Actress Marlee Matlin, and Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe, associate rabbi of Temple Adat Elohim, were among the participants of the Reception/Workshop for the Jewish Deaf on Sunday, July 16, 2000, the opening day of the 86th Hadassah National Convention at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sophie Friedlander, Chair of the National Center for the Jewish Deaf in Hadassah, presented Matlin with a Life Membership in Hadassah. The presentation was in part a recognition of Matlin’s record and commitment to volunteerism as well as to her outstanding career as a dramatic actress.
Matlin, an Academy Award winner, TV star and activist, responded to the presentation with smiles, facial expressions and hands that did not stop talking, as she inspired her audience with the story of her life. She recounted the lessons she learned from her parents and fellow actor Henry Winkler, who believed in her and wouldn’t let her stop dreaming. “There’s a lot of us Jewish people in Hollywood,” she said. “I think it’s because we come from families who have struggled and never took ‘no’ for an answer. She advised everyone: Create your reality, find it in your heart, and follow it.”
Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe served as another inspirational example when she stated: “Marlee has the Hollywood stage and I have the bimah.” Rabbi Dubowe had learned to speak when she was young, so she acknowledged that there was no obstacle to her understanding of Jewish heritage, but she understands the frustrations others must feel who grew up living with the rituals, but not hearing or understanding them. Her awareness of this situation led her to teach and ultimately to go to rabbinical school.
Rabbi Dubowe then engaged the audience in an interactive session when she displayed a table filled with objects related to Judaism and invited participants to pick an object that sparked a memory to share with the others. Marlee Matlin was the first to come forward, select a box of matzah meal and share her memories of her bubbe (grandmother in Yiddush) who could not communicate with her via words. Even so, Marlee learned how to make matzah balls from her. Others in the audience followed, sharing their personal memories called forth following the impassioned presentations.
Sharon Dror, President of JDCC, served as local liaison assisting all with necessary arrangements throughout the Convention. Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is the only Jewish hearing organization that offers its members a program for the Jewish Deaf.
For information on how to support the National Center for the Jewish Deaf and become a National member of Hadassah call Hadassah at TTY: 212-303-4549 or write to Hadassah National Center for the Jewish Deaf, 50 West 58th Street, New York, N.Y.
