[NFBJ] introduction

[mlevy at verse-onality.com]

Greetings, Sarah,

I am sure that all NFBJ'ers join me in welcoming you.  We need your insight and your experience.  Many NFB-ers and others are new to Hebrew Braille, coming to it through sighted individuals, other blind people, or their own perusal of what's out there.

It is true that nothing is perfect.  You remind us of that as a theologian.  One might venture to say that God never demands perfection, but rather is interested in "the process of perfecting."  Ethicists of all religions will tell you that this is something that continues over one's lifetime.

Which brings me to the idea of

The process of perfecting NFBJ

Here are some of my ideas, I hope others will share theirs:

-1. NFBJ should be usable by as many potential and actual NFB members as possible:  those who are computer savvy, those who have no computers, those who use telephony, those who do best with human readers, the very young, the very old, and those who lose their sight in the middle of life.

-2.  WE should be open to the best that others can teach us:  ACB, NFB of course, JBI, CSBCARE, RNIB, and emerging technologies and techniques.  

-3.  We should encourage all to "build a toolbox" that works for them.

-4.  We should realize that "Rome wasn't built in a day," and not make unreasonable demands on anybody.

-5.  At some point, we could come up with a mission statement, indicating who are stakeholders are, the degree to which we are consumer-driven, ideas on accessibility to primary texts, and affiliations and relationships with other organizations.

-6.  I personally favor systems built around universal design and consumer-driven planning, fund-raising and implementation and evaluation of initiatives.

-7.  From the moment that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, humanity has struggled to make the right choices.  Within NFBJ, we should encourage people to choose their life goals and how to go about achieving them.


Rabbi Michael Levy

From: NFBJ <nfbj-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Sarah LaRose via NFBJ
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2024 3:16 PM
To: nfbj at nfbnet.org
Cc: sarah at sarahblakelarose.com
Subject: [NFBJ] introduction

Hello.

I have been a bit hesitant to step into this space for a while but felt that it might be a reasonable time for me to introduce myself due to the interest in Hebrew braille transcribing.

I have been working with JBI since January and prior to starting there worked as a transcriber for several universities to provide texts for students studying Hebrew. I have taught biblical Hebrew at both undergraduate and graduate level at the Anderson University School of Theology near Indianapolis since 2015. In recent years I have also offered private instruction.

I received my own Hebrew instruction from a sighted professor. We struggled through a very poorly transcribed copy of Lambdin's grammar which was done for JBI in the 1970s. Thankfully I also had a good Bible. At the time JAWS was not supportive of Hebrew, and I taught it to display the characters on my braille display. 

Nothing is perfect today but things are much better than they were! I always continue to hope for better! I am also happy to talk with anyone who wants to explore ways to work toward continued improvement in accessibility of texts and tools we use to read them.

As Andre said in a recent post, I am not Jewish. I read a lot of Jewish theology and it is meaningful to me. I read a lot of Hebrew text in my own research process. I appreciate greatly what it means to all of you to have Hebrew in your hands. You have my dedication to give you good text.

 

Sarah Blake LaRose, D.Min.

sarah at sarahblakelarose.com <mailto:sarah at sarahblakelarose.com> 

http://www.sarahblakelarose.com

 

_______________________________________________
NFBJ mailing list
NFBJ at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbj_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for NFBJ:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfbj_nfbnet.org/mlevy%40verse-onality.com