LEON SAKKAL  

Hanukah celebrates our victory of the few over the many, the triumph of the holy over the profane, the difficult fight against assimilation, and of course, the miracle of the pach shemen, the jug of oil. But what Hanukah ultimately represents is hope, something we need now more than ever.  

We live in an era with increasing hostility to our religious values, but this is not the first time in our history that the world has looked bleak. In fact, when studying the history of the Jewish people during the period of Hanukah, we can find striking similarities between then and now.  

Contrary to what some believe, the objective of the Yevanim (Greeks) was not to exterminate us. Rather, the Yevanim were determined to take away our spirituality; and to degrade us and our Torah.  They wanted to turn us into mundane beings, who focused only on the physical.  

How is that similar to what is happening today?  

While a mighty empire may not be seeking our spiritual downfall as in the story of Hanukah, today’s enemy is far more enigmatic and perhaps is even more powerful than the mighty Greeks. What we must fight now is our own obsession with modern day culture, with its emphasis on materialism, and that which is transient.  

Take a look at popular culture. We live in a world that is dictated to by social media, where many are addicted to their smart phones and electronic devices.  We are bombarded on all sides with messages that call on us to integrate into the liberal popular culture. We have come to embrace the ideas, ideals, and values of today’s fast-paced Western lifestyle.  However, this all serves to distance us from our Creator, His Torah, and a life of spirituality. Modern Western culture should be seen as the new Yevanim. Proponents of Western culture are engaged in a ruthless war to convert us to their way of thinking.  

Are we even conscious of this ongoing war that our nation faces every day? Do we know that we are in a war zone that claims the spiritual lives of thousands of Jews across the globe daily? Perhaps it is time for a reality check:  

Rising intermarriage rates indicate that Jewish values and beliefs are in danger.  So, we must take a look at our own lives.  We must examine honestly how we are doing when it comes to preserving Jewish values and beliefs.  We need to ask ourselves if we need to increase our commitment to prayer and to Torah study.  

We can feel a deep sense of despair and hopelessness when we realize the lost battles within our nation. Jews in our days assimilate in many ways, some subtle, and some dramatic, such as the ultimate act of assimilation, intermarriage. We must confront our own spiritual battles, as well. Our emunah is weaker than it was in the time of Hanukah, our will has been diminished, our defenses depleted, and apathy is rampant. The winter’s gray skies and gloomy weather certainly do not help motivate us to pick ourselves up and “recharge.”  

Then along comes Hanukah. We are granted the opportunity to remember and to reflect. We remember how Hashem miraculously saved us from the Yevanim, and we reflect on our own lives, and how Hashem continues to help us today.  We kindle the holiday lights to lift us out of our despair, to reignite our hope, and to remind us just Who is running the show.  

 Like the relief we feel upon seeing the dawn after a long, dark, and lonely night, Hanukah shines its light on the darkness of our souls and on the plight of our people.  

 “We are the future; come join us,” Greek civilization beckoned – and many Jews did. But a small band of Jews led by the Maccabeem rose up in protest. 

Their battle seemed hopeless. How could a ragtag Jewish army possibly prevail against the mighty Greeks? How could an “old-fashioned” religion compete against modernity and humanism? And yet, with Hashem holding our hands, we persevered and won.  

 We need to be as valiant in battle as we once were. Hanukah is a time to remember that we are not alone in our fight. Current events show that our people and our homeland are in danger.  Just look at the current rampant anti-Semitism.  Yet we remember that Gd is there throughout the darkness. We know that just as He looked after us at the time of Hanukah so long ago, He will continue to look after us now.  

One Thursday afternoon, not long ago, the Mitzvah Man received a call from an organization that helps battered women. 

The caller told the Mitzvah Man, “We have a single frum woman with two children who were just evicted from their home. All their belongings were locked up in the apartment. Our organization is putting the mom and her two kids into a shelter, but they have nothing. They need cots, clothing, pajamas, underwear, blankets, pillows, health and cosmetic products, and other miscellaneous items. Our organization cannot supply these. Might the Mitzvah Man Organization be able to help?” 

The Mitzvah Man answered, “I see the urgency. Let me try to figure out how we can help.” 

At 6:30pm the Mitzvah Man went to pray Minha at Park Avenue Synagogue in Long Branch.  His mind had been racing for over two hours, thinking about how he was possibly going to be able to help. As is his custom, he turned to Hashem, the ultimate Helper. The Mitzvah Man has seen time and again, in the most difficult situations, that salvation comes with tremendous Divine Providence. 

Just in time for Minha, a man named Raymond walked into the Park Avenue Synagogue.  He owns 15 discount stores that sell all the products that were needed.  

Right after prayers concluded, the Mitzvah Man approached Raymond. He began, “Raymond, we have a single mom with two kids going into a shelter. They need everything: cots, blankets, pillows, clothing, health, and cosmetic products, and more. Can you help?” 

Raymond replied, “Send me the full list needed. I’ll have EVERYTHING delivered to the shelter tomorrow.” 

The Mitzvah Man was incredulous. He stated, “What are the chances I’m going to run into Raymond or anyone that has all these goods? Who’s willing to donate them all? Who’s willing to send it the very next day? No charge?! 

“We should consider: what are the chances of Hashem providing all the good we have in our lives? What we have is only because HASHEM is shipping us goods, health, money, and many blessings all day long.” 

“Thank you, HASHEM!

Avi Abelow

Last May, Community featured a report about the demand being made by left-wing groups to reconstruct the platform of the Kotel – the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, the holiest site in Judaism. These groups insist on the creation of a large adjoining space that would be placed under the control of the Reform leadership and used for large Reform prayer services, with men and women together, in violation of centuries’ old halachic tradition. For Torah Jews, this would constitute a grave violation of the sanctity of the Kotel.

Mati Dan and Oren Honig of the Libah Yehudit organization have been combatting this initiative on several different fronts, including in the courts, seeking to protect against not only this infraction on the sanctity of the Kotel, but also the leftist movements’ other initiatives that threaten to undermine the Jewish character of the State of Israel. And they are turning to Torah Jews in the Diaspora for help.

An Effort to Change the Status Quo

The Reform movement, which has little to do with traditional Judaism, now embodies the most “woke” ideals, platforms that are at war with many of the most sacred hallmarks of Judaism, including the nuclear family, the sanctity of marriage, fetal rights and even Orthodox Jewish practice. 

The president of the Union of Reform Judaism, Rick Jacobs, has made it very clear that the movement’s agenda extends well beyond the Kotel.  

“If the Reform Kotel plan is implemented,” he said, “this will open the door for more religious pluralism in Israel.” His movement seeks not merely an area by the Kotel, but official recognition in Israel as an alternative form of Judaism – absent authentic Torah observance. The movement has publicly declared its desire to have its conversions, marriage, and kashrut – all of which are totally disjoined from traditional Jewish halacha – recognized as law in Israel. It also hopes to foster widespread public Shabbat desecration by allowing buses to operate to and from the Kotel on Shabbat. 

The rickety Bennett-Lapid coalition government, which ruled the country from the spring of 2021 until the spring of 2022, included anti-Orthodox leftists eager to tamper with the status quo of religious affairs in Israel. Then Prime Minister Bennett signed coalition agreements with Reform Knesset members advocating to expedite the Reform agenda, pushing to change the kashrut and conversion laws, to permit hametz in the hospitals on Pesach, to create the Reform platform at the Kotel, and establish a budgeted government office to promote the leftist agenda in Israeli society.  

Although the Bennet-Lapid government has now fallen and is being replaced by a right-wing government with religious political parties, Mati and Oren warn that the threat to the soul of the Jewish State remains. Leftist movements, they say, have successfully infiltrated the Israeli government offices through strategic planning and a great deal of finding for their cause. The Libah Yehudit organization is reaching out to Torah-committed Jews throughout the world, imploring them to recognize the threat and join together to protect the sanctity of the Land of Israel. 

Infiltrating the Public Education System 

Already in the 1990s, the Reform movement understood that one of the most influential ways to change Israel is by introducing and disseminating its liberal, anti-Torah value system via the country’s education system. They therefore developed a strategy to infiltrate Israel’s Ministry of Education by slowly staffing senior Education Ministry positions with their own trained professionals, and taking charge of the textbooks and curriculums in the Israel public school system, that educates a majority of Jewish Israeli children. 

Many different foundations that promote the leftist agenda in the Jewish world donated money towards programs to infiltrate Israel’s education system. The Libah Yehudit organization has discovered that the Mandel Foundation – established by the Mandel family, which also happens to be a major donor to the Reform Movement – began a training program back in 1990 aimed at staffing 1,500 of the most influential positions in Israel’s education system, in order to change Israeli society. Today, 32 years later, they have succeeded in filling 500 of those influential positions with professionals that they trained with their pedagogical methods and materials. Each year, 20 experienced Israeli education professionals were carefully selected to join their exclusive educational training program to then be placed back into the education system, filling influential positions. One example is Itzik Danziger, Vice President of the stridently left-wing New Israel Fund, who today runs Matach, one of the leading educational resource institutions run by Israel’s Ministry of Education. 

A second tactic, as mentioned, is exerting control over textbooks and other materials used to teach about Judaism in Israeli secular public schools.  Previously, the materials used for teaching Jewish studies were based on authentic Torah Judaism. Today, however, according to Libah Yehudit’s research, 83 percent of the schoolbooks used in the Israeli education system were written by leftist organizations. The leftist organization with the most schoolbooks in the classrooms is the Conservative Movement’s Tali Foundation, which has produced all the books used in the first and second grades. Very few books written from the perspective of traditional Torah Judaism are used today in Israeli schools. Instead, schoolchildren are being taught anti-Torah, leftist values, such as the belief that it is acceptable for families to have two fathers or two mothers, or one non-Jewish parent. Children are also told that they can choose their gender. These troubling trends are unfolding with the active participation of government institutions that liberal movements have infiltrated through programming, funding, and staffing. 

Even more alarmingly, an increasing amount of school time is dedicated to teaching Jewish Israeli school children about Islam and Christianity, at the expense of time spent teaching them about their own religion, traditions and holidays. 

A third means by which this agenda is being implemented is informal education programs. The Libah Yehudit organization’s research uncovered many external organizations that are used to provide informal educational programs to Israeli schools. A vast majority of these organizations are associated with leftwing movements, while very few are associated with Orthodox Judaism. The Tali Foundation’s website proudly takes credit for developing the entire Jewish culture curriculum with Israel’s Ministry of Education. They are making a concerted effort to replace the instruction of authentic Torah tradition with the dissemination of anti-Torah, leftist values. 

The Libah Yehudit organization has found that many politicians in the right-wing and religious parties are unaware of these unsettling trends. As such, Libah Yehudit warns against complacency in the wake of the new right-wing, religious government that is currently being formed. To the country, with the advent of a ruling coalition with religious parties, the leftist movements are more driven than ever to fight to push their agenda forward, as they did during previous governments that included right-wing and religious parties. 

Facts on the Ground 

The liberal movements operate by slowly and stealthily creating facts on the ground, which then become very difficult to change. 

For example, government policy did not allow replacing on official government forms the fields for father and mother by “parent 1” and “parent 2.” Leftist movements managed to have this policy overturned by wielding influence in the IDF to have the official army forms changed. Once these forms were changed, government ministries followed suit, and started making these changes, as well. After all, a policy valid enough for the army should be valid for government ministries. 

The good news is that a majority of Israeli parents – even secular Israeli parents – oppose this anti-Torah agenda in the Israeli public schools. Just several months ago, a Knesset committee hearing was held, protesting the fact that Islam and Christianity were given more time and lessons in school than traditional Judaism, and that the Judaism being taught is leftist values camouflaged as Judaism. One of the main speakers chosen to speak at this special hearing was a non-religious Israeli Jewish mother.  

This silent majority is being outmaneuvered by the leftist movements, which are well-funded, have developed a careful strategy, and enjoy the sympathy and support of the academic community, the media and the courts. The Torah community is largely in the dark about these activities, which have therefore met with little pushback. Until now. 

The Lone Voices to Protect Us 

A number of passionate, determined activists in Israel who have long recognized this threat to the Jewish character of the Jewish State have now mobilized to confront it. 

The Libah Yehudit organization was founded in 2013 with the stated mission to strengthen the Jewish identity of the State of Israel – from the sanctity of Shabbat, to the sanctity of the Jewish family, to the sanctity of the Kotel. Recognizing the threats posed by those seeking to undermine the Jewish character of the State, Libah Yehudit set out to combat those dangers and ensure that the world’s only Jewish State remains connected to Jewish tradition and Jewish values.  

“The Reform want to make our Jewish country into ‘a country for all citizens’ without any Jewish identity,” says Oren Honig, director of Libah Yehudit. “If we do not fight back and involve the public, we will lose our Jewish country. For the Reform, the Kotel is the Archimedean point, the springboard to change the whole country. If their power at the Kotel is legitimized, they will demand authority over conversions, marriage, kashrut, and education.” 

Reform MK Gilad Kariv and the Reform movement understand that once they gain a foothold at the Kotel, they will gain control throughout Israel. Honig explains that the Reform are trying to attract the Mesorti movement (which parallels the Conservative movement here in the U.S.) and secular Israelis who do not understand the dangers of the Reform agenda. Large amounts of funding have enabled the Reform to advance their agenda in Israel’s government, the Israeli media, and in the Supreme Court.  

Libah Yehudit works tirelessly to inform the Israeli public and to obstruct this effort via various methods, such as extensive lobbying in the Knesset, and careful reviewing of proposed legislation. The organization’s Rosh Hodesh Kotel initiative recruits and provides buses for over a thousand yeshiva and seminary students, and men and women from all over Israel, to come to pray at the 7am shaharit service at the Kotel every month on Rosh Hodesh, filling the Kotel plaza. This prevents the monthly publicity stunt by the fringe “Women of the Wall” group from achieving their desired photo-op while desecrating the sanctity of the Kotel. 

Oren Honig consulted on the matter with leading Torah luminaries such as Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, and Rav Gershon Edelstein, shelit”a. These sages urged Oren to mobilize large numbers and fill the Kotel plaza in order to preserve the kedushah (sanctity) of the site. Through the organization’s hard work, buses brought thousands of men, women, yeshiva boys and seminary girls from throughout Israel who prayed peacefully at the Kotel. Their presence allowed no room for the “Women of the Wall” and heads of the Reform movement to execute their plans at the Kotel Plaza. 

“They Need to be More Involved” 

As founder and Chairman of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim in the Muslim Quarter, Mati Dan has been working since 1977 to build up the Jewish presence in the Old City. He also recognized the threats of the Reform movement, especially its attempts to undermine the sanctity of the Kotel. Mati has spent the last number of years gathering a cadre of top-notch lawyers to advocate on behalf of maintaining the status quo at the sacred site. Facing off against leftist judges is a daunting challenge, requiring huge amounts of time, energy and legal fees. 

“The Reform do not come to pray; only to obtain legitimacy,” Mati explains. “Behind the Kotel campaign is their desire to start a revolution against everything that is holy in Eretz Yisrael – marriage, conversions, kashrut, and education. To fight against this, we need to mobilize Jews both in Israel and in the Diaspora who care and understand the Reform movement’s intentions and are willing to stop it. This involves PR initiatives to educate the public about who the Reform are and what their goals are. In Israel, there is very little knowledge of who the Reform are. American Jews understand. They need to be more involved and have a louder voice.”  

Mati is fighting the battle in the courts. When the “Women of the Wall” go to the courts to sue for the right to turn the Kotel into a Reform temple, Mati retains top lawyers to fight on behalf of the sanctity of the Kotel. 

“The Israeli courts are mostly liberal and have an agenda,” Mati explains. “If you do not appear in court, you lose. If you sit quietly, the judges will believe that the Reform demands do not bother people. If it really mattered to them, they would rise up and send 100 lawyers to oppose the Reform movement’s demands.” 

Mati warns that without waging a fierce battle in the courts, the Reform movement will succeed in defiling the kedushah of the Kotel and of Eretz Yisrael generally. 

A Call for Help 

Chayim Rabinovitz, director of SaveOurKotel.Org, who is helping to organize this campaign, is calling upon Orthodox Jewry throughout the world to support the efforts of Mati Dan and the Libah Yehudit Organization to fight against the woke leftists. 

“The only way to stop the Reform agenda is with true unity, with the Jews of Eretz Yisrael joining with Jews around the world,” Chayim says. He explains that if Torah Jewry comes together to help fund the efforts of Libah Yehudit, Mati Dan’s litigation expenses, and Libah Yehudit’s PR efforts, the leftists can be denied a critical foothold in Israel’s bureaucracy. 

“With the ahdut [unity] of all Jews for the kedushah of the Torah, the kedushah of the Kotel, the kedushah of Eretz Yisrael and the kedushah of the Jewish Nation, we can fight back and, b’Ezrat HaShem, be victorious.” 

SaveOurKotel.Org, Libah Yehudit, and Mati Dan’s initiatives are endorsed by the leading Torah sages of our generation. Both Chief Rabbis – Hacham Yitzchak Yosef, shelit”a, and Rabbi David Lau, shelit”a – have written letters endorsing the cause and urging all to contribute. 

The first of many scheduled meetings was held on November 20th  at Shaarei Zion With Rabbi Yaakov Ben Haim at the forefront, together with Rabbi Uziel Admoni. 

Rabbi Admoni stated, “If we do not take immediate action now, recognize the dangers of the reform, and take united actions by helping Libah Yehudit fight the evil anti-Torah reform agenda, we will cry later. The dangers affect the children in the U.S. as well, especially in the Yeshivot and via social media. We must join and help Libah Yehudit in the fight for Torah values.”

Funds are needed urgently for this campaign, and the activists are turning to us for our assistance and support. For more information and to donate, please visit saveourkotel.org.

Avi Abelow is a writer for PulseofIsreal.com and IsraelUnwired.com 

Frances Haddad 

When December comes around, moms throughout the world start thinking about Hanukah. In preparation for the Festival of Lights they begin polishing their menorahs, digging up the dreidels, and buying ingredients for potato latkes. And when the long-awaited eight-day holiday finally begins, the Hanukah lights fill Jewish homes everywhere with that certain special glow that has the power to break through even the coldest and darkest nights of winter. Year after year, the Hanukah candles bring warmth and joy to our homes.  

Beautiful Hanukah lights also require vigilance, and fire safety precautions must be strictly observed. Being mindful of how to minimize risk and remain safe allows us to feel secure while the oil and candles burn and this helps us to maximize the special joy of Hanukah.   

LIGHT ON A SAFE SURFACE 

Consider the surface you will be lighting your menorah on. Make sure it is nonflammable. Tables or stands made of metal, glass, or marble are fine. Stay away from wood, as it is a serious fire hazard. 

Make sure the table that you want to mount your menorah on is sturdy, and is not flimsy or shaky. And to be extra safe, place an aluminum cookie sheet beneath the menorah to ensure that if a candle or spark falls, it will go out right away. 

KNOW YOUR SURROUNDINGS 

Once the surface has been chosen, check the area where you plan to light to ensure safety. Make sure that nothing nearby could, Gd forbid, catch on fire, such as drapes, books, papers, napkins, or towels. If you see anything  that may pose a fire risk, move it out of the way! Also, make sure that the menorah is located in a place where it will not be knocked over by people passing by, by a gust of wind from a nearby window, or from something from a high shelf or surface falling on top of it. 

KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN 

Children love to run, jump, skip, hop, and climb on things. But those things should never be done near a lit menorah. So, before the candles are actually lit, teach your children about fire safety. Tell them that twisting, turning, and jumping near the menorah can be dangerous. Show them how to stand calmly near the menorah, and have them take turns practicing. Then, place your menorah on a surface that is too high for young children to reach. If that is not possible, continue reminding your children not to enter the room where the menorah is lit, or block the doorway with chairs or another object that will serve as a reminder. And after lighting the menorah, do not leave any lighters or matches lying around. Stow them away immediately.  

STAY WITH IT 

You may be itching to get out to a Hanukah party or other event, but leaving flames unattended is dangerous. Have someone within view of the menorah, or light later on in the evening when you know you will have time to be attentive yourself. 

LATKES AND SUFGANIYOT, PIPING HOT 

One of the trademarks of Hanukah is delicacies that are fried in oil, commemorating the miracle of the oil that lasted for eight days and nights. The children may ask to fry foods with you, but hot pots and boiling oil are not something to play around with. The kids can eat the foods when you are done frying, but while you are working, insist that they stand back. If they really want to make Hanukah desserts, let them do a safe baking project, like whipping up some Hanukah cupcakes.   

When you are frying, make sure your sleeves are rolled up and your hair is pulled back. If possible, wear oven mitts to protect your hands from jumping droplets of scalding oil. And never, ever, ever cover a pot of boiling oil! Covering a pot of oil creates a pressure-cooker effect, which can cause an explosion, spewing hot oil, which can potentially start a fire. 

Follow these simple precautions, and you and your family can enjoy a happy, festive, and SAFE holiday!

Dr. Rachel Levy

Just imagine opening your mouth to speak, but finding your lips don’t close when they need to. Your tongue doesn’t move where you want it to go. And strangers can’t understand you.

Unfortunately, this scenario is an everyday occurrence for people with motor speech impairments, which are often the result of cerebral palsy, stroke, Down’s Syndrome, Parkinson’s Disease, and ALS. Speakers try to communicate with others but fail to convey their message. Even smart home devices can’t understand them. A simple command like “play my favorite song” goes unanswered. This is a reality that many people with speech disabilities contend with daily, but Voiceitt is working to change that reality. 

A Breakthrough Propelled by Love

Voiceitt is a voice technology startup and social enterprise based in Israel. Fifteen years ago, co-founder Danny Weissberg’s safta (grandmother) had a stroke. He clearly remembers the pain and sadness he felt because he could no longer communicate with her. Safta would open her mouth to speak, but the family could not understand her. The only person who knew exactly what Safta was saying was the nurse. That was Danny’s “eureka” moment: If the nurse could understand Safta and many others like her, then AI (artificial intelligence) could be trained to do the same. That’s when the idea for Voiceitt was born and developed in Ramat Gan, Israel.

Voiceitt uses artificial intelligence as a means of understanding non-standard speech patterns and converting them into easily understood speech and text. Currently, Voiceitt has a free iOS app with two main functions, interpersonal communication and smart home control with Alexa integration. The unique integration with Alexa allows users to communicate directly with Alexa through the Voiceitt app, making the interactions seamless and efficient. The app requires the user to train each phrase and use them to communicate with others and their smart home technology. 

A benefit of the app for users who find speaking difficult is that the user can train short words or phrases to trigger the app to output longer sentences. For example, if the user wants to order a hamburger made a certain way, all he needs to do is train the word “hamburger” and program the app to “say” the extended order out loud. 

Voiceitt Users Speak Up

Alex Lytwin, a Voiceitt user, describes the experience of living with a disability and how Voiceitt helps him: “Having Cerebral Palsy and a speech impairment can cause many struggles on a daily basis. However, Voiceitt allows me to speak with ease and lets the world see my entire life’s potential.” For some, the current app does not quite meet their needs.

Barbara, who was diagnosed with ALS, a disease causing progressive deterioration of the muscles, writes, “I’m seeking deeper communication with my partner and friends.” Barbara will be among the first users to test the next generation of Voiceitt innovation.

A New Win-Win for Ensemble Community Members 

Voiceitt has been collecting non-standard speech samples in a proprietary database called Ensemble. The database allows the automatic speech recognition technology to learn the different ways people can pronounce words and learn to recognize non-standard speech. As the database increases and expands with more audio data, Voiceitt’s technology advances. Voiceitt invites more people with non-standard speech (clinically called “dysarthria”) to join Ensemble. Those who join will be a part of the Ensemble community who have done their part in enhancing speech recognition for all while removing barriers to communication. Ensemble members, by recording their voices, will have the chance to be among the first to experience the newest technology by joining a closed cohort of beta users.

Currently, Voiceitt is beta testing the next generation of speech recognition technology, offering select beta testers and those who have completed 1,000 recordings in Ensemble a unique spontaneous speech recognition web-based tool that will work on any device that can open a web browser. The technology will allow speakers to communicate freely on video calls with live transcriptions, transcribing emails, or ordering a pizza!

Partnering for Success

Voiceitt was born out of a seemingly impossible dream to create a communication solution for millions worldwide with non-standard speech who are not being served by existing voice products. The goal was to develop technology to support those individuals’ unique speech patterns. Voiceitt’s partners now include Yoocan, an Israeli-based empowerment and community resource for people with disabilities and their families, and AMIT Technion, which invests in exceptional biomedical innovations conceived by Technion students, faculty, and alumni (co-founders Danny Weissberg and Stas Tiomkin are both alumni).

 Voiceitt’s investors include Amazon, Microsoft, and AARP. The company is also working with state governments, such as the Department of Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities in Tennessee, to bring Voiceitt’s groundbreaking technology to people with speech and motor impairments, to enable them to contribute to society and to enter the workforce. 

Members of the public can now be a part of this effort to bring accessible speech recognition technology to all, regardless of speech ability. Voiceitt invites people with dysarthric speech to join Ensemble and contribute to the next generation of continuous speech recognition. Additionally, Voiceitt seeks investors to join their efforts in building    sophisticated technologies that remove barriers to communication for all. To further the initiative, Voiceitt also works with college interns seeking to be a part of the voice equity revolution and to join an impactful Israel-based startup.  

For those who have experienced a breakdown in communication with a loved one or who have experienced the frustration of not being understood, Voiceitt is an excellent resource to help them to be listened to and understood. For more information, please visit voiceitt.com.

Dr. Rachel Levy is a practicing speech-language pathologist and customer success manager at Voiceitt. She is a proud Magen David Yeshiva alumnus, and  is wife to Cantor Shmuel Levy of the Edmond J. Safra Synagogue in Manhattan. Please connect with her at Rachel.Levy@voiceitt.com.