There is a phrase in Pirkei Avot (The Saying of Our Fathers), “When two people sit and words of Torah pass between them, the Divine Presence rests between them.” As a hearing Rabbi, I was always under the naive assumption that “words of Torah” meant spoken words. This summer, I came to understand and appreciate how much richer that concept is than what my limitation of hearing had led me to comprehend.
Two years ago, I was approached in my capacity as the Director of the Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI) by Rebecca Pepkowitz who was the Hillel Program Director at Gallaudet University at the time. BCI is a 26 day exploration of self and Judaism within a safe, pluralistic community. Each session brings together young Jews (ages 18-26) with the world’s finest Jewish scholars and artists in a living laboratory where they experience the multi-faceted aspects of Jewish life and culture. As BCI’ers engage in the arts, study, community and the outdoors, they strive to define who they are and what they envision as their adult Jewish life. BCI takes place on the 3,000 acre grounds of the Brandeis-Bardin Institute in Simi Valley, California.
Rebecca wanted to know if BCI was able to accommodate deaf participants. This was a new idea to me as we had never in anyone’s memory had deaf BCI’ers in its 64 year history. After speaking at length with Rebecca about the lack of access to the Jewish community for deaf Jewish college students, I knew that even though we had no experience with serving deaf college studentthat itwaswithout question something we should be doing. I also knew I had no idea how to begin to make the BCI experience fully and equally accessible.
Well, it took two years of researching, learning about Deaf needs and culture, and fundraising forthe cost of interpreters, but this past summer BCI welcomed its first two deaf participants. Sophie-Shifra Gold and Rebecca Schoor came to BCI for the June-July session this summer. Sophie came to us from Gallaudet University and Rebecca from Rochester Institute of Technology. While planning for their participation, I and my staff had two educational goals. First, that we were prepared so that their being deaf would not limit them in any way as to how Sophie-Shifra and Rebecca participated in BCI, and second, that our interpreting teams and teaching faculty (none of whom had any experience with deaf students) work as partners in meeting their needs. To that extent, we hired an amazing group of interpreters: Dano Kaufman from San Diego, CA, Harrison Guillory from Albuquerque, NM, and Dena Schechter of Los Angeles, CA. We were also fortunate to have Dena Zelig on staff who, as a deaf educator who was also an alumnus of BCI, was able to serve a vital role in helping the BCI staff and the interpreters work together at their optimum level to meetthe needs of Sophie-Shifra and Rebecca. These four incredible professionals worked tirelessly throughout BCI as both interpreters and trainers, and they were instrumental to the success of the BCI experience for these two powerful women. This amazing team would not have been possible without the generous financial support of the Ziegler Family Trust who understood and invested in the value of BCI for deaf Jewish college students. Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks, CA, and Sharon Ann Dror of the Jewish Deaf Community Center deserve immense thanks as well for their advice and guidance on where to begin making BCI accessible for deaf students.
BCI is planning to continue welcoming deaf Jewish college students each summer starting with 2004. Anyone interested in more information on BCI should visit www.thebbi.org/bci or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Rabbi Scott Aaron, Director of Education, The Brandeis-Bardin Institute, 1101 Peppertree Lane, Brandeis, CA 93064. 805/582-4450 ext. 240 Voice, 805/ 526-1398 FAX.
Camper Rebecca Schoor’s Experience
I had no idea what to expect before I went this summer for 26 days to Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI), a camp for young Jewish people from ages 18 to 24. My older sister went to BCI a couple years before and has always suggested that I should go. I never wanted to go because I was afraid of feeling left out. I did not want to be the only deaf person at the camp. Then, when I found out that BCI was providing 4 interpreters and that a student from Gallaudet University was going, I thought it would be a good opportunity to give it a try.
Now I look back and I am happy that I went! I met so many wonderful new friends, found new discoveries about myself, and have wonderful memories that will not be forgotten. At camp, everything we do creates a Jewish environment. We do all kinds of activities such as agriculture, horses, trash (sounds awful, but some people who took this activity found very interesting things), campsite, trail, cottage cleaning, tree grove, art, creative writing, dance, music, and drama. We are not required to do all of these activities, but we pick activities that we are most interested in doing. The goal of this camp is to challenge the Jewish campers and to find new discoveries about themselves.
I will give you one of many good examples about my experience at BCI. Growing up, I never had the motive to write for myself because I did not know how to find the joy of writing. Then I decided to challenge myself by taking a creative writing workshop. Richard Chess, a spiritual poet and college professor from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, was our amazing creative writing advisor. Through his workshop, we wrote poems, fiction and non-fiction stories, and about our personal experiences as well as about foreign topics. I wrote many stories and poems that I never thought I would write about and grew to love writing. He inspired many of us through his unconditional passion for writing, teaching, and caring about people. I thank Richard for giving a lot of support to us and for being there to teach us.
Not only did I find new discoveries about myself, but I made many new wonderful friends from all over the world. We had four people from Israel, one from Bulgaria, one from South America, four from Canada, and the rest from all over the United States. Everyone was very respectful of each other’s culture, beliefs, and religious levels and through this camp experience; we learned to accept one another. All of us became close with each other and with the phenomenal help of the interpreters, we taught many of the campers sign language. This made interaction with everyone easier.
BCI is a remarkable learning experience about Judaism, yourself, and the Jewish Community. I thank the camp director, Scott Aaron, and the ASL counselor, Dena Zelig, for making BCI the best possible experience for everyone and for including the deaf community as part of this camp so that Deaf Jewish people can also be involved. I also thank all the interpreters, Dena Schechter, Harrison Guillory, and Dan Kaufmann for their hard work and for making this camp a wonderful experience for me and Sophie-Shira Gold so that we could be as involved equally as the other campers.
And to take my sister’s advice and to pass it along, I strongly suggest that you go because it is a wondrous experience.
Camper Sophie-Shifra Gold’s Experience
Brandeis Collegiate Institute was a remarkable experience which also was a reawakening for my own soul to understand why I am standing on this Earth as a young Jewish adult with dreams to fulfill. I was given the wonderful opportunity to have the best BCI experience one can ever receive. I learned new things about myself that I never knew about before. That was the amazing gift of being at BCI. Everything I learned there I took to heart. I made connections with fellow BCI’ers and I am still in touch with them whenever possible.
I believe my entrance and departure to and from BCI was memorable. The challenge was to be more assertive to communicate with hearing BCI’ers, but I made it through on my own or with the help of sign language interpreters. The weather was lovely during my stay there and a month in a paradise-like environment was bliss for me. The Jewish learning opportunities, arts workshops, and evening culture programs really made a combination of what is really out there in life as a Jew.
There were new things I never thought of before. I would like to pass them on to future BCI’ers and interested young Jewish adults, both hearing and deaf. To be frank, my soul was always jumping up and down in joy when I learn and study in depth anywhere at BCI. The conversations I made and listened to through sign language with other BCI’ers made me realize how everyone is special in their own unique ways. I thank BCI people for allowing this program to succeed in the first place. My hope is to attract more interested young Jewish deaf adults to come to BCI this coming summer has been a profound and challenging experience for me. It was only my second time to attend all-hearing program. That was one of the reasons why I said it was a challenging experience. Each day at BCI was unique and sometimes unexplained in words. The evening programs were amazingly whole for my artistic soul. I believe that I have become more musical than before at BCI, learning how to play the violin and the Australian instrument, the didge, for the first time. Everything I saw, learned, heard, and spoke of was due to making special connections to other BClers. The journal we kept among us was the main core to keep everybody together. I spoke of personal issues that were safe there. The BCI staff and advisors were there to encourage positively for me and other BClers to grasp the whole BCI experience in one-month stay. The scenario there made me think of an Israel-like paradise, making me feel not wanting to leave at all. The first day and the last day were the hardest days of my life, knowing that I would have to open my heart, mind, and soul to new experiences every day at BCI. The activities at BCI were beneficial, humorous, personal, and emotional. Especially in my drama workshop, I finally came to the deepest ends of my heart to relearn the skills of being an actress. I thought I lost all of the talents I had before, but I don’t think so at all. The Beit Midrash each time and week were unique with different rabbi speakers and guests of BCI. For the first time, I have learned that Sarah, Abraham’s wife of old age, has been labeled as unidentified and she was one of the prominent feminist figures of biblical times. At meal times, I often sit with different people and different types of conversations were made. Therefore, everything, including the beautiful weather, at BCI was a bliss and a tip of peace for my body, soul, and mind. One final note, I am glad to befriend Rebecca Schoor, from North Hollywood, CA. I would recommend this everlasting experience at BCI to other interested young deaf Jews around the United States.
