I Can Give Back and Keep it Going Once We’re Gone
Melton (almost) literally fell into Randi Brenowitz’s lap. When a Melton program began “across the parking lot from me” at her workplace, the Palo Alto JCC, she couldn’t not register. Randi had always felt connected to her Jewish roots, and she had taken a class here and there. But the Melton course was different. “It was the container in which I could put all of my Jewish learning and Jewish thinking.”
After graduating Melton’s two-year program, Randi went to Israel on the Capstone seminar. Over breakfast with Melton's International Director at the time, he asked her to review a piece of marketing copy, which she was glad to do. When she sent in her list of edits, she did not expect to hear from Melton again. Randi was surprised but gratified when Melton liked her suggestions so much that they asked her to be on Melton’s alumni association committee. She rose to Vice Chair and currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors.
Before Melton, Randi respected the Jewish texts as profound and hallowed wisdom, but she felt no personal connection to them. Melton made Jewish practice and texts immediate and relevant. She discovered that “if you learn how to think about it, you can find a gem in almost every Parashah (weekly Torah portion).” Randi appreciates how Melton “encourages engagement and questioning,” and “gives learners access to the information with which they can interpret the text to create meaning in their own lives.”
When Randi lost her father, she realized how far Melton had brought her. “When I went to write the eulogy, I didn’t know where to start. I had plenty to say about my dad, but I didn’t know how to hold it. My husband said, ‘You write great Dvar Torahs,’ (talks on Torah topics), so there it was. I was off and running.” Even though Randi had never studied the Parasha for the week her father passed away, Melton had taught her “how to look at the text, how to play with it.” It had given her tools to use her intelligence and creativity in a Jewish context, “which has really enriched my life in amazing ways.”
Randi does not know what Jewish education will look like twenty years from now. But she wants “to do my part to make sure the funding is there so that people who are younger, smarter, and more creative can continue to grow and develop it.” Melton receives Randi’s biggest annual donation, because “it would be ridiculous not to donate,” given her long-standing relationship with the organization and all that it has done for her. She has also included Melton in her will. “When the time comes and my niece, who’s my executrix, sells the house and some of our other assets, Melton will be one of the main beneficiaries.” Randi has no children and sees Melton as her and her husband’s legacy. “This is a way I know I can give back and keep it going once we are gone.”