Jewish Deaf Congress Special Interest Group
Interpreters
Some of the readers may be familiar with JSDG (Jewish Sign Discussion Group), an email “list serve”, moderated by David Kay ([email protected]). In a recent issue {[Vol. 3, No 6, 5/13/01] a very interesting topic was raised for discussion. Here is the question, and my response.
The conflict revolved around a family with both deaf parents and deaf children. They were fully paying members of a synagogue. The deaf son was studying for his bar mitzvah. When some of his friends started inviting him to their bat/bar mitzvahs (which occurred prior to his own), the synagogue was unwilling to pay for the interpreter. The rabbi also did not want the interpreter to stand on the bimah.
I was very disheartened to hear of this situation. I am sure some of the “details” are missing, but I was very curious to know of the prior history the family had with the synagogue. I would have assumed that at the time the family joined (or shortly thereafter), the rabbi and the family would have come to some agreement/arrangement about making the synagogue accessible to the deaf family. First, did the synagogue provide an interpreter every year for the High Holidays? What about other holiday services (Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Purim, etc)? Did the synagogue pay for an interpreter for perhaps a “monthly” family service? Such a service could even have been open to the general deaf community who were non-members, making it more “cost effective” to provide an interpreter for a larger number of deaf people.
Once the deaf boy was enrolled in religious school, was an interpreter provided on a weekly basis? (Or did the family have to hire a private tutor for his education, at their own cost?)
Does the synagogue have any type of “Interpreters Fund”? Many synagogues have a special “Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund” or arrange for fundraising activities to raise money for the interpreter. In several cities, the Board of Rabbis (or a Jewish Deaf Agency) has a city-wide fund. Usually the fund will pay for half or one-third of the cost of the interpreter (with the synagogue and sometimes the family contributing the other half or thid). If there were more than one deaf member at the synagogue, they might form together into an “Advisory Committee” to help education the synagogue about issues of access.
The real issue comes down to the young deaf boy’s bar mitzvah and his involvement in his friend’s bar/bat mitzvahs. Usually, a year prior to the date, a meeting is called for ALL of the families involved. This would have been a perfect time to raise the issue for all the families. What a great class “Mitzvah Project” it would have been for these kids to hold a fundraiser, so their deaf classmate could have access to each of their bar/bat mitzvahs. In the same way, I would have hoped that many of the parents would have come forward, to ask the synagogue to pay for an interpreter so the deaf boy could attend (or would have offered to include this cost in their own overall “party budget”. Most interpreters would charge between $100 and $150 to interpret the morning service and between $30-$40 per hour for the party). Some parents even encourage their children to contribute a portion of their gift money to “tzedakah”. An Interpreting Fund would have been ideal recipient of such a donation.
Finally, for the deaf boy’s OWN Bar Mitzvah, it seems the family would have the ultimate say. I would assume the synagogue would provide an interpreter for the service, as a “minimal obligation” as part of the family’s membership. It seems it would be up to the young boy and his parents to make all the decisions about where the interpreter stood. In this case, it would obviously make sense for the interpreter to be on the bimah. I would assume there would be a large number of deaf guests. In addition, the interpreter is usually responsible for “cueing” the student about when it is time to come forward to lead the service, follow the rabbi to the ark, etc.
If you are interested in knowing how others felt about this issue, join the JSDG by writing to [email protected] . Please share your thoughts with me, by writing to [email protected]
