Student Profile: Marshall Medoff, Master of Arts in Jewish Studies
By Paula Jacobs

• Profession: Jewish Educator
• Aspiration: Rabbi or Jewish Communal Professional
• Residence: Ashburn, Virginia
• Gratz Online: “The online Master's Degree in Jewish Studies program that Gratz offers allows me to both study and pursue a life away from the books.  Gratz's program has been worth more than I can put into words.”

When Marshall Medoff graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. with a degree in computer science, he logically pursued a career as a computer programmer and remained in the industry for twenty years. Today, Marshall has embarked on another career path. To help prepare him for this, he is matriculated into the Master of Arts in Jewish Studies program at Gratz Online, the virtual campus of Philadelphia-based Gratz College.
 
This journey began when he was laid off from a job in the technology field. Instead of returning to school to update his technological skills, Marshall decided to finally realize his life-time dream – to work for the Jewish community. “I then decided that if I needed to go back to school, I would study something that would be more meaningful to me than technology,” he says.

Admittedly, Marshall was somewhat apprehensive about graduate school:  He had spent little time in a classroom since receiving his undergraduate degree, and his last formal Jewish education had ended after religious school confirmation at a Conservative synagogue in Port Washington, Long Island, New York, where he grew up.

As a first step, Marshall signed up for conversational Hebrew classes at the
Washington, DC JCC. In fall 2005, he furthered his ambitions by enrolling in graduate studies program through Gratz Online, with the ultimate goal of becoming a rabbi or Jewish communal professional. Last summer, he spent 10 weeks in an intensive Hebrew language program at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.

This journey reflects a lifetime commitment to the Jewish community. As a teenager, Marshall was very involved in his synagogue leading Shabbat services and chanted from the Torah. Nearly a dozen years ago, when he and his wife became members of Beth Chaverim, a Reform congregation in Ashburn, Virginia, he joined the synagogue board and became ritual chair soon after. His involvement has grown in many ways: he has led services, taught in the religious school, facilitated discussion groups, and tutored Bar and Bat Mitzvah students.

Marshall’s aspiration to a greater professional role in the Jewish community reflects a number of personal influences over the course of his life: the cantor who tutored him for his bar mitzvah and numerous rabbis and congregants with whom he has worked over the years. “To be a Jewish communal professional or lay leader is to interact with many levels of the Jewish community and they were all influences in my life,” he says.

When not studying at Gratz, Marshall keeps busy with a full schedule of family, volunteer and synagogue responsibilities.  Last fall, he completed a 14-week chaplaincy course at the local hospital where he volunteers two hours a week

 “The online Master's Degree in Jewish Studies program that Gratz offers allows me to both study and pursue a life away from the books.  Gratz's program has been worth more than I can put into words,” says this married father of two.

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