metro

Line By Line

Group completes 10-year study project.

Barbara Lewis
Contributing
Writer
I

T

hey got together in two groups
nearly 10 years ago for a "gradu-
ate" course at the Florence Melton
School of Adult Jewish Education. One
group met for the first time on Thursday
morning, Sept. 8, 2005, and another met
that evening.
The course was called "Torah Line by
Line" and participants, led by instructor
Mitch Parker, Ph.D., set out to read and
discuss every word of the Five Books of
Moses.
Like the Energizer Bunny, the class
keeps going. A few weeks ago, they read
and discussed the last verse: "... and for all
the great might and awesome power that
Moses displayed before all Israel:'
Having finished the Torah, they're now
studying the Prophets, though teacher
Parker promises the reading will go a little
faster: chapter-by-chapter, he says, rather
than line-by-line.
Some of the students come from Reform
and Conservative congregations; some are
unaffiliated. They range in age from their
mid-40s to their mid-80s. About half were
in the original group; the others joined
later. Almost all are Melton program
graduates.

Sunday Mornings
Since 2009, the 23 women and one man
have been meeting on Sunday mornings,
first at Congregation B'nai Israel and
now at Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield.
That's because for the past seven years

Parker has been commuting back to his
West Bloomfield home on weekends from
Toronto, where he worked as principal of a
day school for children with special needs.
This summer, to the relief of his wife,
Cheryl, he plans to return to Detroit full
time. He'll practice as a child psychologist
in West Bloomfield and continue to teach
through the Melton program.
"Mitch Parker has guided us and facili-
tated our class these 10 years in a way that
is tolerant of all points of view:' said Sue
Birnholz of Sylvan Lake. "We have all
grown in endless ways during this time
period, and really learned a lot about each
other and ourselves:'
When student Florence Lopatin broke
her hip recently, Lisa Berman visited after
class to keep her up to date, said Birnholz.
Snowbird Gail Langer often attended
class via Skype during her winter stay in
Arizona.
"Sadly, Dolores Curiel died a few years
ago; she was one of the originals:' Birnholz
said. "And even though we knew nobody
in her family, we paid a shivah call because
she was part of our family."
Berman joked that the women in the
class have become so close they've started
wearing the same color clothing. Indeed,
of the 17 women in the class on a recent
Sunday, six were wearing purple and four
were wearing pink.
Most of the students say the class's lon-
gevity is thanks to Parker.
"I'm a retired teacher, and I can tell
you Mitch is a great teacher; said Mona
Greenbaum of West Bloomfield. "He
always comes prepared, and he has an
amazing store of knowledge. He's a teach-

The Sunday morning Torah study group is proud to have learned the Torah line by
line over nearly 10 years.

26

May 21 • 2015

Teacher Mitch Parker, right, discusses a point with some of his students.

er's teacher!"
For some of the students, Melton and its
graduate programs were an introduction
to Jewish learning.
As a child I was the only Jew in my
classroom, and I didn't get any Jewish
education because my parents just didn't
believe it was important for girls:' said
Gail Katz of West Bloomfield. "I've always
wanted to learn more about my faith tradi-
tion and this class has helped me do that:'
Others found value despite having had a
strong Jewish education.
"I had an extensive Hebrew educa-
tion as a child so I didn't expect to learn
that much, but it's totally different to
learn as an adult; you see things through
adult eyes:' said Sharon Klein of West
Bloomfield.
When the line-by-line study began,
Parker told the group the process would
take at least five years.
Sometimes the class spent the entire
session discussing a single line. Sometimes
they made it through an entire page. They
read the text in English, with frequent ref-
erence to the original Hebrew.

Members engage in a spirited discussion.

"The discussion is always fascinating;
said Sharon Alterman of West Bloomfield.
"I always come away learning something:'
Parker is impressed with his students'
dedication. "I didn't think people would
come on a Sunday morning:' he said.
He encourages the students to bring in
their own books and commentaries and to
contribute to the discussion.
The most important point he hoped
to impart, he said, is that "the Torah
speaks to all of us, with multiple perspec-
tives. There's not any one correct answer.
Everyone here has something to offer"
Roger Black of Farmington Hills, who
attends with his wife, Leslie, seems to
enjoy being the only male student in the
class.
"With all these intelligent women here,
I've learned to become a very good lis-
tener," he said.
The class will celebrate its accomplish-
ment in completing the Torah with a
"siyyum" on Sunday, June 14. They'll meet
for food and study and welcome Rabbi
Jeffrey Falick of the Birmingham Temple
as guest speaker.

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