“We have saturated our market and no one has the time to commit to weekly study, especially parents of young children because they are just too busy!”
As a regional director for the Florence Melton School, and now with the added position of Melton director at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, comments like this have been my call to action. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}By reigniting the excitement for learning through excellent classes with top-notch faculty, we have helped Jewish communal leadership combat the myth that everyone has studied all there is to study or “taken” all there is to take.
Here in Kansas City, we had many years of communitywide engagement for Melton and adult Jewish Learning.
We are now experiencing a rebirth.
In just the past few months, more than 60 Melton students have either committed to adult Jewish education for the first time, or reconnected themselves with Jewish learning through our Melton classes. We have a dedicated, experienced faculty that presents Melton material in interesting ways.
Thanks to our consortium partners, Melton remains strong financially, receiving funding from Menorah Legacy Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City Circle of Chai Group. We are a department of and generously supported by Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, and have partnerships with Congregation BIAV, Congregation Beth Shalom and Village Shalom as well as a number of individual donors who have pledged to support Melton at HBHA. Our Melton International Alumni partners have been instrumental to our growth, as well.
Now, having shared this information about Melton’s rebirth in Kansas City, I’d like to respond to the challenge posed above with this question: Are we ever really finished studying?
Reflecting on the volumes of Jewish scholarship through the millennia, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks writes, “Until the modern age, virtually every Jewish text was directly or indirectly a commentary to the Torah.” Do we feel so secure in our knowledge that we will be the generation to say, “Everyone has already studied everything?” Haven’t we always learned from that our sacred writings have been canonized … that there is something new and always more to learn? Furthermore, we are important voices to add to this Jewish conversation that has spanned the millennium. Do we want to conclude the dialogue now?
I am proud to say that in our midwestern Jewish community, the future looks bright for Jewish learning. We have embraced the value of what it means to be a community that is committed to the value of transformative, pluralistic, text-based and interactive Jewish learning. With so much more to learn here, we look forward to carrying on our tradition of lifelong learning for at least another thousand years — just like our ancestors did before us.
Melton@HBHA upcoming class offerings:
Modern Living: Maintaining Balance, Discovering Ageless Answers in Timeless Jewish Texts
A recent study asked people around the U.S. how important is it to find a proper work/life balance. The results were shocking: a full 96 percent of survey respondents believed it would be more desirable to find a better work/life balance. Come explore Jewish learning on this topic in an upbeat, relevant and interactive atmosphere. You will experience a more in-depth look at what our sages say about our obligations to our family, our work and community, and ourselves so we can achieve a greater sense of balance in our lives.
Taught by Marla Brockman, April 17, 24, May 1 and May 8, 9:30-11 a.m. at HBHA.
Tuition: $60. Includes materials. Register by contacting Annie Glickman at .
Why Kabbalah? With Rabbi Avi Weinstein
An introduction to “The Gates of Light”
March 15, 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Congregation BIAV
Sponsored by Melton@HBHA
Kabbalah is one of the most popular and least understood Jewish words. Kabbalah is often associated with meditations, amulets and celebrities. Kabbalah, though, tries to answer timeless questions like: Why does one God have many names? Can we decode the Torah to understand the nature of God?
One of the most famous keys to mystical studies is the Sha’are Orah (“Gates of Light”), written over 700 years ago by the prolific Spanish Kabbalist, Rabbi Yosef Gikatilla. Kansas City’s own Rabbi Avi Weinstein, head of Jewish studies at Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, translated the only English edition of Sha’are Orah for the Bronfman Library of Judaic Classics series published by Rowman and Littlfield and reprinted by Yale University Press.
Rabbi Weinstein will be teaching a one-time class on this influential work as a gift from Melton@HBHA to the Kansas City Jewish Community.
This class is free to the community, however, registration is strongly requested to ensure you receive class materials. Register by contacting Annie Glickman at .
Jewish Denominations:
Addressing the Challenges of Modernity
Using traditional texts, historical documents, interactive discussion, and engaging insights from Rabbi David Glickman, this class explores Jewish identity and religious expression against the backdrop of dramatic political and social change of the past 300 years.
Taught by Rabbi Glickman March 19-May 28, 1-2:30 p.m. at Village Shalom. Thanks to the generosity of Congregation Beth Shalom, this course is offered at a special rate of $150 per student plus materials for the first 15 students enrolled. Limited scholarships available. Register at www.events.org/MeltonKansasCity, or contact Melton Director, Annie Glickman, with questions at .{/mprestriction}