Hashomer Has I
Its 50th Year
Celebrating 50 years of
Hashomer Hatzair in Amer-
ica, Americans for Progres-
sive Israel-Hashomer Hatzair
will meet for some nostalgia
8:15 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Oak
Park Community Center.
A panel of five will ex-
change reminiscences about
their experiences as mem-
bers of a Zionist youth move-
ment in earlier days.
Audience participation and
refreshments will follow the
discussion, which is open to
the public.
For information, call De-
vera Stocker, 864-8035.
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He Seeks Religious Rights for Deaf
By CHARLOTTE DUBIN
When Curtis Robbins stood
at the Western Wall, he
heard none of the sounds of
prayer and song. Not the
Hasidim's joyous chant, nor
the sobs of supplicants. He
sensed much more—the
soundless echo of centuries
of tradition felt deep with-
in the Jew's heart.
Robbins is deaf. But, as
he puts it, "I am a Jew
first." The 30-year-old voca-
tional rehabilitation coun-
selor explains that "When I
go to the bima and read from
the Torah, I prove that I
CURTIS ROBBINS
•
am a human being with the
same feelings that other
Jews feel. My deprivation Pamela Young of Flint is
doesn't handicap me from current Hillel president at
Gallaudet, which has some
being a Jew."
75 Jews in a total student
Not all have seen it that
population of 1,200.
way. Robbins still harbors
Following his graduation
bitterness that he was re-
from Gallaudet in 1967, Rob-
jected for Bar Mitzva by a
bins took graduate studies in
rabbi who didn't want to take
deafness rehabilitation at
the time or trouble with the
New York University and in
boy's liaftora. Eleven years
his spare time taught deaf
later, under far different cir-
children at Temple Beth Or,
cumstances, Robbins reach-
New York.
ed that milestone. He
is
The temple, with a mem-
certain that it meant far
more to him than to most bership of 125 deaf families,
has
no funds for a building
13-year-olds.
Robbins, coordinator of or rabbi of its own, but stu-
deaf services for the State dent rabbis from the Hebrew
Vocational Rehabilita- Union College conduct ser-
tion Services Detroit South• vices there. Another congre-
ern office, is determined to gation for the deaf, with
spare others from the pain similar financial problems,
of being a second-class citi- exists in Los Angeles; there,
zen in the Jewish communi- too, rabbinical students have
come to its aid.
ty.
When Rabbi Sally Prie•
New to Detroit f r o m
Cleveland, where he worked sand was in Detroit recently
for
a speaking engagement,
with the mentally retarded,
start a she announced that she was
Robbins hopes to
Hebrew Association for the donating half of her speak-
Deaf, similar to those that er's fees to the nation's third
exist in Cleveland and seven congregation or the deaf,
other locations. As youth Temple Ben Shalom in Chi.
cago. A former classmate,
director of the National
for the Jewish Rabbi Douglas Goldhammer,
Congress
Deaf, he would emphasize has dedicated himself to
working with the congrega-
classes for children. includ-
for Bar tion. which serves 160 fam•
ing preparation
ilies.
Mitzva.
(The United
If
But gestures such as Rabbi
Schools does have a Sunday Priesand's are few. Robbins,
class for deaf children, one
who once wanted to be a
of Iwo known such services rabbi but instead chose a
in the country. Mrs. Leila
career in rehabilitation. la
Yodkovic. a special educa-
tion teacher, instructs the
class, which has six students
meets at the Borman
and
branch of the UlIST
Robbins has had consid-
erable experience working
with the deaf. For two years.
he was president of the Hill.
el Foundation at Gallaudet
College, the world's only
liberal arts college for tki
deaf, in Washington, D C
• DI ) I s I IAN
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Number of Entertainer
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MICHAEL KAPLIT
547-2 7 70
Photography
"Music the Stein Way"
Weddings • Bar Mit:vas
613-7392
Classifieds Get Quick Results I,
ments that little attention
has been paid to the deaf. At
the same time. he praised the
Reform movement for what
has been rkine. even on a
small scale. Other than a
Yeshiva Instotite for the
Deaf in New York. he could
think of no similar sersn e
under Orthoiloy Or )'i,11,a1
live auspices.
where he visited in 1968.
Besides his experience at
the Western Wall, Robbins
was most moved by his en-
counter with four deaf
Israelis near the Dead Sea
on the way to Masada. "We
mixed what little Hebrew I
knew and the English they
knew, plus the use of our
we
hands, and somehow
communicated. It was the
most wonderful experience."
Incidentally, the four t h
men among the students hase
resulted in a high number of
conversions, said Robbins.
"Percenta gewise, we ( the
Jewish deaf I have the
est
larg-
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_
BLAIR-KEITH
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—Daniel Webster.
to teach them."
Why' Robbins thinks it is
partly a holdover of the
semi 5,4‘v
for quality photor:rophs
and fast se, vice
call me at
398-911 1 or 895-8805
constitution. and one destiny.
school. But no one of the
Jewish faith takes the time
Alf -.444fROW,- President
910 • '."'• IRO* T WN11 'AYR! •JI""
MAX SCHRUT
■•■
anyone to do it for me, I
ARTISTIC UPHOLSTERERS
—
cluded in the company will
be Ben Bonus; actress and
singer Mina Bern; Yemenite
Israeli Singer Vona Coral.'
actor and humorist Bernard
Sauer of Argentina; and
pianist and _ composer Renee
Solomon.
Tickets are on sale at
Borenstein's Book Store, Dex-
ter-Davison Market, Work-
men's Circle Center and the
Labor Zionist Institute.
FOr information, call the
Labor Zionist Alliance, 851-
1606.
549-6309
"Christian clergyman fre-
quently visit the kids in
p ea"
logues and humorous en-
presentations. In-
semble
Wedding., Isar motvo•
We r•eee N yew hew. wow sweet.
If I am bit - Tassel!
he"
alone, what am 17 And if
not now, when?"
"1). ,nC my college days.
said Robbins. - this passagc
gas• me an understandur:
of what I am and what it
means to be a Jew. Just be
cause I'm a deaf man doesn't
I can't communicate
Olean
And I don't intend to ask
and intermarriages in the
' Jewish community," he said.
5755 SCHAEFER RD.
(i block North of Ford Rd
I ighling 1 ,snot•.
('Mat..... Lamp Shades
lie Repair A Rewor I amp.
consist of songs in Yiddish
and Hebrew, skits, mono-
4626N Woodward tS of 14 Wet
stand them in their entirety.
"Ideally, we would develop
a congregation here I've
heard of some 30 to 40 deaf
Jewish families." Interested
persons may contact him at
274(5) Franklin. Southfield.
Ile guesses there are a
number of Jews among the
200 :too known deaf children
in the Detroit area It has
born estimated nationally
that there are close to 20,000
S
Jewish deaf in the
Robbins believes there is
much that can he done fir
them, and that he's the man
to lead the campaign
lie told win , with the re,
citation of a passage from
Pirko %sof and . at I ompart ■ •
ing hand mos einem. •'11.
run not for myself, won Mitt
This lack of Jewish
identity and the strong in-
fluence of non-Jewish clergy-
LU 4-5900
• • T vets
I.:1N1 SPOT
Derar alt•e
can do it myself. I on a
I came to realize that they
came with no Jewish back- • fighter."
ground, so there was nothing
We have one country, one
I could do."
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Damasks, Brocades,
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•• ••
nounced that a number of
local members and friends
of Technion plan to attend.
the
For information, call
Technion office, 559-5190.
World Congress of the Deaf
will be held in Tel Aviv next
month.
Robbins said he has been
reluctant to attend services
here because he can't under-
Robbins, who t aught him-
self Hebrew. Jewish history
and 'philosophs, has an in-
terest and pride in Jewish-
ness that was not common
among the Jewish students
at Gallaudet, he recalls. - For
two long. hard years, I tried
to instill Jewish culture and
was
knowledge. But !fillet
Friday, F.h. 2, 1973-31
Yiddish Concert Theater Slated
that deafness is a punish-
ment by God for some mis-
The Labor Zionist Alliance
deed.
of Metropolitan Detroit and
"For many years, during
the Workmen's Circle Organ-
the talmudic period, rabbis
ization will present "Lebedik
thought that the deaf were
Un Yiddish" in their annual
imbeciles. that they couldn't
Yiddish Concert Theater 9130
pray because they couldn't
p.m. March 24 at Oak Park
hear the prayers.
High School.
"It's time for a change
"Lebedik Un Yiddish" will
from the stereotype of the
•
deaf man as mute. More and
more deaf people are able Technion Conference
to speak and, as lip readers, to Hear Kantrowitz
to enunciate."
Kantrowitz,
Adrian
Dr.
Robbins describes the rap- noted heart surgeon at Sinai
port between rabbi and deaf Hospital, will address the
congregation as more mean- American Technion Society's
ingful and inspirational than second annual national con-
that found in the regular ference—"Toward Technion's
congregation. Depending on Golden Jubilee" — Feb. 9-11
the rabbi's individual inter- at the Americana hotel, Bal
pretation in sign language,
Harbour, Fla.
"There is a give and lake
Yosef Tekoah, Israel's am-
that Is very beautiful."
bassador to the United Na-
Robbins, a native of New tions, several leading Israeli
York. is engaged to "a typi- scientists and some of this
cal Jewish girl from the country's most distinguished
Bronx," an art teacher in physicians and scientists will
the Rhode Island School for address the conference.
the Deaf. He hopes that one
Julius Harwood. president
day they will live in Israel,
of the Detroit Chapter, an-
strictly social, and the stu-
dents were very apathetic.
Abe Cherow, Says:
Open 'Duey so," tea
THE *ETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Nid• lid.
t int
Park. Thrh.
1.1 7-5098
•