Herman Solomon

I grew up in Greenville, in the Mississippi Delta with a strong Jewish identity, but without much of a Jewish education. We belonged to a Reform Congregation, I went to "Sunday School" and that was the depth of the education. As an adult in my forties, I began to explore. I learned to read Hebrew, to read and chant Torah, and at age 55 I finally had my own bar mitzvah. I went to camp for two weeks to learn to be a rabbinic aid, I took courses on line from JTS and attended a week long session there. I attended education events at the GA and anywhere else that I could. I try never to miss an educational event in our community. I dreamed about adult education on a continuing basis in our community.

I met Florence Melton at the GA one year after I had learned of the future Melton course. I begged her to please try to make this available to the smaller communities that don't have the resources to provide it locally. I was thinking then of video conferencing. Time went by. A first cousin who grew up in Helena, AR also a Mississippi Delta town, but now living in Houston took the Melton. Her background was much like mine. We know that we are Jews, but we didn't how to use the tools of being Jewish. For her Melton was a life changing event.

I was absolutely thrilled when I heard that we would have Melton in Wichita. The experience was not disappointing. I was able to attend for two years. I looked forward to every class. I felt as if the faculty was in the room with us. The technology for me went away. It was a real class room experience. I knew our teachers and felt that I interacted with them as if they were in the room with us. I wanted the experience to continue with more classes and courses. It was helpful I think for both class and faculty that they were able on occasion to come to Wichita. I feel that the experience is more difficult for the faculty than for the students. We have one person on whom to focus, the faculty had fifteen.

The small communities are what compose in my opinion "The Deep Diaspora".
I hope that many of them will have the chance to experience Melton. With
the right faculty, such as the one that I have experienced it can be a genuine life changing experience even with video conferencing.

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