READ HEBREW

MELTON MINI-SCHOOL

The Melton Mini-School is an inspiring and empowering adult learning experience. Classes integrate Jewish history, law, language, practices, and ideas through direct study of primary sources, critical and reflective analysis, and group interaction. Classes meet once a week for 30 weeks over a two year period and are taught by knowledgeable and experienced adult educators. If you are looking to broaden your Jewish knowledge, the Melton School is for you! No previous background required and no tests.

Click here to download the 2011-2012 Melton brochure.

For information on the 2011-2012 school year, please contact Rhonda Lillianthal, 973-530-3519 (rlillianthal@jccmetrowest.org).

CHODESH TOV (FALL 2011-2012)

Join a warm community of women as we celebrate the study in the Jewish tradition. This year, we look at some hot topics in Jewish ethics. Program is being held in the Living Room on 3rd Floor of Cooperman JCC.  Instructor: Rabbi Helaine Ettinger

Thursdays, 12:30-2pm

September 15, 2011 - May 17, 2012 

Fee: $162/9 sessions 

Registration opens August 9, 2011

Possible Options:

Walking with God

Walking with Justice:

Each session includes two one-hour classes with a break for coffee and informal discussion. Graduates receive a Certificate of Jewish Studies from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and are invited to participate in a special seminar in Israel. There are no prerequisites, grades, exams or homework.

Classes meet at several locations throughout the MetroWest community with morning and evening options. The curriculum is based on the Bible and rabbinic writings and presents a series of viewpoints across the Jewish spectrum.

The Melton School is the place to be for adults who want to feel at home with their heritage by increasing their Jewish literacy and especially for parents who want to be able to nurture their children's spiritual growth & development.

About the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School

The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School is an innovative adult Jewish learning program that provides the opportunity to achieve basic Jewish literacy in just two years. Students of varying backgrounds form a community of learners who explore Jewish texts and begin to understand how Judaism developed and what Judaism means to them. The pluralistic approach fosters an atmosphere of warmth, respect, and mutual understanding.

What Makes the Mini-School Unique?

• Commitment to Learning: Students enroll in  a sequential two-year course developed specifically for adult learners. The Mini-School infuses students with a desire to make Jewish learning a way of life which often continues beyond the first two years into Mini-School graduate courses.

• Sophisticated Curriculum: Four text-based courses make up the sequential two-year curriculum written by a team of experts at the Hebrew University's Melton Centre for Jewish Education.

• Quality Teaching and Learning: To preserve the high standards which are the hallmark of the Mini-School, all faculty members must participate in ongoing professional enrichment programs.

• Israel-Diaspora Partnership: Jewish Federations, Jewish Community Centers, Bureaus of Jewish Education and community coalitions are the Hebrew University's partners in the Mini-School. This ensures a community commitment to maintaining the high level of quality expected of each Mini-School.

For Melton Class tuition and locations please click here to download a copy of the 2010-2011 Melton Brochure in PDF file format.

FOUNDATIONS OF JEWISH FAMILY LIVING- A special curriculum designed for parents of young children.

Foundations of Jewish Family Living is a new curriculum for parents that provides a thought-provoking encounter with the core values of Judaism. The curriculum brings to life the master stories from our tradition and the profound messages they convey.   This rich learning experience for adults will provide an opportunity for you to bring the Jewish conversation home to share with your young child. At a time in your family's life when you child is beginning his or her own Jewish education, Foundations of Jewish Family Living provides you with the learning, the language, and the confidence to be a teacher to your own children.

The topics to be explored include:

Part I: A Year of Values: Exploring values through the Jewish holidays

Part II: Day to Day Values: Exploring values for everyday family living            

For more information contact Rhonda Lillianthal at 973-530-3519 rlillianthal@jccmetrowest.org.

MELTON YEAR ONE

MELTON YEAR TWO

MELTON GRADUATE CLASS

FOUNDATIONS OF JEWISH FAMILY LIVING

It meets for only 20 weeks.

Carol Berman

Carol Berman, a graduate of the University of Miami with a BFA in Performance has spent the better part of her 'grown up' life in the midst of early childhood.  Carol is the Manager of the Gaelen Center For The Arts as well as Director of the JCC MetroWest School of the Arts and Triple Threat Theater Camp and directs all the Children Production Company and Teen Production Company musicals at the Maurice Levin Theater on the campus of the JCC MetroWest in West Orange, NJ.  Carol owns TCW, LLC, an entertainment company for all occasions and a rolodex of classes and experiences for parents/guardians and their favorite youngsters, as well as being a registered and certified Music Together facilitator. Carol Berman teaches and lectures throughout the tri-state area a variety of subjects including You CAN do this:  Learning To Love Music and Movement In The Early Childhood Classroom;  Improv for the Young Actor; Adult Improv; On Camera:  A Way To Self-Esteem, among other high energy classes and lectures.  If all of this wonderful nonsense called "Life" isn't enough - Carol and her three 'boys' reside in Livingston with their new pup Buster, PuffBall, Flappy and the Fish.

Samara Grossman

Samara Grossman is an actor, choreographer, teaching artist and adventure seeker. She has been on the stage in such roles as "Sarah" in COMPANY; "Catherine" in ARMS AND THE MAN; "Grace/Maggie" in WORKING; "Sally" in A LIE OF THE MIND; "Woman II" in CLOSER THAN EVER and many more throughout the Tri-State area.  As a Choreographer, Samara has worked all over New York and New Jersey at such venues as The Players Theater (OFF BROADWAY), William Paterson University, JCC MetroWest, JCC on the Palisades, the Wayne "Y", the Clifton "Y", Riverdell High School and others. Her teaching as brought her from Westchester to West Orange teaching all forms of Dance (theater dance, choreography, ballet, tap, modern, hip hop, movement for actors); Acting; Musical Theater; Creative Writing; Poetry; Audition Technique and has been known to teach a cooking class here and there. She comes from many years at the NJY Camps and had a stint at the Dr Joy Browne show for CBS as well as Disney Theatricals on Broadway for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, KING DAVID, the NYC premier of HERCULES and the load in for THE LION KING. Samara attended the Idyllwild Arts Academy for Musical Theater, The American Musical and Dramatic Academy for Musical Theater and received her BA from William Paterson University in English Literature.

Lisa Suss

Lisa Suss is an arts activist and advocate as well as an active professional artist.

She spent 8 years as the chairperson of the West Orange Arts Council and was instrumental in the Council's development. She leads an active and involved volunteer organization with a growing membership. She is on the Board of Valley Arts, a juried member of Exhibitor's Co-op, a well-known artists' exhibiting group which shows in New Jersey and surrounding states and was also a founding member of the Essex County Arts Advisory Board.

As the Visual Arts Manager for JCC MetroWest, she is responsible for programming and managing four exhibition spaces-the Gaelen Galleries at the West Orange and Whippany JCC's, as well as the Arts Lobby and Steiner Court Showcases and Roland Exhibition Corridor in West Orange.  She is also the coordinator for the annual Gaelen Juried Arts Show & Sale.