Press Release:
Melton Mini-School Looks to the Future with National Appointment

The Board of Directors of The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School have named Rabbi Loren Sykes, aged 41, as the Director of the North American Division of The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. Rabbi Sykes’ appointment comes in the wake of the retirement of Dr Betsy Katz who led this division since inception in 1986. Dr Katz’s expertise in the field of adult Jewish education is nationally recognized and the Board conducted an extensive search to find a successor of equal stature. Rabbi Sykes will commence his position on August 1, 2008.

Rabbi Sykes was the founding Executive Director of Ramah Darom and has an outstanding record of educational leadership and innovation.  He is the winner of The 2006 Covenant Award for educational excellence and is universally recognized in the field of Jewish education as one of the outstanding young professionals. He is currently a fellow at the Senior Educators Program of the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and is studying under the tutorship of Dr Jonathan Mirvis, the International Director of the Mini-School.

According to Gordon Zacks, Chairman of the Board, “We are thrilled with Rabbi Sykes’s appointment. Loren is ideally suited to articulate the Mini-School vision of Jewish literacy in North America and build on the success of the first two decades under Betsy Katz’s leadership”.

Professor Menachem Magidor, President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, congratulated the Mini-School Board upon this appointment. President Magidor looks forward to Rabbi Sykes leading this prestigious project of the University forward, reaching out to the Jewish communities of North America and strengthening the Hebrew University’s position as the University of the Jewish people through the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School.

Rabbi
Sykes is married to Rebecca and the father of three children.

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The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is the world’s largest global network of pluralistic adult education. With Mini-Schools in 64 cities in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia and South Africa it currently has 4500 students enrolled in its foundation courses, 1500 students in its graduate courses and has graduated over 25 000 students.

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