A Year in Hell
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A Year in Hell

On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously stated in the case of Brown vs the Board of Education, Topeka, that facilities segregating white and black children were unequal and therefore violated the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The justices also ordered the states to integrate. How did…

Judaism and the Deaf Jew
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Judaism and the Deaf Jew

I was a member of Temple Judea, a reform synagogue in Tarzana, California, for twenty-five years. Even after a virus robbed me of most of my hearing and forced me out of my tenured sixth grade teaching assignment, I stayed a temple member. Though I couldn’t understand a word of the rabbi’s sermons or capable…

The Passover story: Fact or Fiction?
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The Passover story: Fact or Fiction?

  Passover, the Jewish celebration of the Exodus, begins Friday evening, April 19, 2019 with the first Seder, and ends Saturday evening, April 27. This is the time when Jews throughout the world remember the years their ancestors were slaves in Egypt and escaped under the leadership of Moses. Carol Meyers, an archeologist and professor…

Growing up Deaf
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Growing up Deaf

Audiologists acknowledge four levels of deafness—mild, moderate, severe, and profound. Author Cece Bell is severely to profoundly deaf. At the age of four she contracted meningitis, robbing her of most of her hearing. When she started public school, Cece was mainstreamed into a regular classroom. She knew she was different from the other kids due…

Two Picture Books on Deafness
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Two Picture Books on Deafness

Deafness is an invisible disability leaving its victims isolated within a hearing environment where oral language dominates the social, political, and entertainment worlds. Compared with the general population, there are few people touched by deafness, so the majority has no idea of its emotional impact and social effect on its victims. Myron Uhlberg knows better….

Chapter Book for Young Readers
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Chapter Book for Young Readers

Rosetta Douglass was nine years old when her famous father enrolled her in a private school, Miss Tracy’s Female Seminary in Rochester, New York for the 1848-49 school year. The child had never attended a public school because the Rochester schools wouldn’t permit African Americans on their campuses. However two Quaker women from Albany had…

Traditional Chanukah Food Mixed with Jewish History
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Traditional Chanukah Food Mixed with Jewish History

Dear Pop, I’m planning a holiday party for my third grade class. I’m including traditional Christmas treats like candy canes, cranberry sauce, roast turkey, and eggnog (non-alcoholic). What are a few traditional Chanukah foods I could add to our holiday feast? Curious Teacher   Dear Curious Teacher, On Chanukah Jews consume foods cooked in oil…