Barbara Haber
Northern New Jersey, NJ

This has been a remarkable experience. During these past two years at Melton, I have learned many things about the rhythms, purposes, ethics and dramas of Jewish life. I have been able to bring much of the factual content into both my personal life and my kindergarten and fifth grade classrooms as well. I have learned, among many other things, that the Torah is a tapestry - a patchwork quilt - as opposed to being a single document. I have learned the true story of Chanukah, the categories into which mitzvot can be placed, and of the inter-relatedness between all the parts of creation. I have learned that conjugal rights belong to the woman. I have been made aware that the ritual part of the law was never what the point was - it is there as a reminder to relate to the world in a proper way. I have been taught many wonderfully insightful life cycle facts, and have been introduced to the various theories on revelation. I will admit that up until this year, there was very little that I knew of Jewish history between biblical times and the Holocaust. Our dramas class filled in this large gap in my own education and for that I am extremely appreciative.

All of these things are important, and many other essentials that I have not mentioned, and yet, there is so much more that I have taken away from this course. As we read, as we discussed, as we questioned, and as we argued, I began to have my own mini-revelation about the incredible importance of context and perspective. Any person in any given situation has an outlook based upon many different criteria, such as time, place, history, and circumstance. I think that by arguing diametrically opposite points of view, it helped me to see this and acknowledge it. I think I became less rigid in my judgment about other people's actions, and, perhaps, allowed me to imagine what may have brought them to where they were in their thinking. And somewhere along the line, I think I became less critical, less opinionated, and gained a better ability to see the shades of gray as opposed to the black and white of life's complicated situations.

One of the greatest things about Melton, to me, is the fact that very little of where our curriculum took us was cut and dry. We were encouraged to question, to doubt, to probe and to examine, and we felt confidant enough to disagree because disagreement fosters solutions to problems. It's okay to read a text and see something between the lines that no one else can see. It's acceptable to hold a less popular, minority opinion, and I believe it was considered healthy not to blindly accept all theories simply because they are there.

It's clichéd to say that it's not about the destination; it's all about the journey. But the ideas that we discussed, the notions that were supported, the philosophies shared were so amazing and it was never about reaching some major conclusion or general consensus. The concepts analyzed regarding free will versus predestination, control versus randomness and linear versus cyclical time really got us thinking and discovering and feeling. There were several class discussions, especially in our ethics section, that could have gone on for hours. We recently talked about reconciling truth with peace and when I arrived home, I couldn't remember the drive because there was so much to think about.

Many weeks I would try to describe our class to my family at dinner on Monday nights, and I never did it justice. There was too much conversation to remember, and unless I remembered the words verbatim, the translation was somehow lost. I guess it was one of those things where you had to be there. And I'm so very glad that I was.

I would like to thank the UJA Federation and the Florence Melton adult mini-school for a great curriculum and a wonderful two years. I have been enlightened and educated and empowered by this experience, and I have been given the gift of newfound perspective. I feel so grateful to have been able to share this class with the nicest, brightest, and most considerate and thoughtful group of fellow students. I hope that we will be able to continue our study together, and I wish for all of the graduates a happy, healthy, and illuminated future. And, if I may speak on their behalf, I would like to most especially thank Renah Rabinowitz and Halit Yishai Rikin for the terrifically organized coordination of this program, and finally to Rabbi David Nelson and Rabbi Lawrence Troster, (as well as our many incredible guest educators) who took text on a page and gave meaning and life to it all. You are truly our teachers, and we so appreciate your intelligence, your devotion and your passion. Thank you for everything!