[HANASHIR:13554] signs, gestures, and song--an informed response

[Julia Priest <priestsinger...>]

Shalom, Chaverim:
This is Julia Priest.  I was intrigued by the thread about using ASL-based
gestures in Jewish singing.  Being a beginning-level student of ASL and
having borrowed gestures for my own liturgical work at times, I wanted a
well-balanced perspective on the ethics of it and the feelings it may
inspire.  I shared the discussion with my friend Rebekah, and between the
two of us it took a while for her to respond (please accept my apologies).
I think her responsel, which follows, is very nuanced and stimulating; I
also think the topic continues to be very important even after the thread
has gone dormant.  Rebekah permitted me to post this, and I invite you to
give it your detailed attention.

"Hello there everyone.  My name is Rebekah Barkowitz and I am a Sign
Language
Interpreter in the Boston area.  I am also a master's student at Hebrew
College, where I met Julia Priest.  She let me know about the conversation
regarding including sign language with music which took place last November,
I think.  I was finally able to respond with my thoughts, and Julia asked if
she could share them with you.

"I think it was a very interesting discussion, with multiple people raising
multiple viewpoints.  In my experience, it is something that people will
never agree on.  If the deaf community can't agree on it, the hearing
community certainly won't.  One of the most striking differences I've
noticed is that the Deaf community views signing as their communication
method.  The hearing community often views it as "pretty," and something to
augment communication/understanding.

"One thing that was not mentioned during your discussions, is that within
the
Deaf community, there are two kinds of signing.  ASL - as you may know - has
its own grammar and structure separate from English.  Transliteration is
more of an English based signing.  While it is not like Signed Exact
English - there are no "ing" endings added to ends of words - it follows
more of an English word order and is more of a coding of words into sign
than an "interpretation" (for meaning) of what is being said.  Some Deaf
people, especially late-deafened or hard-of-hearing people, prefer this kind
of signing, especially for interpretation of songs they might be familiar
with, because they want to join in the singing, and no matter how accurate
or beautiful someone's ASL interpretation is, it will be an interpretation,
and it won't follow the words being sung.

"The Deaf/Interpreting communities become upset when someone goes around
teaching signs that are not correct, and gives
the impression that s/he is interpreting when s/he is not.  Often, if you
ask a deaf person what is being signed during the song, s/he will not be
able to understand. When most entertainers/music teachers add signing in the
order of the words being sung, there is no structure corresponding to ASL.
And when songs are in Hebrew, there is no English word order either. Also,
ASL indicates grammar by facial expressions, which influences the meaning of
the signs.  That is often missing when someone who does not fully know the
language adds signs to the songs.  No one would accept a Hebrew teacher who
took one or two classes many years ago as an expert.  Why is it ok to do
that with Sign language??  If people added "signs" and called them
"gestures" instead of giving the impression they were using a complete
language, the Deaf/interpreting communities would not be upset.

"When I work at any interpreting job, I try my best to match the consumer's
needs.  How I interpret services for a late deafened adult will be different
than how I interpret services for a young child deaf from birth who has
never been inside a temple before or for someone who in fluent in Hebrew.
There is no ONE right way to sign something, but there are many wrong ways.
An interpretation is just that...an interpretation.  And in order to
interpret songs (especially Jewish/Hebrew songs) one needs to have a full
grasp of all languages involved, including sign language. After mastering
the languages, the skill of interpreting needs to be developed. The
interpretation has to be geared to the (deaf) audience, and when signs are
added to songs that personalization is gone.  More importantly, is the
impression that the students/audience is left with.  Often, students are
told (or they hear) that they have learned the correct way to sign
something.  I have been at services where an 8-year-old comes up to me and
tells me I am signing the Shema wrong, because of something she learned in
Junior Choir.  (I've also seen students approach Deaf people and tell them
they are wrong.  Where is the kavod in that encounter?) If signs are added
to songs, and they are called signs and not gestures, a little education
must accompany the lesson, or miscommunication (and bad feelings) will
result.

"I hope this makes sense to you.  Thanks for allowing me to share my opinion
about a discussion long since past.  If anyone has any questions or would
like to continue this dialogue with me, feel free to contact me at
rebwitz (at) rcn(dot)com(dot)

"Rebekah M. Barkowitz
MMHS, CI/CT
Sign Language Interpreter"

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