A Community Of Learning

W

hen my friend
Halley Uzansky
asked me to take the
Melton PEP (Parent Education
Program) class with her, my first
thought was, "Isn't the Melton
program for people who don't
know very much about Judaism?"
While I'm certainly no Judaic
scholar, I do have a pretty solid
Jewish background — Hebrew
high school, years of religious
summer camp, trips to Israel, etc.
As it turned out, most of the women
in our class had a much stronger Jewish
background than I did. Many had been
educated in day schools; several grew up
in Orthodox households, and one even
grew up in Israel. But more importantly,
all of them were thoughtful, interesting
and, above all, motivated to learn.
The diverse backgrounds of the women
gave discussions an exciting dynamic.
And above all, it was a group of similar-
ly situated women struggling, as I was, to
keep my children grounded in solid Jewish
values while preparing them to succeed in
the secular world.
It took us a while to ease into the

comfort of frank discussion.
Eventually, skillfully guided by
our teachers, class discussions
evolved into the vibrant, hon-
est, thoughtful, sometimes raw
but always mutually respect-
ful forum that it remained
throughout the two-year term.
In the end, the fast-paced
discussions about sometimes
controversial issues among a
room full of intelligent, eloquent
women became as much of a draw to me
as the insights of the amazing educators
leading the class.
I know I'm not alone in my conviction
that the amazing Melton PEP faculty was
the single most important contributing
factor to my Melton experience.
Our teachers were the driving force
behind the creation of this wonderful
group dynamic, drawing us out, encourag-
ing us to think about old topics in new
ways, always making us feel that all of our
contributions were important and relevant
and, despite the diversity of backgrounds
and experiences among the group, always
managing to find a way to reach us.
Always guiding the discussions but

never dominating them, always encourag-
ing participation but never intimidating,
they molded our diverse group into a true
community of learning.
And so what did I learn from the Melton
PEP program? Did it give me a definitive
roadmap as to how to integrate the solid
foundation of Judaism in the daily experi-
ences of my busy suburban children? Well,
no, not really. Did it teach me everything I
didn't know about Judaism? Definitely not.
So ... what then? Well, I think, it was
never only about what we learned, but
also about how we learned — about the
process of ongoing, consistent communal
learning, the commitment to the enduring
effort to sharpen our understanding of
Jewish values so that we can reinforce and
maintain them in the lives of our families.
The Melton PEP program gave me an
understanding that there exists no defini-
tive, universal solution to the challenges of
raising children within the framework of
concrete Jewish standards and principles
in today's often-superficial world.
But it taught me that to navigate
through this constantly changing land-
scape, we each must continually retrofit
the Jewish values that we strive to instill,

and we must remain vigilant in the quest
to continue our Jewish learning and to
maintain a communal educational dia-
logue with our peers. Using those tools,
I will continue to strive to find my own,
personal solutions to this challenge.
As it is taught in Pirkei Avot,"Who is
wise? One who learns from everyone'

PEP participant Sophia Roslin of Bloomfield

Hills gave this speech (excerpted here) on May

30 at the Melton graduation siyyum.

The Florence Melton Parent
Education Program is an adapta-
tion of the Florence Melton Adult
Mini-School curriculum developed at
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The
program is designed especially for
parents of young children ages new-
born through fifth grade.
The two-year curriculum includes
four courses on Jewish holidays
and life cycles; Jewish thought and
belief, history and ethics. For infor-
mation, call the Melton office, (248)
642-4618.

Threat Of A Hegemonic Iran

I

am often asked why the United States
doesn't just end the war now and let
the Iraqis fend for themselves. It is
a tough question. As someone who has
attended the funerals of Michiganians
who have lost their lives in Iraq, I under-
stand the toll this war has taken.
The war effort has been misman-
aged. We have lost thousands of brave
Americans. We have invested significant
amounts of taxpayer money in this cause.
There are emotional and compelling rea-
sons to cut our losses. But we also have
strategic interests on the line that require
us to remain steadfast in our commitment
to defeat the terrorist-supported insur-
gents in Iraq.
One of these interests is the security of
our friend and ally, Israel. Regional insta-
bility in the Middle East threatens Israel
and breeds Islamic-derived terrorism. The
current regime in Teheran is a menace to
free people everywhere. Iran is the leading
state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
Hezbollah, Hamas and Al Qaisda receive
support from the mullahs in Teheran.
The Iranian president continues to
march forward with his nuclear ambitions
in defiance of the international commu-

nity. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is hell-bent
on developing nuclear weapons because
he wants to dominate the Middle East.
If the United States withdraws from Iraq
before the country is secure, Ahmadinejad
and his desire to construct a hegemonic
state will be empowered. Iraq will become
a haven for radical Islamic fundamental-
ists who want to destroy Israel and the
United States.
In recent days, the Iranian president has
declared a countdown to Israel's destruc-
tion and boasted that his regime has no
intention of ending its nuclear program.
With the American public's angst over
Iraq growing, there are voices in the pub-
lic square calling for the United States to
lessen its support of Israel in the futile
hope that doing so would improve rela-
tions with hostile Arab regimes.
This thinking is beyond flawed. There
can be no departure from the special bond
that unites America to Israel. We must
stand together to confront the radical
jihadists who are determined to destroy
our way of life.
I have co-sponsored H.R. 1400, the Iran
Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007. This
legislation, which is a top priority for the

American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, would tighten eco-
nomic sanctions against Iran
and strengthen our hand to
cut off funding for Teheran's
nuclear ambitions.
This bill should be adopted
quickly and the international
community should unite to
apply serious diplomatic pres-
sure on Iran. We must not allow
Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.
The threat of this rogue regime
acting irresponsibly and arming terrorists
with weapons of mass destruction is real
and imminent.
Leadership often requires doing things
that are unpopular. If I were to base my
decisions on the Middle East and national
security solely upon polling data, I would
vote to withdraw our troops from Iraq. But
I think this is the wrong decision at the
wrong time for America.
Without a U.S. presence in Iraq,
the sectarian violence could very well
explode throughout the region. There are
no easy answers to the situation in Iraq.
But we have to be upfront and honest
about the consequences of an American

defeat in this war before we
willingly concede it. One of
these consequences would be a
stronger, more defiant Iran and
an increasingly endangered
Israel.
I have given my condi-
tional support to the Bush
Administration's new Iraq strat-
egy in hopes that it will stabilize
the country and put the Iraqi
government in a position to
assume the security of its own

nation.
A bipartisan vote of Congress has provid-
ed funding for our forces in Iraq through
the end of September.
We should stand united behind our sol-
diers as they fight to defend our interests
and stabilize Iraq. We should not presup-
pose their failure with politically motivat-
ed votes that fracture our resolve to fight
and win the global war on terror. We need
to win in Iraq.
Israel needs us to win in Iraq.

Joe Knollenberg is a U.S. representative rep-
resenting the Ninth Congressional District. His

office is in Farmington Hills.

June 21 . 2007

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