Rebbitzin Libbi Kakon: The Extraordinary Life of a Deaf Rebbetzin
June 6, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Extraordinary Life of a Deaf Rebbetzin
Rebbitzin Libbi Kakon grew up in Williamsburg and later Boro Park, the daughter of Holocaust survivors who built a deeply religious home. She was always aware she was different, but it wasn't until she was ten or eleven that she could put words to it: she was losing her hearing. What makes her story unusual is not just that she and her husband are both deaf and founded a yeshiva for hearing-impaired students in Toronto. It is how she navigated a world that often patronized her, how she learned to advocate for herself and her children, and what she discovered about honesty, grief, and stepping back.
The Hidden Stigma and the Choice Not to Hide
When Kakon's great-aunt first suspected her hearing loss, her mother was told to "put her away." This was not an unusual response in the 1970s. Families hid children with disabilities out of shame, treating them as a punishment from above. Kakon's mother refused. "My daughter, not my child," she said, and she did whatever it took to support her.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:13) **Discovering Hearing Loss in Childhood** - Rebbitzin Kakon describes when she first realized she had hearing loss and how it shaped her early awareness.
- 2 (07:30) **Parents' Response and Breaking Stigma** - Her parents rejected the era's taboo, refusing to hide her away despite being told to "put her away."
- 3 (09:19) **Not Part of the "Deaf Community"** - Kakon explains a crucial distinction: she was never part of a formal deaf community, which has its own culture and language.
- 4 (12:29) **Aging with Hearing Loss: Unique Challenges** - Getting older with lifelong hearing loss creates subtle but profound social difficulties.
- 5 (17:36) **The Birth of a Daughter with Down Syndrome** - Her sixth child was born with severe Down syndrome and autism, triggering a spiritual crisis.
- 6 (20:05) **Struggling with Faith and Honesty** - She openly admits she had a hard time with darkness and couldn't connect to God during her daughter's early years.
- 7 (27:41) **The Yeshiva: A Unique Institution for Deaf Boys** - The Yeshiva in Toronto is the only one of its kind in the world, accepting boys with any level of hearing loss.
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Show Notes
When I first heard about Rebbetzin Libbi Kakon, I thought the story would be about a remarkable couple who, despite both being deaf, built a yeshiva for deaf and hearing-impaired students. Then I heard the rest of the story. What I discovered was a woman who refused to let life's challenges define her. Together with her husband, Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Kakon, she helped build a unique yeshiva serving deaf students, raised a family, navigated extraordinary challenges, and continued finding ways to help others.
To learn more about Yeshivat Nefesh Dovid or support their work:
→ https://www.nefeshdovid.com/
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✬ IN MEMORY OF ✬
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