1992 – First organized as “Creative Services Group”, an outreach group in Southern California.
September 1992 – first issue of JDCC News is distributed.
August 1994 – Expanded its mission and changed its name to “Jewish Deaf Community Center.”
1998 – In recognizing that deaf organizations kept scheduling their sporting, social and other events to conflict with major Jewish holidays, JDCC designed, printed and distributed “JDCC Five-Year Calendar” to deaf community leaders along with a letter requesting that they refer to the calendar before scheduling their events. JDCC updated and distributed the Five-Year Calendar three times and currently makes the JDCC Five-Year Calendar available on its website.
June 2008 – JDCC News stopped hardcopy and moved to the internet.
June 2012 – This month’s issue of JDCC News marks its 125th issue.
Past JDCC Events:
* Kosher Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Moroccan food tasting events
* Lectures on Circumcision, Love, Sex & Marriage, What is Kosher & Why Keep It?, Abuse in the Jewish Community
* Tours to Museum of Tolerance, My Jewish Discovery Museum, LA Children’s Museum
* Teen Havurah, Passover Shopping, Jewish History, Mini-Cake Museum, Jewish Holidays, Jewish Coda
* Services – Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Passover, Purim, Kaparot,
* Social Events – annual Chanukah events including a Mini-Carnival, Sukkah Israeli Dinner
* ASL Approach Services
* JDCC Community Seder
* Performances – “A Kosher Affair”
* JDCC Essay Contest
JDCC Community Seder
JDCC founder Sharon Ann Dror had more people requesting to join Seder event with her family. As numbers grew each year JDCC hosted its first multimedia JDCC Community Seder in 1999 using powerpoint.
In an article titled “New Passover Experiment ‘A Success'” posted in the May/June, 1999, “Recognizing that it is stressful for a Deaf person to read from the Haggadah, use sign language and keep eye on the Leader at their table, the grant made it possible for a graphic specialist to input a modified version of the usual printed JDCC Haggadah into a computer. This text was then merged with appropriate graphics and text for the Leader and participants to sign were programmed ‘karaoke style’.”
JDCC News
JDCC has continued its role as an information clearinghouse since 1992, first on a local basis, and now nationally – and internationally!
Past JDCC News issues had feature articles on different topics related to Judaism each month, articles on upcoming holidays. listing of holiday services, reports on other Jewish Deaf organizations and their activities. Articles were also done on the Holocaust, there was regular columns including Jewish Deaf Business, Deaf Jews in Sports, Jewish Deaf Profile, Young Adults Corner, Interpreter’s Corner, Our Jewish Hearing Friends in Our Deaf Circle, Arts & Crafts, and Holiday Recipes (Jewish Deaf Collectibles).
Regular columnists and writers were Kenneth Rothschild, Sharon Ann Dror, David Rosenbaum and Barry Strassler, Dina Dror, Liz and Adam Stone, and Karen Rothschild.
Since 2008, JDCC switched to the internet and continues to post JDCC News stories, announcements and updates through the JDCC.org website.
Happy 20th Birthday, JDCC!
