These and Those

Hebrew has traditionally been written without vowels, allowing us freedom to make connection between different words with the same constantans but different pronunciations.
Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: “Scholars increase peace throughout the world” (and what is the scriptural proof of this?) for it is said in Isaiah: “All your children [...]

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Well, we seem to have taken a bit of a vacation here at These and Those, but I think it’s high time that the blog gets back in action.
A few weeks ago, I was innocently walking down the hallway when I heard a phrase that will always strike fear into my heart – “Naomi, can [...]

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The Learnathon for Haiti was last night, and it was a rousing success.  Some of Pardes’ best teachers taught amazing shiurim looking at many of the most challenging issues surrounding social justice and tzedakah, particularly in regards to imperatives for giving tzedakah to non-Jews and how we balance our finite resources.
The Beit Midrash is usually [...]

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Pardes is a very academic institution, which puts tremendous emphasis upon Jewish text study. Morning classes alternate between Talmud (or Mishnah) study & Chumash study, and the afternoon classes, which are subject-based, are also grounded in Jewish texts (Tanakh, Mishnah Berurah, Midrash, etc.).
Unlike some other traditional Jewish learning institutions, Pardes does not aim to encourage [...]

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Pardes alumna Noga Fisher & her husband Warren joined us on the 2010 Poland Trip. Here are her thoughts:
“It’s been a month since our trip. During our intense 5 days I felt numb much of the time. But since then I have been thawing, thinking and feeling, and the process is far from over.
I keep [...]

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This will likely be my final note on the Pardes ‘10 Poland Trip. We’ll see.
Much of what I’ve reflected upon has been inspired by R. Levi Cooper, and I’m particularly appreciative of his emphasis on the wealth of Eastern European Jewish culture before the Shoah. We spent much of our final day touring the Jewish [...]

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Hello faithful readers! This is a short post to inform you about the Pardes Learn-A-Thon, going on from now until February 24th to raise money for Haiti’s earthquake relief efforts through AJWS. We’ll be taking on extra learning above and beyond our classroom hours on topics of tzedakah and tikkun olam.
Please check out [...]

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“Today was a good day.”
It’s not often that I find myself able to unequivocally utter these words.  But every once and a while, a day comes along that is so good that there is nothing left to say.
Today was a good day because it was the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar – I happen [...]

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Auschwitz I (the main Auschwitz camp) has been turned into a museum.
I have photographs of the museum displays at Auschwitz I… photographs of human hair and human hair woven into cloth, of spectacles, frames, and lenses, of tallitot (plural form of tallit), of bowls, plates, and cups, of prosthetic limbs and canes, of suitcases with [...]

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A poem inspired by the 2010 Pardes Poland trip by Cheryl Stone:MAJDANEK

Breathe deeply my dear
  Breathe
We have long since been forgotten
  Breathe
They will not remember

The guard tower watches over us
  Protecting
The city pulses nearby

But we are already dead
  Breathe

The light brushing of blue
  on the walls
  on the ceiling
small, crisp, cool sky
Visions of poppies, peonies, [...]

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