Batya Graber, Orthodox Union
Friday evening, as the sun sets, it dispels the aggravations of the week and brings with it shalva and kedusha; that is, an easiness of mind and holiness. The chazzan (cantor) leads Lecha Dodi, while Shalom Aleichem and Aishet Chayil are sung at home. The glow of Shabbat candles. Would welcoming the Sabbath be as embraceable if we were unable to physically experience it with all five senses? The first-ever Deafblind Shabbaton Experience, which was organized by the Orthodox Union in late April at the Pearlstone Retreat in Reisterstown (Baltimore), MD, proved it most certainly could be, and it most certainly was.
Although scattered throughout North America there are several organizations that service Jewish deaf or Jewish blind, there are none for Jewish Deafblind people. As an effort to reach out to this overlooked community, Our Way, the outreach program for Jewish deaf of the National Jewish Council for Disabilities, an agency of the Orthodox Union, received funding from the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore with a JEEP (Jewish Education Enhancement Project) grant to make the Shabbaton possible. This was a huge occasion, a hopeful beginning of further acknowledging the abilities and needs of this part of the Jewish community. Committee member Bets Wohl of Washington, D.C. is deafblind herself and was able to influence many of the participants to come.
Each participant was provided with his or her own SSPs (Support Service Provider) to provide the visual and auditory help necessary to fully participate.
