Eva (Eve) Dicker Eiseman is a CODA, the eldest of two children in her family, and the co-author of a book “Our Father Abe” which she wrote with her brother, Harvey L. Barash. Eiseman has a master’s degree in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University and a certificate of completion in Family Therapy from the Family Therapy Training Institute in Milwaukee, WI. She worked many years as a teacher of the Deaf. She was a Supervising Teacher in the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan, Wl where her father had attended. She is a charter member of Wisconsin Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (WISRID) and has worked as an interpreter educator at the University of Wisconsin and as an interpreter in private practice.
Growing Up
“My parents are Abraham Morris Barash (deceased) and Hilda Nathanson Barash,” Eiseman explained. “They were both born in Russia and came to the United States as children with their parents. My parents were an integral part of the Madison Wisconsin Deaf community and this was the environment I grew up in Although they belonged to a synagogue, the world they socialized with was the Deaf Community We spent many hours at the local Deaf club, Deaf picnics and our home was always open to Deaf and Hard of Hearing friends.”
Sign language was one of Eiseman’s first languages, but as a child, she did not interpret for her parents. “My mother could speak so she became the “interpreter” in our family until my brother and I grew up,’ Eiseman explained.
However, she added, “Growing up with Deaf parents motivated me to learn more Sign as did my brother and was the sole reason I decided to become a teacher of the Deaf after I finished my undergraduate studies.”
Jewish Life
“Although my parents did not always know how to label what they were doing or why and they certainly did not know the proper blessings for wine and bread on Shabbat (not even in Sign Language) my brother and I grew up with a strong sense of Judaism and a love for Judaism,” Eiseman said. “My involvement with Judaism started at an early age. My parents joined a synagogue so that my brother and I could go to Hebrew school and get a Jewish education. My grandparents were all very involved with the Jewish community and tried to reinforce what we learned, but they were immigrants and found it hard to explain difficult Jewish concepts to us.”
The Barish family celebrated all the major Jewish holidays. Eiseman’s mother made Challah every Friday as well as chicken when the family could afford it. Her maternal grandmother helped too, making sure that they always had Shabbat food. “I would say that we got Judaism through our taste buds and smells,” Eiseman commented. “My mother made honeycake and teglach for Rosh Hashanah. We did not celebrate Sukkoth although they took us to Shut for Simchas Torah.”
Another important holiday was Passover. “We went to my grandparents house for Passover and my mother cleaned our house and changed the dishes,” Eiseman said. “It was a lot of work as we had a kosher home with two sets of dishes throughout the rest of the year.”
The Barish family also joined in non-Jewish holiday events in the Deaf Community, helping to decorate the Christmas trees of their non-Jewish Deaf friends and attending Christmas parties sponsored by the local Deaf Club.
“Second Class Citizens”
Eiseman said that when she was younger, she resented having separate Deaf and Jewish identities. “I had some resentment towards the Jewish community I grew up in as I always fell we were on the periphery of that community,’ Eiseman said. “Today I understand that the community itself did not know how to interact and communicate with my parents and attitudes have changed completely, but during my growing years I felt we were treated as “second class citizens” within the Jewish community.
One of the happiest moments of my parents’ lives were the Bar and Bat Mitzvahs of their grandchildren because for the first lime with the help of interpreters they fell fully included in Jewish life. I will never forget the look on my father’s face when he was called for an Aliyah for the first time after attending many many Shabbat morning services without an interpreter. The fact that he was given such an honor “blew him away’.”
“Our Father Abe”
Writing the book about their father was a very emotional experience, Eiseman said. “We were both very very close to my father and writing this book so soon after he died gave us an opportunity to express the way we felt about him and our growing years with our parents. It also forged an even stronger bond between my brother and me.
In doing the research I learned a great deal about myself and about the attitudes I felt towards my parents during our growing years. It made me appreciate exactly what our parents had tried to give us and the manner in which they tried to do the best they could in spite of the hardships, financial, emotional and physical that existed. We had many opportunities to share this book through talks and letters with others and I feel that perhaps we inspired a few other CODAS to think about the stories they may have to tell.”
Eiseman admitted one regret about the book. “Sometimes I feel that although my mother was included in the book we did not give her the credit she deserved for being the woman always in the background and supporting the incredible human being who was our father, Abe. Perhaps some day we will do something more with this. We have had two printings of the book already and are thinking about a 3rd printing. It seems to be timeless as it is truly the story of immigrant life, Jewish life and Deaf Community life. It was used as a textbook for a number of years at Gallaudet University for the study of an “ordinary Deaf family”. Of course we were very proud of that as we do think that we had a very stable and happy family life.”
Future Goals
“I am just beginning a new project being sponsored by Independence First, located in Milwaukee, WI,” Eiseman said. “I will be videotaping the personal Oral Histories of about 20 Deaf “grassroots” Deaf senior citizens in Wisconsin and Illinois, primarily and eventually writing a book about their experiences. If it is successful I may do a more comprehensive recording of videotaped Oral history in different parts of the United States.”
