The Deaf Sound of Inspiration

2 summers ago, I had the opportunity to be part of an amazing experience with 50 other Jews from arond the United States, South America, Israel, and Europe at Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI) in California. We spent 26 days building a community together in a secluded valley oasis north of Los Angeles. This experience was also my first exposure to the deaf Jewish community, as two of the students, Sophie and Rebecca, were part of the non-hearing Jewish world. Raphael (my violin) had a wonderful time sharing music with those at BCI. Even Sophie and Rebecca, were able to enjoy the music by feeling the instruments vibrations through touch.

One day, I was hanging out in the lounge and Scott, a fellow BCIer, who was trying his hand at playing the violin. Sophie was there too, and as Scott lifted the violin to test out his skills, Sophie corrected his hand positioning. I was astonished! How could someone who could not even hear the music that a violin would make, know the correct hand positions?

I had a conversation with Sophie (through typing), and discovered that she grew up with music her whole life. Her mom plays violin, as well as her sister. However, she was told she would never have this prvilage as a deaf person.

So, over the next two weeks, we spent some time practicing together, and Sophie picked up a good violin technique very quickly. At the same time, several of the participants of the program were beginning to feel homesick, and by the 2nd week of the program, discourse began to become evident.

By the second week, Sophie's determination and hard work payed off. In front of over 50 people, Sophie performed the song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" with Raphael. The determination of this performance was enough to inspire others in the program to challange themselves to be the most they could be with the remainder of our time together. (Click on the title of this blog, for a link to BCI)