Judaism and deafness came together as a synagogue in Los Angeles in June of 1960 when Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf (TBS) was established. TBS holds services at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, California, in the San Fernando Valley about 20 miles northwest of downtown LA.
TBS members represent a cross-section of the deaf world: those deafened before acquiring language, those deafened later in life, lip-readers (oralists), and those who use sign language (manualists), those who are hard of hearing, hearing adults with deaf children, deaf adults with deaf children, deaf adults with hearing children, deaf and hearing grandparents/siblings, and deaf and hearing professionals connected to the deaf community including teachers, social workers, and interpreters. The differing needs and interests of this varied demographic is eclectic and has made it necessary for us to develop a wide range of programming over the years to suit all needs.
Since 90% of deaf children are born into hearing families, they rarely have the opportunity to participate in depth in the living and feeling of what it means to be Jewish, whether in the synagogue or in the home. In the synagogue, they are lost amid a sea of auditory activity to which they had no access, and in the home, their parents, once having realized the scope of the task involved with raising a deaf child, naturally put Judaism on the back burner. Never having obtained an intrinsic connection to Judaism therefore, they are less able to identify as Jews or marry Jews, and less inclined then to pass Judaism on to their children. Wanting to express themselves in religious and cultural ways, to foster sh'lom bayit (household harmony). and to create a sense of belonging, TBS was born. A group of Deaf Jews molded a place where they could transmit Jewish traditions, customs and rituals to their children in such a way that they would grow, loving Judaism, identifying with it and also having a place to serve their own spiritual needs, filling the void of Jewish programming suited to the needs of the Deaf.
For 40 years TBS has served its members with a full range of social, religious and educational programs. We offer Shabbat evening services twice a month, life-cycle events, High Holy Day services, specialized bar/bat mitzvah training, holiday workshops, holiday potluck dinners, a community Passover seder, sign language studies, with an emphasis in translating Hebrew concepts into sign language, community outreach, senior citizen advocacy, a monthly newsletter and weekly social events.
As advocates of Deaf Jews, we offer outreach activities, to bridge the Jewish world and the Deaf world by teaching Deaf issues and culture. We give presentations to Jewish Day Schools and Hebrew School students on Deafness and Deaf culture, familiarizing them with sign language and having them personally participate in our Shabbat services.
Over the years TBS has established a unique position in the larger national Jewish community and we gladly accept our responsibility to share our wealth of knowledge with them. So often a deaf child is the only deaf child in their synagogue and the educational staff, clergy and many times parents, are not familiar with the special and varied needs this requires. To fulfill the repeated requests for information, TBS published a book in 1996 called, Celebrating Judaism in the Home: A Manual For Deaf Jewish Families. We were able to fund this project by a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles.
While we are theologically committed to the Reform Movement and affiliated with the Union for Reform Judaism, our doors are open to Jews of all affiliations. We actively reach out to the Deaf Jewish community, but also happily included in much of our programming is the non-Jewish Deaf community. Please peruse the pages of our web site and contact us with any questions or interest you may have.
You can contact us by phone (voice or TDD), fax, email, or regular mail.
Temple Beth Solomon of the Deaf
PO Box 33396
Granada Hills, CA 91394
TDD (818) 363-7740
Voice (818) 363-5580
email: tbsdeaf@verizon.net