Sally Fink

Rhythms, Dilemmas
Baltimore, Maryland

Teaching with Head and Heart

Sally Fink

Sally's connection with the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School began seven years ago, when she changed the face of Jewish education in Des Moines, Iowa, by bringing the Mini-School to this Jewish community of 3,000. "I did a search for adult programs for the community and kept coming back to Melton," she says. For four years, she worked as both director and teacher of Rhythms and Dilemmas.

When Sally's husband was offered the position of senior rabbi at a large congregation in Baltimore three years ago, her Mini-School connection eased the transition. Her colleague Judy Meltzer, director of the Baltimore Mini-School, asked her to come teach. "Moving to Baltimore was not easy," Sally recalls. "If I did not have Melton, it would have been impossible."

Des Moines' loss was Baltimore's gain. "Sally is the quintessential professional. Her students, colleagues and I adore her," says Judy. "She teaches with her head and her heart, and the curriculum is animated by her teaching. Sally's reputation as a Melton teacher now reaches from Iowa to Maryland, and we are very grateful that she is one of ours."

Sally holds a BS in Education from the University of Minnesota, where she studied toward an MS in Education. She has been working as a Jewish educator for more than 25 years, and it has shaped her life in many ways.

"I met my husband when he was the principal and rabbinic intern at my synagogue. He hired me to teach 8th grade and I have been teaching for him ever since," she says. They have been married for 25 years and have three children, ages 20, 17 and 15.

Sally's life reflects her principles: "My children attend an Orthodox day school and my husband is a Reform rabbi - I am committed to pluralism and tolerance."

Her career in adult learning began when she was asked to teach a few adult classes and found that she loved it. In addition to teaching at the Mini-School, which is sponsored by Chizuk Amuno Congregation, Sally also serves as the Jewish family educator at Temple Oheb Shalom.

She finds her work with the Mini-School particularly inspiring. "I enjoy teaching people who have lived their whole lives as Jews and finally want to study and find meaning. I love to see students develop the confidence to study a text and ask that one important question. And even on just a practical level, many of them develop the ability to open the Tanach and find the correct chapter and verse. It's very empowering for them."

The learning is mutual. Sally says she continually discovers new things from her students. "Never think you have heard it all."

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