Rabbi Rebecca Dubowe appeared in the Thousand Oaks Acorn, a local newspaper on February 2nd. Stephanie Bertholdo wrote a nice article on Rabbi Dubowe. Here is the excerpt:

Agoura Hills resident Rebecca Dubowe holds the unique distinction of being the only deaf female rabbi in the world.

Dubowe, 43, has served as a rabbi at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks since 1997. She and her husband, Michael, 44, and their two daughters, Rachel, 15, and Arielle, 11, have lived in Agoura Hills for three years.

“(Rebecca) has many gifts, and she is wonderful, wellrounded rabbi,” said Rabbi Ted Riter of Temple Adat Elohim.

“She blesses our community with her blessings and her caring and her ‘menschlekite’ quality.” Riter defined menschlekite as being an “all around good person.”

Dubowe has overcome many challenges since she was diagnosed as deaf at 18 months old, but continues to struggle with some of the inconveniences of a world with no sound.

“A general challenge is being able to understand my congregants, and there are times that I am unable to,” Dubowe said, adding she sometimes has trouble reading lips if the person speaking to her has a moustache or a foreign accent.

“I need to deal with it honestly and ask others to help me because my congregants know how important it is for me to be able to communicate with them,” she said. People also cannot simply call Dubowe on the telephone, but she said e-mail has been a “tremendous technological asset.”

“We forget sometimes that she is deaf,” Riter said about Dubowe. He added Dubowe is so naturally comfortable with people in the congregation and she appears to seamlessly fill all aspects of her role as rabbi that her deafness has never been an issue.

Dubowe is active in a variety of programs at the synagogue, from adult education and outreach programs to serving as an advisor for youth programming. She conducts youth retreats and prepares B’nai Mitzvah students for their special day.

In the community, Dubowe participates in a monthly book club, assists at a shelter for transitional families, cooks for the homeless on Christmas, and counsels people who are sick, bereaved, or struggling through other life events.

The choice to become a rabbi was born out of what Dubowe calls a “love and passion for Judaism.”

“I chose the rabbinate because I felt that with my love and passion for Judaism that I could share and inspire others to embrace their traditions,” Dubowe said.

“I love teaching Judaism along with being an active part of our peoples’ lives by being present in their own joys and sorrows, and guiding them through the life cycle and events along with preaching values that are offered within the teachings of our tradition,” said Dubowe.

Dubowe started attending the John Tracy Clinic, a preschool for deaf children, when she was 20 months old, with the goal of learning how to speak.

Although Dubowe was fully mainstreamed with speaking children from the time she was in kindergarten, she said the lack of the American with Disabilities Act laws caused some problems in public school.

“I was fully capable, but many teachers were hesitant about me because they thought they had to do things differently,” Dubowe said. “At the end, they learned more than they expected. My parents were my advocates in all that I did.”

Dubowe recently earned the Mothers of Young Children distinction from the California Association of American Mothers Inc. At the awards ceremony, after event organizers had listed her many charitable endeavors and professional accomplishments, she was introduced as the “amazing Rebecca Dubowe.”

Dubowe amazes her family, friends and congregants with her can-do attitude.

She lives by a few simple tenets. “Live each day to the fullest, and always accept who you are, and try not be someone else except yourself. Be happy, as life is precious.”