(JNS) SignTalk Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promotes, fosters and advances public awareness of the signing community, celebrated the international launching of its online social network, SignTalkers in Jerusalem on Monday night, May 20, with a signed performance by New York-based poet and performer Douglas Ridloff. An initial launch celebration took place in New York City at WeWork on May 8. “SignTalkers gives members of the signing community, both the hearing and Deaf, a space for thoughtful, thriving and engaging conversation,” says Dr. Joseph Geliebter, founder and executive director of SignTalk Foundation. “Unlike other social-media platforms, this exclusive space will serve to provide a home away from home to meet, share and interact with members of the signing community around the world.”

A prominent member of the Deaf community, Ridloff traveled to Israel to kick off the launch and present a series of workshops and performances around the country. He is best known as the executive director of ASL Slam, as well as for his poetry via sign language and visual storytelling presentations. SignTalkers, said Geliebter, provides “a platform for the general public to embrace sign language and ensure that the Deaf are afforded equal access and benefit from culture, media and overall society.”

The program was co-sponsored by the International Young Israel Movement (IYIM). Ridloff visited with several Israeli organizations and schools, meeting Deaf children, artists. athletes and theatrical performers. And he participated in a bar and bat mitzvah celebration for 80 Deaf and hard-of-hearing children from throughout Israel. Sponsored by IYIM and the Jewish Agency for Israel, the ceremony and visit to the Western Wall was presented in sign language, and is the culmination of a year of programming specially designed for them.

CAP: A bar and bat mitzvah celebration for 80 Deaf and hard-of-hearing children from throughout Israel, Sponsored by the International Young Israel Movement and the Jewish Agency for Israel, was the culmination of a year of programming. Photo by Nachshon Philipson.