A New Organization – and Future!

Let’s face it. There isn’t much out there for average Jewish Deaf young adults like us. Yes, there’s the JDC and the JDCC and the Deaf synagogues around the nation, but nothing oriented toward our specific age-group. Not anymore! That void now seems to be filled with a very promising new organization, called the Collegiate Jewish Deaf Congress – CJDC.

I’ve recently spoken with one of the five leaders of this project – Erick Posner. The other four are: Stephanie Robins, Clarisse Plosk, Larissa Aranbeyeva, and Sean Blake. Posner’s a graduate Geography student at CSUN and an alumni advisor for Lambda Sigma Pi fraternity (the only deaf-oriented one on the West Coast), and a RA for the CSUN dorms.

I’m one of the representatives from Gallaudet, NTID, and CSUN forming a new organization that is of, by, and for Jewish Deaf college students nationwide. Working under the auspices of and with the Board of the Jewish Deaf Congress, the purpose of the new organization is to build up networking among college students and share information and to share a common bond among us,” Posner explains. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

We felt that it was time for an organization that can teach leadership skills, provide resources for Jewish Deaf students and fellowship in the fond of conferences and contacts,” describes Posner. There was a great need for this organization. The board of the JDC has long recognized the needs [of the college Jewish Deaf students]. The board wanted college students to organize and implement programs and activities, believing that we are the best people to form and manage the collegiate special interest group SIG) of the organizations

We all recognize the growing need to train the Jewish Deaf students for future leadership opportunities in organizations such as the JDC and others. To train and acquaint the students to Judaism and provide resources for their needs such as counter-missionary efforts: the Deaf Jewish response and many other ideas. In short, we already have Junior NAD and Youth Leadership Camp; why not have CJDC? With the CJDC, it is our hope that the Jewish Deaf students will be more comfortable asserting their Jewish identity and work on their personal growth and contribute their energy to the organization..

Sounds great, but what exactly are the CJDC going to do? “We developed goals for the upcoming year at our historic meeting on March 6th, 1999. The goals include the first annual conference to be held in Washington, D.C., a few days before the NAD biennial conference. The idea is to hold a conference to acquaint the students to the CJDC and participate in workshops and enjoy the fun of being with our peers. At the conclusion of the conference, we all go down to Virginia together for the NAD conference.” But that’s not it! “Another goal is to have a trip to Israel in December of 2000 as part of the leadership training program.”

A Deaf trip to Israel – there are not that many opportunities for trips like that. With such ambitious goals in place, the CJDC looks poised to lead the Jewish Deaf young adults into the~new millennium! Who knows?