Our ability to communicate is one of our defining characteristics as human beings. In Judaism, a person is called a “medaber” as the ability to share thoughts and feelings with another is at the core of any healthy relationship. But what happens when we don’t speak the same language? Or there is a barrier to our “regular” way of communicating? The situation below is a beautiful example of what happens when we make the extra effort to make sure we are able to truly speak and listen to another…
“My name is Ibby and I am a deaf man. I have been deaf ever since an accident when I was two years old. Every day on the way to work I drop by star bucks and order my usual- a caramel Frappuccino. I can’t communicate like normal people, so I have the order written on my phone and I show it to the cashier every day. They all mostly know my order by heart now so I rarely have to show it to them anymore. Today I was met by the cashier with this sign. Her name was Krystal Payne and after she handed me the sign she started signing to me, asking what my order would be today? We chatted in sign for about 2 minutes and I learnt that she had spent hours watching YouTube videos just so that she could take my order the way she does for everybody else. I haven’t felt so equal in all of my life.”
