Jewish Mother Of Deaf Finds A Way For Son

Sharyn Perlman with Orthodox Union says that it is because of Libby Chernoff of Buffalo Grove, IL, mother of a 15 year old son Daniel who is deaf, that the Our Way National Convention took place in Chicago, IL on June 36th. Our Way is sponsored by the National Jewish Council for the Disabled (NJCD), an agency of the Orthodox Union (OU). Chernoff is determined to create religious opportunities for her son, Daniel who attends Twin Groves Junior High because the local Jewish Day Schools cannot afford to pay for full-time interpreters. What does she do? She hires a religious studies tutor and sends Daniel to a Sunday school and a religious summer camp for the deaf. She says that Our Way is a “religious lifesaver” for Daniel who has attended Our Way conventions since he was 4 years old. “Most people just don’t understand deafness”, Chernoff explains, “The ignorance is exacerbated because the Jewish hearing community generally has little or no relationship with the Jewish deaf community..