Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning

Louisville’s Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning promotes Jewish literacy in an open, pluralistic, egalitarian and stimulating environment. Students come from Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and unaffiliated backgrounds.

What courses does the Louisville Melton School offer?

FIRST-year students enroll in a pair of courses, The Purposes of Jewish Living and the Rhythms of Jewish Living. Purposes explores both ancient and modern responses to many of the major issues of Jewish thought and  theology. Rhythms examines a wide variety of Jewish sources to discover the deeper meanings underlying Jewish holidays, lifecycle observances and Jewish practice. (30 lessons)

SECOND-year students study The Dramas of Jewish Living and The Ethics of Jewish Living. Dramas investigates how the Jewish past gives meaning to the Jewish present. Ethics explores the wisdom of ancient and modern rabbis, scholars and thinkers, offering multiple Jewish approaches to conducting our lives in the communal and private spheres. (30 lessons)

Classes meet on Tuesday evenings 6:30-9 p.m. or Thursday mornings 9:30 a.m.-Noon, Oct. 1, 2013-May 29, 2014. The cost for each year is $200.

Louisville Melton is also offering Beyond Borders: The History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, a Rachel Wasserman Scholars Curriculum course. (20 lessons)

This course provides students with a strong, text-based historical overview from the late nineteenth century through today. Course material is designed to encourage discussion and debate and to challenge students to appreciate the basis of the conflicting historical claims made by all sides in the conflict. The complexity of the conflict forces students to grapple with issues of religion, culture, history, politics, economics, identity and survival – all reflected through primary sources, including newspaper articles, poetry, songs, government documents, speeches, photographs and memoirs.

Classes meet Tuesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m., Oct. 1, 2013-March 11, 2014. This course costs $150.

What Makes the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning Unique?

Commitment to Learning – Students enroll in a two-year course that meets one day a week throughout the academic year. There are no exams and no homework. The only requirement is a commitment to learn and participate. Students have all kinds of backgrounds in Jewish learning. Melton will stimulate and provoke your thinking no matter what your level of Jewish literacy.

Curriculum – Four groups of texts make up the two-year curriculum. The courses are written by a team of experts at the Hebrew University’s Melton Center for Jewish Education – the world’s largest academic center for Jewish education.

Quality Teaching and Learning – Louisville Melton teachers are in a class of their own and their excellence has been recognized by the national Melton headquarters.

For more information, contact Melton Director, Deborah Slosberg at 502-458-5359 or dslosberg@adathjeshurun.com.

Scholarships will be available. Contact Deborah Slosberg for more information.

For questions about registering over the phone, please call 502-459-0660. Online registration is also available.

The Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning is sponsored by Congregation Adath Jeshurun in collaboration with the Jewish Community Center and with support from Congregation Anshei Sfard, Keneseth Israel Congregation, The Temple, and Temple Shalom. This program is made possible by a generous grant from the Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence.

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