Melton graduates largest class in its history

There were no final exams and no term papers. There weren’t even any caps and gowns. But Thursday, June 7, was a very special day for the 70 newly minted graduates of The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School of Northern New Jersey, the largest graduating class yet. Graduates gathered for this year’s commencement exercises at Temple Emanuel in Closter, joined by several hundred of their guests, Melton faculty, and local Jewish leaders.

According to Renah Rabinowitz, the director of the school, Melton students — adult Jewish learners who commit two years to a program exploring Jewish history, traditions, theology, practice, and values through sacred and scholarly texts — form their own community in which Jewish identity and communal bonds are strengthened.

"Without the pressure of prerequisites and grades, the approach to learning is known to be nurturing and supportive for all students who come to Melton with varying backgrounds in Jewish education to embark on a journey of Jewish discovery," said Rabinowitz. "From those with no previous formal Jewish education to those who are graduates of day schools and yeshivot, everyone is encouraged to ask questions and bring their life experience to help broaden their knowledge and deepen their understanding of Jewish life and Jewish texts."
Melton invites Jewish adults to "become part of the ongoing Jewish conversation that has taken place for thousands of years," addd Rabinowitz.

In his greetings to this year’s Melton graduates, Howard Charish, executive vice president of UJA-NNJ made special mention of the students’ tributes to the program and the instructors, printed in a keepsake booklet of reflections.
Typical of the comments was that of Diane Honig of Tenafly, who said, "The Melton program was a two-year gift I gave to myself. It gave me the opportunity to read original texts and to explore pluralistic interpretations of texts on an array of topics that were pertinent to my everyday life."

Another graduate, Ilana Picker of Teaneck, lauded Melton not only for allowing her to learn "more about my Jewish history, Torah, ethics, and Jewish perspective, but [also] to learn more about myself, the parent that I am and the one I want to be."

Observing that his formal Jewish education ended soon after his bar mitzvah, Howard Greenberg of Mahwah wrote that he was grateful for the opportunity to spend his Monday evenings with others eager to participate in "an open exchange of ideas, sharing so many different opinions and orientations."

Bruce Pomerantz of Cresskill compared his Melton experience to that of an explorer, noting, "For nearly two years, I have been Lewis and Clark, Christopher Columbus, and Ponce DeLeon … never sure where the journey was going to take me. But I know that I am a lot better off for taking the journey."

For Ron Rosensweig, Melton isn’t about to end. The Wyckoff resident said he intends to continue his Jewish educational journey in one of the post-Melton courses offered for Melton graduates, as well as in private study of Jewish texts, in, he said, "an effort to make me a better Jew, a better member of our society, as well as a better citizen of the world." Dr. Wallace Greene, director of Jewish Educational Services at UJA-NNJ, together with Melton School registrar Elana Guttman, presented the graduates with their Certificates of Jewish Learning from the Melton Centre at the Hebrew University.

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