Walking through the utter darkness, hands nervously clutched on each others shoulders, the entire group led by a blind man. An unusual scenario. By the end of the evening, our group would be led by the blind (and deaf) in ways that were more than just physical.
Avi, our Ethiopian waiter is a 29 year old man, a husband and a father. He works two jobs to support his family – in addition to being a waiter in the evenings at Na La-gaat, he works in a childrens’ museum in the mornings. He runs marathons tethered by the wrist to a friend. He has a stroller for his baby that enables him to pull the baby in back of him instead of pushing her into the unknown. Avi has been blind for 9 years, as a result of glaucoma. He navigates the restaurant surefootedly, as we stumble and grope for solid surfaces. With a subtle touch on the shoulder or a soft spoken instruction he helps us to navigate the world of darkness that he has learned to inhabit.
The play “Not by Bread Alone” began with its actors kneading and kneading bread, incessantly, silently, on the stage. All of the actors are blind, and deaf. As the play progressed, the actors separated a part for the needy and made a bracha, shaped the dough, let it rise, and baked it in actual ovens on the stage. As this process took place, the unique and gifted actors shared with the audience their hopes, their dreams, their pathos and humor, their staggering reality of living in the dark and silence, their profound need for human interaction. Young Israeli men and women served as interpreters, signing to the audience, acting as the voice of the actors who do not vocalize, and beating the drums that signalled the end of scenes. We watched them guide the actors so gently on and off the stage. The joy that the actors felt, and their need to interact and communicate was something I will never forget. I left the theater changed.
Na La-gaat – please touch. I was profoundly touched by this experience.