Incredible. This is the only word I have to describe the past couple of weeks.
We are already one week after Chanukah, but the bright lights of the holiday continue to shine.
This Chanukah marked a very exciting milestone for the Jewish Deaf community. Across the nation, 700 people gathered together in a celebration of our Jewish heritage at our four #DeafChanukah events in Washington, D.C., Rochester, New York City, and Los Angeles. On top of this, over 7,000 people engaged with our #DeafChanukah social media campaign on Facebook and Instagram.
I am so excited to share with you the photos and videos from all of our four events. Memories may fade, but with modern technology, they are here to stay with us forever. Click on the links below to view the images and videos.
Play Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT9H24ZBNtU
We are especially grateful to our major sponsor this year – Purple Communications. We were delighted to partner with them, and they have proven themselves as a friend of the Jewish Deaf community. We invite you to learn more about Purple at www.purple.us.
We were also honored to have the opportunity to partner with the Jewish Deaf Resource Center / the United Jewish Appeal-Jewish Federation of NY for our NYC event. Throughout the year, they serve the Jewish Deaf community with a variety of resources. We invite you to check out the JDRC website at www.jdrc.org.
As well, we would like to thank our many sponsors, including: Beth Torah of the Deaf, Brooklyn Hebrew Society of the Deaf, Chabad Student Club at Gallaudet University, Chabad @ University of Rochester, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Interpreting Services, Dawn Sign Press, Sign Language Resources, and the Washington Society of Jewish Deaf.
Throughout the past couple of months, two people were hard at work day and night to ensure the success of our events. These two event coordinators deserve special mention for their dedication to this project. Thank you, Diana Abayeva and Irina Normatov.
Of course, all this would not have happened without your support. Thank you for being a part of our #DeafChanukah this year.
As I travelled from city to city, I had the opportunity to share a few Chanukah thoughts with my audiences. The take-away message I left with them is the message I would like to leave with you.
Chanukah is a season of miracles. Miracle after miracle happened to the Jews in the days of the Maccabees, from the victory in the battle against the Greeks to the discovery of the small and pure jug of oil. These miracles also serve to remind us that we are not alone. Throughout history, we Jews have been almost destroyed, only to be saved yet again – with help from Above. Wherever we are and in whatever situation we may find ourselves, there is always Someone watching over us. And by learning from the story of Chanukah, we give ourselves the strength to face any and every challenge that may come our way going forward. We must learn from the past in order to face the future.
This Chanukah, we as a community definitely proved that miracles really do happen and that we are not alone. Now it is time to go forward, keeping the lessons of the #DeafChanukah 2015 season in mind. If we remember that we are a strong and proud community, we can weather any challenge that may come our way ahead.
Speaking of going forward, I have some great news for you! As those who were at our NYC #DeafChanukah event may remember, we announced the launch of an exciting initiative for the Deaf community called Chai Hour. Starting in January, we will be hosting a monthly event in Brooklyn, NY. This project is an opportunity for deaf people to get together and learn about Judaism through dynamic and exciting guest speakers on a wide variety of fascinating topics. Stay tuned for our next email with more information about this project!
Warmly yours,
Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff
Source: The Jewish Deaf Foundation
