[NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness

Tue Aug 18 17:05:18 UTC 2026

This is something that I wrestle with a lot.  Thus far, I have simply made peace within myself with the concept of להבדיל
I make that separation between the level of participation I have in the secular ordinary world versus what I have in sacred Spaces.  I make the same distinction in the level of and also the manner of advocacy that I use in secular Spaces versus sacred Spaces.

I don’t love that solution.  But then, I still don’t love the idea of not eating chicken and cheese together because I didn’t grow up separating the two.  I chalk it up to. “some mitzvot we perform without having to know why and this helps us except moments when life doesn’t make sense”. It gives my brain that imperfect “why“ that it wants.

And they may come a time, hopefully soon, when we have answers that please us more   כן יהי רצון

-Rachael Everhart Hudson (She/Her)
 267-268-5780
"Do the hard things while they are still easy... The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  -Lao Tzu
________________________________
From: Daveed Mandell <daveedmandell at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, 18 August 2026 12:38:05
To: hudson.rachaeld at gmail.com <hudson.rachaeld at gmail.com>
Cc: nfbj at nfbnet.org <nfbj at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness

Shalom:

I agree with you, Rachel. I prefer a Braille only Torah scroll. I think that as blind people, we need to reach out to all Halachic authorities throughout the Jewish world. I think some things need to be changed.

I'm sure you know that some Orthodox Jews are now riding scooters to synagogue. You might have also heard that there are Orthodox Rabbis who have come out as gay. You probably know that for reasons of Pikuach Nefesh,
Orthodox Jewish diabetics use such equipment as glcometers  on Shabbat. Of course, people who use wheelchairs often have power chairs with motors.

I would like to see Orthodox Halachic authorities allow the use of refreshable Braille devices in Synagogues, because having to work with multiple volumes at one's seat in the synagogue is quite difficult at best and takes up a lot of room. You can put hundreds of volumes of sacred texts on a refreshable Braille device.

Yes, I think that both Orthodox and Conservative authorities should be consulted and should consider some extremely revolutionary changes to make disabled Jews much more welcome than we are now. I am very excited about some of the trends that we are witnessing. I think it's time for disabled Jews to speak out, to organize and to be heard and respected and taken seriously by all Jewish movements.

 Kol tuv,

Daveed
                                        Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 18, 2026, at 7:18 AM, Rachael D Hudson <hudson.rachaeld at gmail.com> wrote:

                                          good morning,
                                          It's very interesting to me as well. I personally like Rabbi Lenny's approach using just the braille itself.. I will definitely be wanting to ask these gentlemen questions of my own…

                                          For instance, we don't touch the Taurus role because we don't want to smudge the letters – especially the Divine name! G-D forbid! So I'm very curious about their plans and look forward to learning more from them. I also greatly value Rabbi Lenny Sarko's input on this discussion and on any meeting we might schedule with the group here.

                                           -Rachael Everhart Hudson (She/Her)
                                           267-268-5780
                                           "Do the hard things while they are still easy... The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu
                                         From: Daveed Mandell <daveedmandell at gmail.com>

 Sent: Tuesday, 18 August 2026 10:13:08

 To: in Judaism NFB <nfbj at nfbnet.org>

 Cc: Rachael D Hudson <hudson.rachaeld at gmail.com>; nfbj at nfbnet.org <nfbj at nfbnet.org>

 Subject: Re: [NFBJ] Scribes interested in learning about blindness

                                          Shalom:

 This is very exciting! Torah reading is something I have longed to do all my life. I was just recently thinking about a Torah with both print and Braille. Wouldn't that be something? By the way, does anyone have information on Braille trope signs for both Torah and Haftarah chanting?

 Kol tuv,

 Daveed

 Sent from my iPhone

 On Aug 17, 2026, at 4:32 PM, Rachael D Hudson via NFBJ <nfbj at nfbnet.org> wrote:

 Shalom y'all,

 A friend recently met a group of scribes at a maker space in Minnesota. He connected them with me in the hopes that I could pass them on to this group to help begin facilitating conversation. It's my understanding that these are orthodox or ultra orthodox scribes who are inspired by Rabbi Lenny's approach to a braille Torres scroll, but want to create something with the traditionally prescribed in and so on. It is their hope that we can also perhaps put together a call in which they can learn from users of Hebrew Braille… Obviously, sometime after the high holidays.

 I agreed to send their message (below)

 A new project is exploring the creation of sacred Jewish texts that combine traditional handwritten Hebrew with Hebrew Braille, beginning with a prototype Megillat Esther and working towards a complete, kosher Torah scroll with Braille. The goal is to make communal ritual texts more accessible to blind Jews while preserving the rigorous requirements of Jewish scribal tradition. The project is feedback and suggestions from the blind community to help shape the work, which is being developed through the Kedusha Project:
                                           www.thekedushaproject.org<http://www.thekedushaproject.org><http://www.thekedushaproject.org<http://www.thekedushaproject.org>> <http://www.thekedushaproject.org>

 -Rachael Everhart Hudson (She/Her)

 267-268-5780

 "Do the hard things while they are still easy... The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao Tzu

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