Jerusalem's Jewish Institute for the Blind celebrates its centennial year.
By Janet Mendelsohn Moshe
A century ago, a blind boy ran into an alley in the Old City of Jerusalem, into the path of a camel. While the boy suffered serious injuries, the accident did have one very positive outcome - the establishment of the Jewish Institute for the Blind. Founded by Nachum Nathanson, a merchant who witnessed the incident, and Rabbi Avraham Moshe Lunz, a blind scholar, the school was opened on the Street of the Prophets in Jerusalem in early 1902. Its goals: to educate blind youth and raise their self-esteem, so that "they will not
depend upon others for help but will themselves become helpful members of society."
Since 1937 the Institute has been located in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem. The original building has been refurbished over the years, and now boasts a modern Sports Center with a large indoor pool. The Institute is active in developing national sporting leagues for the blind and partially sighted.
In its early days, the Institute taught the basics - reading, writing and arithmetic - along with the development of skills for "independent daily living". In addition, the individual talents of the students were encouraged, with music providing a natural outlet for many. One of the Institute's earliest students was Esther Hooli, who came to Jerusalem in 1938 at the age of six from her home in Alexandria, Egypt, after being blinded by a bout of diphtheria.
As a young child far from her family and without knowledge of the Hebrew language, Hooli found surprising comfort in music. "At the Institute my musical talents were discovered and developed," she says. "I was given private lessons and became the first blind student to graduate from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem." After college, Hooli went back to the Institute to teach music, and although now retired, she still takes an active role in musical education there.
More recently, new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia have also found their home in the Institute, and many of these children are succeeding beyond all expectations. When his family made aliyah from Ethiopia in 1991, Kibret Asayo's knowledge of the Bible consisted of stories that were passed down through the generations. At the Institute's boarding school he flourished, and his quiet determination eventually helped him bring home the gold medal from the National Bible Quiz in 1995.
The Institute is now looking to expand its activities beyond the physical walls of the building in the capital. "Not all blind youth need the tailor-made programs of the Institute," explains Director Chaim Reshelbach, "so we have developed projects that reach all the blind and partially sighted in Israel." One of the new outreach projects is a service center called Be-yachad (together), which coordinates courses and seminars to facilitate integration into mainstream schools, sports events and the job market. While the Institute may have developed almost beyond recognition, offering state-of-the-art computer equipment, sports and music facilities, Reshelbach points out that the ideology today remains true to the original founders: "The Institute is trying to promote independence in our students and help them realize their potential in society."