Elaine Moise of Palo Alto may become the envy of her congregation.
This September, Moise, along with 49 other Bay Area residents, will embark on a two-year journey with the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in Palo Alto.
The Melton School, a project of Hebrew University, is known around the world for its pluralistic student body and truly unique curriculum. The program lasts two years, and diverse groups of 25 students per class get to know one another and their professors through a curriculum that has been developed and refined over the last 25 years.
“I was most intrigued by the diversity in the perspectives and congregations that are involved,” said Moise, who has spent a number of years taking classes through her synagogue, Keddem Congregation in Los Altos, as well as at Stanford Hillel. “They stress that diversity and participation above all else.”
Prior to this September, the only Melton school in California was available in San Diego. The impetus behind the expansion to Palo Alto is Sharon Lenox.
Lenox, director of adult learning at the Albert L. Schultz Jewish Community Center, wanted to enroll in the program but was disappointed to learn that she would have to make a 400-mile commute for two years.
“I loved the idea of community,” said Lenox. “This is not three to five weeks of taking a class with people you do not know. This is two years studying with the same partners. That will be incredibly rewarding.”
Lenox’s enthusiasm was rewarded, as now she not only has the opportunity to take the class but also to lead the Palo Alto program as its director. (She has already filled 45 of the 60 positions in the class.)
One of the benefits of her new position was a recent trip Lenox took to the program headquarters in Chicago to observe a Melton School class. “I had a hard time not participating in the first session, so when I started to leave before the second session, the class made sure I stuck around. It was such an open, accepting group.”
To add to her sales arsenal, Lenox has two respected instructors to guide the students through some of the classes, beginning next month: Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann and Rabbi Noam Silverman.
Karlin-Neumann is a Reform rabbi and senior associate dean at Stanford University, while Silverman is an Orthodox rabbi and Ph.D. candidate at Stanford. “I have studied with both rabbis in past classes,” continued Moise, “and found them both to be phenomenal teachers.”
“The instructors for the classes are critical,” explained Lenox, “because the curriculum is only one part of the experience. The voice and perspective of the instructors is crucial and bring the class to life.”
Silverman, who has taught Talmud extensively prior to moving to California last year, is looking forward to the format of the classes.
“The program is primarily text-based, but I will work diligently to present some of my own materials and experiences to support the curriculum. I want to make sure I give it a personal touch.”
This personal touch comes from a diverse history in Jewish education, one that Silverman is thrilled to bring to the West Coast.
“I think the Bay Area Jewish community, while a little more spread out, has a real thirst for learning. We are riding the beginning of something that is going to be very big.”
Lenox could not agree more: “I feel like I was called to give this program life here in the Bay Area.
Classes begin Monday, Sept. 12, and are held weekly from 7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. All classes will be held at the Kehilla Jewish High School, 3900 Fabian Way, Palo Alto. Cost is $250 for each 15-week semester.
For more information, call Sharon Lenox at (650) 852-3501 or e-mail her at