For the first time in their lives, a group of Israelis who are both deaf and blind have been able to take a full part in a traditional Seder.
The occasion was a model Seder organised by the Beth David Institute in Israel, via its Centre for Deaf Blind Persons.
The dual condition of deaf blindness is growing in Israel via a genetic condition, Usher Syndrome.
Sufferers — many of whom are Israeli Arabs — are only able to communicate via touch.
But those Jewish Israelis who are both deaf and blind have previously been unable to understand the Seder and the Haggadah. So the Beth David Institute organised a model Seder. Participants included 12 deaf-blind people with “copy signers” (deaf individuals who copy the speaker’s signs into the hands of each deaf-blind person, using tactile sign language) and three staff members, one of whom is deaf-blind and two of whom are deaf.
