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Graduation from the Year 2 Melton classes at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta included 3 generations congratulating our graduates – from spouses, to grown children and grandchildren. It was an exciting evening of applauding our students from their 2 year commitment to Jewish Learning through the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School’s outstanding program.
Each of 4 classes had representatives offering their reflections on what Melton has meant to them. An interesting aside was watching the children of graduates “kvell” as their mothers stood at the podium and received audience applause for their significant accomplishments at “Mom’s school.”
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| Students from graduation class say a few words about what Melton has meant to them. |
Three generations celebrate the graduation of Elaine Schlissel (with name tag). |
After two years of studying together, the ninth graduating class of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in Austin gathered together with their families at the Jewish Community Association of Austin for their graduation ceremony.
This year’s graduates are Jane Hardin, Ann Kocher, Marcia Mednick, Elaine Orent, Davie Lou Solka, Pamela Villars, Carole Wood, Malartha Bosier, Bob Brody, Steven Cyzner, Ellen Marcus, Diane Radin, Jo Reichler, Mark Salmanson, Marshall and Sandy Sack.
 Aliza Orent, Director of the FMAMS, expressed how wonderful this milestone was for the Austin Melton school, and for the community and that they were about to take their place among the thousands of graduates worldwide who have made the commitment to become a Jewish learner.
Judy Mars Kupchan, FMAMS Director North American Division sent regards and commented that “Each graduate shares in this milestone, and on the other hand, yours is a singular achievement for you, for your family, and for those in your particular community. You may have become something of an expert or a resource to others, and you deserve kudos for making the kind of significant commitment to Jewish learning reflected in your certificate of completion from the Hebrew University.”
 Dana Baruch, Melton Educator since the onset of the FMAMS in Austin gave a D’var (word of Torah) to the graduates and created a beautiful text created with words and imagery around the idea of Mayim Chayim — Living Waters of our Living Torah – provided by each of the class members. Rabbi Rick Brody provided a blessing and expressed his belief in ongoing adult Jewish education.
Each year the graduating class is asked to write an essay to describe their experience of being in the FMAMS. Below is Carole Woods' essay.
Everyone's Melton journey is different from every other, not only because of inevitable human differences, but because each of us begins this journey at a different point in our lives. I began in my fifth decade of life, but brand-new to my chosen faith.
I did not lack academic background; I had loved and sought out and studied Jewish belief and philosophy and history and literature since I was a child growing up in the desert outback of West Texas, but as I worked my way through the year-long conversion process, what I still craved was a community of learning. Part of my love for Judaism is its passionate focus on learning, on always questioning and debating and arguing every possible turn in the road, on never allowing one's mind or heart or behavior to lapse into robotic conformity or passive meaninglessness. I wanted to find the environment where Judaism itself---how it came to be, how it has survived over centuries of desperate struggle, what it means to connect with that faith and attempt a Jewish life today---would be the shared vision of everyone in the room, whatever their particular point of view. I found that in Melton.
The class citizenship is universal: Jews by birth, Jews by choice, intensely observant, oppositional, lapsed, curious, and non-Jews eager to learn and understand. As we sat side by side around the table and read out loud the textual views on Jewish ritual, holidays, historical events, life, and death, the responses ranged all the way from stone silence to near shouting matches. Every session differed from the last in some way; some caught fire at the onset and covered barely a third of the material because people wrangled so fiercely over the questions that challenged personal theories or bumped up against long-held notions of right, wrong, and Emily Post. Some went round in a polite circle and ended back at the beginning with all our bags still packed. None of them left us unchanged. There is something in this kind of disciplined free-for-all that surpasses text alone. Covering the material together always unearthed something at least one person in the room had never considered before. We frequently left class tired, puzzled, frustrated or, but never untouched. That is the essence of Judaism to me: nothing living is immaterial or irrelevant. We cannot stand idly by any question or refuse to engage with any vital issue. The core of living a Jewish life is to live it, one day, one detail at a time.
What I came to Melton to find might differ from what many of my classmates sought. I was not looking for information or a deeper grasp of textual material. I was seeking a beit midrash---a house of study. For me, this has been the gateway to the Jewish life I seek to live. The gates are closing on this particular portion of the house, but I feel solidly inside its environs now, prepared to move ahead to the next level. I could cite the names of many people who have influenced me the past two years, teachers who have taught me, new friends I have made, new insights I have collected; I could describe any number of funny or sad or occasionally breath-taking moments that I lived in Melton. But what I take with me that will last longer than any single instant is the image of the house of study that opened into the Jewish world for me. This is my Melton legacy and I cherish it deeply.
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| Denver's 2010 Graduating Class |
Thirty-four proud Melton graduates completed their studies with a festive commencement celebration at Congregation Rodef Shalom in Denver, CO, on Thursday, June 3, 2010. The group included 7 students who are Jewish communal professionals and teachers from three different agencies in Denver: CAJE (the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education), the Robert E. Loup JCC, and the Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado. Members of the Jewish Communal Professionals Cohort were co-sponsored by CAJE and their employers and given release time to attend classes for the full two years of their Melton program.
Jan Jacobson delivered this graduation speech at the Denver graduation on June 3, 2010:
Joshua Hammerman, winner of the Rockower Award, the highest award in Jewish journalism, posted a Jewish guide to shoveling snow on his blog last February. It went something like this:
First, the opinion of former Prime Minister Ehud Barak - "You must shovel most of the driveway, but the exact dimensions of shoveling should be determined in discussions with your neighbors.”
Second, former Israeli Minister of the Environment Yossi Sarid - "You should not shovel any part of the driveway, since you really do not have any valid historical or legal claim to the driveway, and it will soon be given back to its rightful owners.”
Third, from the Artscroll (Ashkenazi version - Section: Laws Regarding Snow) - "First approach the snow with the proper kavanah, meditating on the concept of snow removal. Recite the ‘...Who commanded us concerning the shoveling of snow’ benediction, then take three steps back, bend the knees slightly with feet together, then lift the shovel and dig.”
And last, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe - "Shoveling snow is a distraction from our efforts to bring Moshiach, may He come soon, when in any case there will be no snow to shovel. So leave it and let it melt. If the Messiah does not come by Shavuot, the snow will have miraculously disappeared anyway."
Hi, my name is Jan Jacobson and I welcome you all here tonight. What you’ve just heard illustrates a number of perspectives derived from a variety of sources on the same subject. As you can imagine, when various resources and perspectives are introduced to a group by an inspiring educator it incites thought-provoking, stimulating discussion. This is what Melton is all about. In the last 2 years, I’ve been lucky enough to attend Melton regularly on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, and to have studied with four incredible instructors: Rabbi Eliot Baskin, Ellyn Hutt, Robin Hanssen, and Dr. Julie Lieber. What enthusiastic and knowledgeable educators! Each was consistently prepared and organized, engaging, and skilled at prompting us to look at issues and history in a variety of ways. Each is a master of his or her subject matter and adept at inspiring provocative thought and discussions that followed our collective reading of the Biblical, Talmudic, and contemporary texts, which have shaped Jewish life and tradition.
I was raised in a Reform home and attended a religious school which provided me with a less than adequate Jewish education, and that left me with many more questions than answers. Throughout my adult life I’ve been on a quest to enhance my knowledge of and participation in Judaism. So for years I’ve been a work in progress. There’s a lot to learn at any age. I learned Hebrew in the 80s, became a Bat Mitzvah in the early 90s, joined a conservative synagogue and learned the Shacharit, Torah, Musaf, and Minchah-Maariv services in the late 90s, and, in the past few years, took an assortment of Judaic classes and toured Israel with my synagogue. In July, I will be returning to Israel with the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. Of all the classes I’ve taken, Melton has been the best. The Melton course of study provides a logical sequenced framework for Judaic education.
The Colorado Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is a project of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in partnership with CAJE, the Colorado Agency for Jewish Education. There are more than 60 Melton schools for adult Jewish learning in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., South Africa, Australia, and Israel, comprised of 300 faculty members and 5,400 students in any given year, who meet once a week for 2 hours. Students range from the unaffiliated to the ultra Orthodox and everything in between. Learning is interactive, and teachers encourage discussion and critical thinking in an open, non-judgmental atmosphere.
The first year curriculum includes two courses entitled Rhythms of Jewish Living, and Purposes of Jewish Living. We studied the Jewish calendar, life-cycle events, the history of and deeper meaning of our holidays and traditions. We learned about G-d and what it means to be the Chosen People. We were provided with texts from various eras – The Torah, Prophets, Writings, the Talmud, the Mishnah and Gemorah, and various other rabbinic and contemporary, modern writings. As we read together we learned how phrases in the Torah were interpreted by Rashi, Maimonides, and other great Torah scholars, and how these texts and commentary have been reinterpreted through time by the great thinkers of the Rabbinic Period and how they are still being reinterpreted today. It was fascinating to explore the various movements: Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Orthodox, to and understand how Judaism has been interpreted and applied in each.
The second year curriculum included Dramas of Jewish Living throughout the Ages and the Ethics of Jewish Living. Dramas taught us the history of the Jews throughout time and provided us with perspective and depth in the context of the particular events of each period. Rabbi Baskin’s enthusiasm for the subject was contagious as he brought in historic items, magazine articles and books gathered from his worldly travels for show and tell each week. Julie Lieber’s extensive knowledge and training as a college history professor provided us with breadth and depth, and her articulated structured approach left no question unanswered. She is a storehouse of information.
Ethics covered such subjects as the Jewish perspective on marriage, divorce, homosexuality, euthanasia, and organ donation. This class forced us to examine our feelings and beliefs and discover whether or not they were in line with Jewish ethical perspectives, which sometimes were not what we might have predicted. You’ve heard of the dog whisperer? Well I propose we designate Ellyn Hutt as the Melton Whisperer. Her distinct gentle style and her deep-seated natural ability to relate to and connect with her students combine with her expertise to create an educational experience you never want to miss. And if Ellyn is the Melton Whisperer, Robin Hanssen is the Melton rock star. Her energy-laden, comprehensive approach combined with her aptitude for fostering lively discussions make you feel as though you’ve left no stone unturned.
This outstanding learning experience would not be possible if it weren’t for Sue Parker Gerson, Melton’s exceptional director. Sue is not only a fantastic administrator, but a superior educator. She has high expectations for herself and her staff, and her teachers don’t disappoint her. Together they have created a remarkable experience for us all.
As I said, I’m a work in progress. I think we all are. We always have more to learn, and as long as our minds and souls are active, they grow. As soon as we stop growing, we start dying. I think those of us who are graduating tonight recognize this. 2 years ago, we all made a commitment to make time for Jewish learning. Although we may have entered Melton at various ages, with different Judaic experiences, and from different denominations, we all felt the need to further our Jewish education and made a commitment to do so. Over the past two years, the intensive study of text and the lively debate that ensued has taught us much about the struggles and successes of the Jewish people. We have been challenged to examine our own beliefs and our place in Jewish history. In this time when the Jewish people are continuing to face challenges, we have empowered ourselves, strengthened our Jewish identities, and enhanced our ability to grapple with these challenges from a point of strength. Along the way we made lifelong friends. We learned where we came from, and we learned where we want to go in our educational journey.
Mazel Tov to all the Melton graduates! Thank you for enriching my education with your questions and your insights! I hope you all join me, as works in progress, in further study through the Melton graduate curriculum. Thank you.
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| Buffalo Graduation: (back row, left to right) Russ Wrazen, Larry Gersh, Ann Sawusch, Amy Troy, Mara Koven Gellmen, Bruce Bleichfeld, Grant Golden, Henry Gartner, (front row, left to right) Sharla Bleichfeld, Ruth Spivack, Patty Simonson, Director Ethel Melzer, Mindy Weinman, Carole Bluestein, Carol Speser. (Missing from photo: Bonnie Pierce & Tammy Van Wey.) |
After two years of study at the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School at the Bureau of Jewish Education in Buffalo, NY, 16 students received their “Certificate of Jewish Learning” from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem on May 26, 2010.
Dallas Mini-School Graduates 30 Students
June 2010, repoted in the Texas Jewish Post
Mazal tov to all our Florence Melton Adult Mini-School graduates!
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