Beth El Rabbi to restart Melton Adult Mini-School in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD - "No Tests. No Homework. No Grades. KNOW Judaism." This is the new slogan for the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School.

Rabbi Amy Wallk Katz of Temple Beth El in Springfield taught Melton courses for 12 years while in Kansas City and will lead the classes in Springfield.There have been changes since Melton was last offered in Springfield. The cost has been reduced to $360 (a $200 savings). It is now presented by Temple Beth El, the Springfield JCC, and the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts.

The Melton course will begin this fall and run for 30 weeks (two hours per week). The community is invited to "A Taste of Melton," an introduction to the course on Monday, June 8, 9:30 a.m. at Temple Beth El, 979 Dickinson St.

Rabbi Katz recently spoke to the Ledger about the Melton Adult Mini-School.

Q: For readers who don't know anything about it, can you describe the Melton program?

A: The Melton program is a two-year program developed by Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It is, designed to help adults acquire Jewish literacy. It is not a in how-to. The assumption is that there are a lot of adults that do Jewish, but who haven't necessarily been engaged in thinking rigorously about Judaism. The curriculum holiday and life cycle, but it also covers Jewish history, ethics and philosophy. So we study Jewish views about the Messiah, what happens after we die, why do people suffer. The Mini School is a comprehensive program that examines a range of Jewish issues. The curriculum is always driven by Jewish texts -and of course all texts that we study are in English.

Q: What kind of person should take the Melton course?

A: Any person who wants to understand and learn more about Judaism. I have had students who have had a yeshiva background and had simply not thought about these topics for many years. And I had students who had not yet converted to Judaism. And frankly, each adult brings to the classroom his and her own experiences and their own questions.The most important qualification for the program is someone who is interested in learning and thinking about Judaism.

Q: What is the overall goal of the Melton program - to help strengthen the Jewish community?

A: To me the deeper goal is to help people learn, and understand and think more about Judaism. Ultimately the Jewish community will be stronger but you strengthen the community one Jew at a time. One of the things about Melton is that American Jews are comfortable studying. We are a very well-educated community, probably the most well-educated community in the history of our people. But there is a gap between what we know Jewishly, and what we know in science, math, English and history. So one of the goals of this program is to close the gap -to help people feel knowledgable and competent Jewishly and give them the skills to find answers to questions that are not yet even asking.

Q: A flyer for the program says, "No tests. No homework. No Grades. Know Judaism." What are the classes like?

A: My students tell me that the classes are fun and that they really do enjoy them. We give them a big notebook and I say to people, 'You can leave it in the trunk of your car. Just bring the notebook to class.' The classes themselves are entertaining, engaging and serious. But one thing that is very clear is that most American Jews don't have time to do homework. We all are busy whether you have young children, whether you are an empty-nester and working full-time or whether you are just busy with the stuff we call 'Life.' Most adults don't have the time and can't make the time to do homework. So there is no homework, there are no tests, but there is a very serious, structured curriculum and a very clear set of ideas and goals for each class.

Q: Was it your idea to start up the Melton program in the Springfield area again?

A: Yes, I went to the lay leaders at Temple Beth El, Federation and JCC and said I would really like to come up with a comprehensive adult education program that we could engage our families and our adults in and that we could make open to the community. I like that there are curriculum writers in Jerusalem who are thinking hard and developing a curriculum that is non-denominational and that is text-driven. I learn from the currciulum. It is kind of like having a speech-writer -only this is a curriculum writer. I don't always have time to research all of the lessons I want to teach. To be honest, the students benefit from the research and development of the curriculum. There is no way a full-time rabbi or Jewish educator would have the hours necessary to develop a comprehensive curriculum like this.

Q: When you ran the program in Kansas City, how did see the class affect your students?

A: I think my students would say in many instances that it was a life-changing experience because first of all they loved connecting with a room full of other adults who are serious about Judaism. Adults who sign up for a class like this are there because they want to be there not because anybody is making them be there.

Judiasm is a rich tradition and people are really touched by it and it is no surprise that people feel that way -we have been around for thousands of years now; our texts have stood the test of time. I had a student who was in the corporate world. He and his wife were both part of the corporate rat race, and somewhere in the midst of his second year taking Melton, he decided to slow down. He quit his job and became an at-home dad and they sold their large home and bought a smaller house with a smaller mortgage, and years later after their younger child grew up, this guy decided to be a Jewish professional and ended up working for a local Jewish agency.

I had a student whose son died of leukemia. He died in the spring and come August, she was looking for someplace to go every day. She wanted a reason to get up and get out of bed. She took Melton and she said she started to laugh again. I think people take out of the program what they are looking for. The first person was looking for a change and Melton helped him think about what kind of change he was looking for. And I think the mother of this young man needed a way to cope with her pain, and Melton offered her a coping mechanism. We are a people who are comfortable learning, so it is not a surprise to me that it would be in a classroom that so many people would find meaning and find a way to have Judaism make a difference in their life.