Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf (HSD) in Skokie, IL announces that their first student, Gil Brociner who is hearing, a Chicago native, was to be ordained as Rabbi on Sunday, November 28, 1999. Brociner, a graduate of Sullivan High School and Northern Illinois University, went on to study at the National Holistic Institute in Palo Alto, CA and spent the fourth of his five years of study at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York. His interest in working with Deaf people along with his previous studies and background made it possible for him to participate in the HOD program according to Allen Meyer, a Board member of the Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf.