Jewish tradition was not especially tolerant of subgroups. Deaf Jews, for example, were grouped together in the Talmud with the mentally retarded as exempted from religious obligations. In other words, they were not considered full Jews. [...] more »

Earlier this year, many were shocked by a New York Times story about a Wisconsin priest who abused hundreds of deaf children yet avoided being defrocked by a powerful Vatican office. He begged that he was old and sick and wished to die a priest. The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger concurred. [...] more »

The Orthodox Union has created a new program to introduce Israel to one of the smallest minorities that exists among the Jewish People – that of the deaf and hearing-impaired. [...] more »

The Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel's Judaic Heritage Program for Israel's Deaf and Hearing Impaired (JHPIDHI) held its annual bar and bat mitzvah ... [...] more »

Finland's first-ever deaf pastor was ordained on Sunday at Kuopio's Lutheran Cathedral. Master of Theology Janne Rissanen will begin work with the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission. [...] more »

Fifty-four boys and girls celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs Monday in the Council of Young Israel Rabbis for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired. [...] more »

Amina Daimee, left, translates for the iman as Toronto's deaf Muslims gather at Masjid Toronto. The teacher is late for class, but none of the students seem ... [...] more »

Bible translations aren’t always for the printed word. More than 10 years ago, Wycliffe Bible Translators began translating the Bible into sign language for the deaf in countries around the world. [...] more »

The Vatican was rocked by new revelations today that Pope John Paul II was informed about the priest who molested deaf boys in Wisconsin. [...] more »

Steve made The New York Times with an excerpted interview conducted by former Capital Times reporter David Callender. In the interview Steve, for the first time in public, detailed in graphic terms how, at the age of fourteen, he was raped by Father Lawrence C. Murphy. Tough story for a sixty-year-old married dad to tell to all. Tougher yet, Steve was one of nearly two hundred deaf boys raped and abused by Murphy at the Delavan school. Murphy’s case is the gun that won’t stop smoking. The wisp makes its way from Terry Place in Madison to Delavan to the Milwaukee archdiocese, through priests, bishops, cardinals and finally to the current Pope Benedict, a former German cardinal named Joe Ratzinger. All of these guys had a chance to do right by our neighbor Steve Geier. None of them did. [...] more »

On June 27th at 11AM, The Hebrew Seminary of the Deaf (HSD), the only Seminary of its kind in the world, will make history again by ordaining three new Rabbis. All female, this trio includes Ellen Roth, our first deaf student to be ordained as Rabbi. HSD has been in existence for 13 years, and is affiliated with The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. [...] more »

The two men, both deaf, feverishly gestured to one another in sign language over a videophone, discussing the recently released documents relating to a ... and more » [...] more »

Earlier this year, the 68-year-old Hurwitz, who is profoundly deaf, became the 10th — and first Jewish — president of Gallaudet University, the renowned ... [...] more »

Gallaudet University in the District has come under fire from a group promoting moral values on campus for an upcoming play that the group considers "blasphemous." Gallaudet, which serves deaf and hearing-impaired students, plans to stage the play Corpus Christi for three days starting Thursday. In an April 1 statement, the group TFP Student Action says that the play, "which portrays Our Lord and the Apostles as homosexuals, was canceled last week at Tarleton State University in Texas due to large peaceful protests." [...] more »

In Verona, in the north, almost 70 deaf men and women have claimed they were raped and molested over a period of about 30 years at a Church-run institute ... [...] more »