Fulfilling An Insatiable Desire to Learn

Melbourne, Australia

The Melbourne Florence Melton Adult Mini-School was conceived over lunch. Sandy Benjamin, president of the Jewish Museum of Australia, happened to be dining in Sydney and was inspired by the animated, heartfelt conversation at her table. Rather than the usual discussion on sports or investments, it was an enthusiastic, in-depth debate on a particular Jewish text that had been studied that week at the Sydney Mini-School.

The energy and vibrancy of that encounter led Sandy to bring the Mini-School to Melbourne with the Jewish Museum of Australia as the sponsoring agency. Five years later, the Melbourne Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is flourishing with an enrolment of some 280 students. The evening classes meet at two of the Jewish Day Schools, while the day classes meet at a B'nei Brith building.

There are three classes each in Year 1 and 2 and another 70 Mini-School graduates "who still need their weekly fix of Jewish learning," says Co-Director Leah Justin, who shares her responsibilities with Brenda Kahan.

"We hope to continue providing a broad range of elective classes to our graduates," says Leah. However, resources are limited. "There is an insatiable desire to learn but only a finite number of teachers to fulfill that need and we don't want to compromise on the quality of the teaching, which is so critical to Melton's success," she explains.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to describe a typical Melbourne Mini-School student. Linked by a love of learning, they come in all philosophical shapes and sizes. There are doctors, lawyers, retired academics, business people, affiliated and unaffiliated. Their ages range from 28 to 82. It's a wonderful microcosm of our community," comments Leah, "although in fairness, it is a little weighted to the female of the species."

The Melton faculty comes from Melbourne's major Jewish teaching institutions at both secondary and tertiary levels. Heads of schools, university lecturers, rabbis and journalists make up the core staff. Leah says that the subjects taught in the post-graduate classes depend on the interests of the available teachers. "We engage people who are passionate about their subject because I'm a firm believer that when you love what you teach it's contagious."

According to Leah, the best advertising for the Mini-School is word of mouth. "I hear people saying things like: 'I must do that course next year - it's something I'm promising myself.' What could be better?"

Leah has plans to expand the reach of the Mini-School in the future. "We would like to develop a leadership program as many youth leaders enter a [Jewish education] vacuum when they leave the Zionist youth movements," she says. "We are also considering setting up some sort of training for Jewish studies teachers who often feel the need to enhance their learning... This would be a worthwhile challenge in a community with many Jewish Day Schools which still relies on teachers from Israel."

Leah says that it's difficult to judge how much Melton impacts on the Melbourne Jewish community. "However," she says, "there is certainly a strong sense that when Melton is involved with something it will be engaging and open."

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