Click here to view our video on youtube

Under "Search for" put: Florence Melton Adult Mini-School

"The Mini-School took me to places I never had the opportunity to explore before. I began to understand the experiences of Jews in Israel and the Diaspora throughout the ages."
Ruth Stewart
Washington D.C.

"During the past two years, I have experienced a powerful spiritual awakening and enhanced understanding of Judaism. The vibrance and passion of my Melton lecturers has been an inspiration and many of my unanswered questions between my tradition and theology have been resolved. I am left with a strong yearning to explore further."
Jonathan Wolfe
Melbourne, Australia

The Florence Melton class was something I had planned to take after I had retired. An adult mini school for Jewish education intrigued me but I didn’t think it fit into my life at present. I work full time and thought that Jewish adult education would be one of the many things that could fill my days when I had more time on my hands. I had visions of me falling asleep in class after working a full day. But I kept running into people who had taken the courses and loved it. Eventually, I decided to try it.
Elinor Weiss
Co-chair of the Jewish Action Initiative
Buffalo, NY

"Since Melton began I have visited the 'Palace in Time,' which is what Abraham Joshua Heschel calls Shabbat. I have laid my hands on Challah and blessed the Source of Life - my hands and my voice calling me to behold how amazing it is that the earth exists and a seed exists that if planted and tended will grow into a plant, which we grind into a powder and mix with eggs, which a feathered animal lays, and honey, which flying insects make, and bake into bread we can eat. This is a miracle!"
Gigi Rosenberg
Portland, Oregon

"Melton's curriculum is inspired... Our teachers helped us to infuse all that we learned with contemporary meaning from our own experiences, as well as from interpretations offered by the various branches of Judaism, from Ultra Orthodox to Classical Reform. On a personal note, I found that by the end of the semester, during which we studied Classical Rabbinics, my initial - almost hostile - cynicism had been transformed into a healthy skepticism tempered with a core of admiration and respect for these great teachers who helped to shape and preserve our religion."
Ann Frumkin
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

"I have gained many personal insights as to what Judaism is and will continue to evolve into for me. The class not only discussed basic facts, including historical outlines of the Jewish People, dilemmas throughout the ages, life cycle events and holidays, but also caused me to think, to consider and reconsider the meaning of Judaism from a variety of perspectives. My learning has only started - I know that I will continue to study, to dissect, and to incorporate all these definitions into my life."
Nancy C. Dougherty
St. Louis, Missouri

My experience with the ECE Melton class this past year has been nothing less than extraordinary for both my personal and professional growth. My classsroom has blossomed Jewishly in the most unexpected ways. From rich havdalah experiences that touch the five senses to bringing the history of our religion to life in the classroom to making Israel bloom in all of our gardening projects; I owe this all to my Melton experience and the superb teachers who lead us. One truly special moment occured this year when a little boy in my class, knowing that I had been to Melton the day before, asked me if I could bring in my Tanach and read him God's words. I did share stories, psalms and songs with him on many occasions in quiet and relaxed classroom moments. Other children joined our group and I soon came to realize that Melton not only changed me personally, but this class was changing my vision of what was truly important in a prek classroom in a Jewish pre school. I will continue with the Melton group next year and bring my knowledge and vision to the teachers at the JECC in Boynton Beach.

Leslie Cooper

Early Childhood Teacher, Boca Raton FL

"Melton has shown me that you can't truly be a leader of a Jewish community without continuously learning. It should be a requirement of Federation and agency board members to expand their Jewish knowledge."
Sam Meline
Broward County, Florida

"The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School has had a transformative impact on our community. It has brought the synagogue community and the Federation into a true spirit of partnership, with our community rabbis taking the lead teaching role. Melton has also become an unspoken 'requirement' for community leaders."
Stuart Mellan
President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of
Southern Arizona
Tucson, Arizona

"The Leadership Institute has more than met our expectations. This four-year collaboration between the FMAMS and JUF has helped us build better Jewish community leaders by enriching students' Jewish knowledge and their knowledge of Federation. This deeper understanding has motivated some individuals to take on additional responsibilities in the community, such as seeking involvement on agency community boards. It has also served as a catalyst to renew the energy and involvement of participants who had been active in the Jewish community in the past."
Dr. Steven B. Nasatir
President
Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

"The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School provides British Jews with an intelligent overview of Jewish life, unavailable elsewhere. At turns it is intimate, yet detached; committed, yet open; intriguing, yet profound. I hope and expect us to develop a cadre of experienced adult educators who will continue to galvanize the process of communal regeneration. Not bad, not bad at all!"
Jonathan Ariel
Former Executive Director for Education
United Jewish Israel Appeal (UJIA)
London, England

"Since the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School opened in St. Louis, hundreds of students have graduated from our FMAMS. These graduates are now found continuing their study in our agency's adult education program and taking leadership positions in congregations and Jewish agencies around St. Louis. In particular, a significant number of our Federation's Women's Division leadership are FMAMS graduates. FMAMS is certainly making a huge impact on the life of the St. Louis Jewish community."
Jeffrey Lasday
Executive Vice President
Central Agency for Jewish Education
St. Louis, Missouri