi Fred Friedman – took a break. The best part about the game was that several of the questions led to full-fledged discussions among the participants and an open forum for questions about Judaism. Again, for me, this showed just exactly how important having this Shabbaton was. I cannot imagine the tumult that was going on in Shamayim (Heaven) as we discussed different and interesting questions that touched on core concepts of what it means to be Jewish. There we were – a varied group of unaffiliated and religious deaf Jews – and we were giving life to the timeless values of the Torah as our hands and faces expressed the signed words and concepts.

Historically, there have been very few opportunities for Jewish people who are deaf or hard of hearing to participate in their local Jewish community. Either the accommodations would be lacking (no interpreters or assisted listening devices), or there was no welcoming atmosphere – many are uncomfortable trying to communicate with deaf Jews. I hope this Shabbaton will help to change this trend of exclusion from the Jewish world. After all, deaf Jews are just as Jewish as any other Jew!

And now, to answer the question I posed at the beginning of this article: how exactly did we make the reading of the megillah meaningful to a group of people who cannot hear a single word of the reading?

Besides the reader and a kosher megillah, we had a projector and a screen. A PowerPoint presentation displayed the Hebrew text of the megillah side by side with the English translation on the screen. As the reader recited from the megillah, a hearing volunteer pointed to the text on the screen, down to the exact word. This ensured that the deaf audience would have the benefit of: 1) simultaneously following along with the reading, 2) understanding the meaning of the megillah, and 3) feeling more comfortable about being part of a traditionally auditory experience.

I believe that this was a success. Though the deaf participants did not fulfill the traditional obligation of reading from the megillah in this way, it definitely transformed a once ungraspable and incomprehensible ritual to something clear and meaningful. And – I must add – this was not just true for the deaf attendees. A deaf mother of two hearing children came up to me after the reading; she shared with me that her daughter was shocked—that, for the first time, she was able to truly appreciate the reading of the megillah. She was able to read the English translation on the screen and stay current with the reader.

As I left Rochester on the plane that would bring me back to my hometown of Los Angeles, and thought back on the Shabbaton, I knew that we had definitely accomplished something over the past weekend. As a seed takes time to grow, so it is with this endeavor. At the wrap-up committee meeting the next day, we all agreed that this was the start of something good and long-lasting. This is no doubt what the Rebbe had in mind when he continued and expanded the tradition of the Merkos Shlichus visits instituted by the Frierdiker Rebbe.

I would like to extend my thanks to Rabbi Fred Friedman for helping lead the Shabbaton; to Rabbi Kilimnick and Congregation Beth Sholom, for the use of their space; to Dr. Yosef Kilimnick and Dr. Susan Karan, Dr. George and Deborah Kornfeld, Rabbi Dovid and Chany Mochkin, and Rabbi Asher and Devorah Leah Yaras for allowing people to stay in their homes; to Rabbi Asher and Devorah Leah Yaras, and Al Spanjer and Dr. Carolyn Stern, and David Dror for sponsoring the Shabbaton; to Diana Pryntz, Beth Metlay, and Regina Kiperman for planning the Shabbaton; and to Mordechai Rennert for help with food preparation and Steve for helping with clean up. Also, thanks goes to Doni Kilimnick and Dr. Peter Benson and Brian Nadworny for help with the megillah reading on Saturday night, and to Moshe Leib Yaras and Adina Leitner for helping on Sunday morning. Most importantly, many thanks go to everyone for coming and for helping where they could!