Synopsis: Reuven and Surah Huma met, married, and had
their children in New York. When Binyaminm, born blind, was
nine years old, and Mazel (now Shira Levy's daughter-in-law),
one year older, the family made aliya. Most of their family
on both sides live here in Israel, so it was natural for them
to make aliya. Reuven and Surah both speak Hebrew and English
in their home so there was no problem for the children to
learn the language once they moved here to Israel.
How did Binyamin do his schoolwork and his
homework?
"He had to type out everything with a Brailler which looks
similar to a typewriter but it only has six keys. Also, we
bought him a game that had a large keyboard, 8" x 10". This
game would talk, saying a word and then Binyamin would have
to spell out the letters and the game would say whether he
had done it right or not. I put Braille lettering over each
of the keyboards letters and that's how he learned. To learn
to type in Hebrew wasn't so difficult since he already knew
the layout of the keyboard.
"The computer that Binyamin has had for the last two years
has made typing much easier for him. I only had to explain to
him the few additional function keys. Also, for the computer,
we have a Braille display piece for him that comes out from
the bottom with a Braille keyboard so that he can read
whatever is on the computer, e-mails included, in Hebrew and
in English. This Braille display only shows one line of
what's on the screen at a time but Binyamin can read what
he's written as well as whatever has been sent to him by e-
mail, etc."
Binyamin speaks up, "You can't believe what a blessing this
computer is! Also there's a voice program nowadays. You type
or receive something typed and the program speaks what is
written."
That's fascinating!
"Well, back then, when Binyamin was first learning to read
Braille," Reuven says, "all of this wasn't available. The
Hebrew Braille Siddur that was available was from a non-
religious sector and it came with Hebrew on one side and
English on the other side so it was really enormous. There,
in America, a friend told me about Mesilla here in Israel so
I contacted them and made a special order for a good Sefardi
Siddur and a Chumash both with vowels. Mesilla was just
beginning back then.
[As we explained in Part I, Mesila stands for Machon leSifrei
Yahadut La'adam Hamugbal, the Institute for Judaica
Literature for the Disabled, and is situated in Bnei
Brak.]
"Just so you get an idea of how large Braille is, this
Siddur, which was just for weekdays and Shabbos has FIVE
volumes! Each volume is 30" by 30". An average Braille letter
is the equivalent of a size 30 font on a computer."
That's enormous!
Reuven chuckles, "It sure is! So the Sefardi Siddur that I
ordered was more compact, even though it's still quite
bulky."
I guess there's no pocket Braille siddur for
Binyamin, eh?
Reuven chuckles again and just shakes his head. "You have to
realize that each Braille letter, and even one dot, takes up
an entire space, that's why Hebrew Braille usually doesn't
contain any vowels."
That is an interesting point (pun intended)! Did you have
your job at Mesillah before you made aliyah?
"No. I was already involved in Braille when I came to Israel,
and since I wasn't so pressed for parnossa at first, I
would come to Mesillah to talk and ask what I could do to
help. After a while they took me as a staff member."
Did you go there often in order to see what new books were
available for Binyamin?
"There really weren't many books back then other than Mishna
and Chumash. Going to Mesillah was simply something that
fascinated me."
Is that what you do at Mesillah — type books in
Braille?
"Not any more, Baruch Hashem! There's a special computer
program that does that. Mesilla worked on this program a lot
to make it work as well as it does today. When we're given
the material on disk, then it's just a few days away from
becoming a Braille book. Sometimes I do have to type certain
things but I just type them on a regular keyboard; the
program we have converts it into Braille. At Mesilla I take
the edited material, send it to the Braille printers, bind
the books, categorize them, and run the library."
So you sell the Braille copies?
Reuven bursts out laughing, "Who would want them? They're so
big and burdensome! We print out one or two copies of each
book for our Braille lending library. We have about 200
titles on the list of reading material including Miriam
Adahan's books, and the R' Pesach Krohn's series. The Sifrei
Kodesh are a separate category that include Chumash with
Rashi, Gemora, etc. which we also either lend out or sell for
a minimal fee to those who want to have their own copies.
"In reference to reading books, there are now a lot of books-
on-tape on the market (not associated with Mesilla) so
Braille reading books aren't as in demand."
So, do you mean that these authors freely give you their
material?
"The publishers do. And I would like to mention that Feldheim
publishers were the first to freely give us their
computerized material for us to translate into Braille. They
trusted us and we're incredibly appreciative as well as the
blind community that's able to read these books. Since then
other publishers have sent us books as well."
[Ed. I get a mailer from Mesila about twice a year, as do
most chareidi families. I sure hope you will remember this
information and send a heftier donation next time!]
How did you learn Braille?
"Together with Binyamin."
In the back of the principal's station wagon?
Reuven chuckles deeply. "No. I learned with the teacher a few
times. Once I knew the symbols and the rules, I caught on
very quickly."
Are there books for learning Braille? I ask, then
mutter under my breath, They're probably in
Braille...
"Actually, they're also in regular print. They're large books
because there are a lot of rules."
Turning to Binyamin, I ask, "Which is your favorite
reading book?"
"Rabbi Pesach Krohn's books," he answers immediately. "I
really love them!"
Which sifrei kodesh do you like the best?
"Personally, I like to learn Gemoras like Mesechta Succos. I
like finding someone that I have to explain to, since when I
explain to others I learn it more in depth. Also, learning
out loud makes a big difference. I learn the material more
thoroughly and remember it better. I really like learning
Mishnayos by heart. Sometimes I'll have five minutes and if I
say Tehillim, I may get interrupted in the middle of the
Pasuk but with Mishnayos it's not problematic if I stop in
the middle. Just recently, my Uncle's car wouldn't start. I
almost finished a whole Perek Mishnayos by the time someone
came and helped get the car started."
I turn to Reuven: Binyamin is so diligent in his Avodas
Hashem. There was no problem getting him into a regular
school, was there?
"When it was time for him to go to school, we went to the
closest religious school to register him and the principal
did his 'homework.' It turns out that he knew about a
different school that had a blind student so the principal
called that other school's principal and asked straight out
how it was having that special student. The second principal
responded, 'Since I took this boy into the school, I've only
had blessings.' It's good for the other students to have a
special child in their class, helping him, taking care of
him. It makes them feel good and helps them to be more
thoughtful and caring in general.
"I'll tell you an interesting tidbit: one of the first
schools for the blind was Perkins School in Boston. The
principal wanted to 'see' for himself what the students 'saw'
and he would periodically go for days blindfolded!
"His devotion to the school was phenomenal to the point that
he was seldom home. I heard that once someone asked his wife
where he was and she responded, 'How should I know? I'm not
blind!'
"I also heard about a restaurant in Europe that has a pitch-
black room. A blind waiter leads the customer into the room
and seats him at a table and asks what he'd like to order.
The client orders and the blind waiter brings him the food
and says, 'Go ahead and eat!' It's not as easy as it looks!
(pun intended)"
It must be a fascinating experience to feel for those few
moments what a blind person feels but, Binyamin, have you
ever been jealous of other kids, that they read regular
books, see all that's around them, run and ride bikes,
etc.?
"No. I know that I can't do certain things. But there was one
thing I was jealous of . . . I couldn't read my bar mitzva
portion. That I was jealous of."
This sweet soul! That's what he was jealous of? I feel a pang
of pain for him.
One of my older boys quietly walks in and places his hand on
Binyamin's shoulder. Binyamin takes my son's hand, feels it
thoroughly, front and back, then says, "How's it going,
Aaron?"
Binyamin can't see the astonishment on my face but he can
probably hear it in my voice as I ask: You can always
recognize people by their hands?
"Those that I have contact with regularly, yes."
I lean forward: How do people treat you, Binyamin?
"In general, people are nice and want to help, although both
of those can cause problems for me sometimes. In the yeshiva
I'm in now, they're good but they don't always know how to
help a blind person. I'm referring to things like if they
give me a chair to sit in, they shouldn't push me into
it!"
Is it hard for you in new places, getting used to them or
making friends?
"I have no trouble making friends."
[Final part next week, including Tips for Relating to the
Blind]
