Hope Melton

Mussar brings meaning, inspiration, joy, and spiritual grounding into all aspects of Hope’s life. Her Mussar teaching is dedicated to the Jewish covenantal obligation to care for the Other—at the individual, community, and societal levels. Her goal is to promote a more equitable, just, and sustainable society based on Jewish ethical values, sacred teachings, and practices. The obligation to care for the Other led Hope, in her retirement, to create Edina Neighbors for Affordable Housing. She has led this effort for the past five years, in partnership with Jewish Community Action and the Suburban Hennepin Housing Coalition.

Hope has over 30 years teaching experience including: high school history and social studies, English and Swedish for immigrants with the Civil Service Adult Education Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, and serving as adjunct faculty at St. Catherine and St. Thomas Universities. She holds two Master’s degrees: one in History from Northwestern University and one in City & Regional Planning (MCRP), with a concentration in social policy, from Rutgers University. She worked as an urban planner in the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Ramsey County, and she lives in the City of Edina, MN.