At a crowded Shabbat dinner table, Yosef Gavert said “it’s hard for me to listen to everyone talking at the same time.”
Gavert grew up a Modern Orthodox Jew in Toronto, Canada. He also grew up deaf with a cochlear implant, an electronic device that improves hearing, but not completely. “When everyone talks at the same time, the words start to scramble,” he explained.
Today, he lives in Baltimore and is one of the founders of a new Jewish organization, The Baltimore Jewish Deaf Community.
“We thought it [being called a] ‘community’ has a nice ring to it, because people, when they see [the name of an] organization [that] says community in it, it feels like they belong,” he explained. “It doesn’t [feel like a] brand.”
Roughly 40 people gathered from New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Frederick and Baltimore for the group’s first event, a Melaveh Malka meal (a special meal that is eaten on Saturday night after Shabbat ends), in January.
“So many people came to this event just to meet people who they can related to, that they have [things] in common with. They’re deaf, I’m deaf. We have something in common. He’s Jewish, I’m Jewish, we’re all Jewish. It’s great [to be able to] connect [through] Judaism [and] Jewish values,” noted Gavert.
Growing up, Gavert had many Jewish friends who were hearing. He also had many non-Jewish friends who were deaf. So being a part of a community that brough both worlds together, he said, “It’s a beautiful thing.”
Those in attendance were both deaf and hard of hearing. Some used assistive technology like a cochlear implant or hearing aid. Some lip-read, some used their voice, and some used American Sign Language.
“It was a lot of work to learn how to speak, learning how to listen,” Gavert recalled. “I like to [socialize] with people who are deaf because it’s easier for me to communicate with them through ASL, It can be exhausting for me to talk.”
The group was founded by Gavert along with Shira Ziegler , Leah Caplan and Tchia Kastor.
Rabbi David Kastor, Tchia Kastor’s husband, recently joined the team as an advisor and gave a d’var Torah about Shavuot at its last event in ASL.
“I’m excited to be part of this event by creating fun visual, physical, and logical challenge games for everyone to enjoy together!” Leah Caplan wrote in an email. “My goal is to bring more Deaf, hard of hearing, lipreaders, and ASL users together for a fun, welcoming, and social experience. Connecting through ASL and other means, as well as meeting new people is such an important part of our Deaf community.”
According to Gavert, the group ensures the spaces they hold each of their events at are accessible, offering allergy-friendly foods and wheelchair accessible spaces.
“After the event, many people texted me, ‘when is the next event, when is the next event,’ [they] made new friends, and they stay connected and made some matches,” Gavert added. “I can see potential to make things like that [happen] one at a time.”
Gavert said that his goal for the group is to eventually make the Baltimore Jewish Deaf Community a nonprofit to receive tax-deductible donations and apply for grants in order to make events more financially accessible for attendees.
The group has two events currently being planned and is building out its website and social media accounts. For more information, contact BaltimoreJDC@gmail.com.
mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com
