Temple News
New C.H.A.D. Administrator
Greetings from Marlene Windham, new administrator for the California Home for the Adult Deaf in Arcadia. I have been privileged to meet many of you and for those of you that I haven't met yet, I was born to deaf parents, Delmar and Ruth Moore of Los Angeles. My father was from Wisconsin and mother was from South Dakota; both attended deaf schools.
Marlene Windham
I was the first born and the only child, integrated into deaf culture at an early age, preferring to communicate in ASL. I can recall at the age of 5, an awareness that our family's survival rested on my shoulders, as many deaf people didn't trust people outside the deaf community. So I assumed a lot of responsibilities growing up and making things work was my training early in life. That in itself made life appear tough, however, it was a blessing in disguise.
Despite the difficulties, I can truly say my mom and dad were terrific role models. They, together, taught me to love unconditionally and to work hard for the things you wanted out of life.
Dad taught me finger-spelling and numbers very early and by the time was enrolled in public school, I was already writing, to the amazement of my teachers.
A few years later it was discovered that I was hard of hearing and I was enrolled into an oral school. At first, I thought we were going to sign to each other, which was normal for me. Instead, we put on our earphones and practiced speech articulation; blowing and hissing, using our lips, nose and tongues to get the best sound. What seemed silly to me at the time became the biggest blessing of my life and I am forever grateful to the Los Angeles School District for putting me through eight years of speech therapy.
While struggling with speech, I was the only one in the oral school that was living a dual life. At home I was totally immersed into deaf culture: picnics, parties, clubs, California Association of the Deaf (CAD) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD.)
My father was an active member of CAD and NAD and with his strong ability for numbers and for many years kept the books did the tournament scorekeeping. My mother, was charitable and giving; her role in the deaf church is still remembered to this day. What a cook she was and a noted peacemaker and organizer.
As I grew up, married and had children, my special identity stayed intact benefiting from the best of the hearing and deaf worlds and being accepted in both. With my good upbringing in place, I view everyone I meet with respect and appreciation. I did well in the food industry, particularly in management and obtained so much valuable training along the way that it has shaped and molded me into the person I am today.
My philosophy is always to believe in the goodness of people and to offer help in any way that I can. After all, I have been blessed and blessings are meant to be shared. Along with that, I bring peace and love to those that cross my path especially at CHAD.
I feel that I can and will reshape CHAD to be what it needs to be: a haven of comfort, security and inspiration. I will need your support and your prayers and together we will do it.
Summer Potluck Photos
Freda Norman, Gertie Dietch and friends
Helly Udkovich, Ruth Beesen, Judi Fromberg, Sara Beldengruen,
Joanne Gleicher, and Wayne Kelly
Paul Davis and daughter with David Balacaier
Temple Beth Solomon Welcomes New Student Rabbi
Meet Deborah Graetz, currently in her 4th year in the rabbinic program at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. For the coming year she will be assigned to Temple Beth Solomon as our spiritual leader, but many of you have had the pleasure of meeting her already. For those who haven't you are in for a treat! She has participated in our services as a member of TBS for the past couple of years when she wasn't busy at school and now she will switch gears and officiate for us. She joined TBS upon moving to Los Angeles after spending her first HUC year in Jerusalem in 2001-02. Deborah graduated from the University of California at Davis with her BA in Classical Civilization and a minor in Jewish Studies. She will receive her Master of Hebrew Letters in May 2007 and plans on ordination in May 2009. We will be sharing Deborah with her other student pulpit, Temple Beth El in Santa Maria, California (her second year with them). She comes to us with a wealth of knowledge, following in the tradition of her father, a reform Rabbi at Temple Isaiah in northern California. So that you can get to know her better we are reposting the following article written by Deborah that appeared on the Temple Beth Solomon Website a couple of years ago. Please join us for Shabbat and Simchat Torah Services on Friday, October 20 to offer a warm TBS welcome to our new student rabbi, Deborah Graetz
I am good at math, and I remember learning the stories from the Torah. But for the life of me, I cannot tell you how I learned math or the Torah stories. All I remember was always sitting in the very front row, virtually in the teacher's face. This puzzles me because I have a hearing loss, and I did not wear hearing aids as a child.
Student Rabbi Deborah Graetz
You see, I was born in Argentina, and I grew up in Brazil - neither country had technology advanced enough to help me. In addition to not wearing hearing aids, I did not use sign language. South American society is such that you only have two options, either you are "normal" or you are not. If you are not "normal" you are hidden behind locked doors and no one except your family knows about you. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea. With this in mind my parents decided to raise me as "normal"? I was taught to lip-read, and went to the same school as my peers.
My memories of Brazil are sweet and romantic, but I am very aware and grateful that my parents decided to move to the United States. With the move (which happened when I was 13 years old), my Deaf identity began to develop. Within a few months of moving to the United States, I began to wear hearing aids - the world became such a different place when I put them on! And in school, my parents learned about services such as the "FM system", I was very embarrassed to wear them, but it was the first time that I experienced "special services assistance" in a classroom so it was an important experience to have.
After wearing hearing aids for 5 years, I somehow learned about sign language: a way of communicating with our hands (wow! What a theory!), and decided to explore sign language for my senior project. I took a sign language course and caught on quickly-but sadly I had no one to sign with: where are the Deaf people?
In college, I began to experience what it is like to advocate for myself. I learned about oral interpreters, open captions, sign language interpreters, and so much more that I never knew existed. Meanwhile, I took more sign language classes, but again: where are the Deaf people?
Post-college: I have studied in Israel for two different years. One year was amazing and I learned a lot, the next year was filled with challenges because all my courses were discussion courses and I could just not keep up. And for all my efforts, I still could not find Deaf people to help me, or to simply socialize with.
And finally here I am today. I am a rabbinic student at the Hebrew Union College and I am still struggling with balances: how many services to ask for? Having lived in the hearing world alone for so long, can I really call myself Deaf? I love my hearing aids and I am very aware of how much they help, but some of my most peaceful moments are those in the morning, when I wait the longest possible time before putting them on - there is such peace in silence.
There is only one place in my life that has come easy for me, and that is my love for Judaism. Both my parents are very involved in the Jewish community: my father is a reform rabbi and my mother volunteers in numerous activities, from helping the gift shop to acting as the treasurer for sisterhood. In my life, Judaism has been strong in Argentina, in Brazil and remains strong here in the United States, so it comes as no surprise that I choose to enter the Jewish world professionally.
There are many challenges along the way, I am still looking for Deaf people, but now I am also looking for Jewish Deaf people. And my identity as a Deaf Jew, who will hopefully become a rabbi, is far from being fully shaped.
I looked forward to further shaping my Deaf Jewish identity as I get to know you better in the coming years that I plan on living in Los Angeles.