A new booklet by the Orthodox Union will focus on halakhot related to the deaf-blind. Published by the OU's Our Way, a program for the deaf and hard of hearing community, the new guide aims to help the Jewish community better include the deaf-blind. “Some feel that since individuals who are deaf-blind have so many challenges, especially in terms of isolation and communication, they should be absolved from keeping halachah,” says Rabbi Lederfeind, the national director of Our Way. “It is like …More

As rocket fire intensified in the South of Israel over the weekend, residents in regions bordering Gaza relied on Israel's Home Front Command’s red alert system to notify them of incoming rocket fire in time to reach safety. For those with hearing loss, however, warnings of an impending attack often come too late. Unable to hear the warning sirens, deaf residents in southern Israel often lose precious response time in the 15 or 30 seconds given to reach safety prior to strikes. Rima Popev explained, …More

Eleven deaf-blind men and women slap and punch the dough on stage. As the audience enters “Not By Bread Alone,” the pioneering show by the Nalaga’at Center coming to NYU’s Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City this January, they are immediately immersed in the near universal process of making bread. As the dough rises and bakes, the wafting smells provide a common timeline for audience and actors, who can neither see nor hear those for whom they perform. But this troupe, …More

Noalee Harel, NoCamels - Israeli Innovation News For people suffering from hearing impairment or deafness, text messaging and video calls in sign language can be vital for day-to-day communication. However, very often they miss these calls and messages – simply because they do not hear the phone ring. LightOn, the first commercial product by startup DreamZon, aims to solve this problem by turning audio notifications into visual ones. LightOn, which was commercially launched in early 2011, is a smartphone …More

We have an even greater respect for deaf actress Marlee Matlin after reading her column on the Chicago Sun-Times website today. In her column, Matlin urges cinema bosses in the US to do more to make films accessible for customers with hearing disabilities. The spokesperson for America’s National Association of the Deaf, Matlin explains how difficult seeing a movie is for her family. She writes, “Here’s how the drill goes at my house: The kids are clamoring to see a hot movie; Entertainment …More

Sixteen year-old defensive tackle Conner Svetly, named one of ESPN’s “18 under 18” in March, didn’t start playing football until his freshman year of high school. His parents feared for his safety, but not because of the risky sport. Jewish teen Svetly is profoundly deaf, and had two cochlear implants inserted in infancy. A misplaced tackle could dislodge the implant, requiring a complex 60 to 90 minute surgery to repair. "Deafness, obviously it's a disability, but in our family we don't …More

People with hearing loss are often excluded from full participation in Jewish life, impacting not only the deaf or hard of hearing individual, but their entire family. According to Alexis Kesher, President of the Jewish Deaf Resource Center, once a person with hearing loss is denied access, “the whole family is often without access for generations to come.” This Shabbat, synagogues from across the United States are taking a vital step to welcoming the deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and their …More

Israel's Sheba Medical Center pairs with an American foundation to provide hearing aids to a West Bank population affected by genetic deafness. The plight of hearing-impaired people in the West Bank fell on deaf ears - until a joint American-Israeli humanitarian project outfitted 1,000 Arabs from the Palestinian Authority town of Tulkarm with hearing aids this month. The hearing aids were distributed in cooperation with the Sheba Medical Center, the US-based Starkey Hearing Foundation, and Physicians for Human …More