Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 30, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
Last week’s Parsha ends with Moshe going up to HaShem on Har Sinai to receive the tables with the teachings and commandments. Our Parsha starts with HaShem telling Moshe to instruct B’nei Yisrael to bring “me” (HaShem) gifts which Moshe will collect. דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ-לִי תְּרוּמָה: מֵאֵת כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ, תִּקְחוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמָתִי. (שמות Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
I was recently in Istanbul with the group of students from Pardes and I stayed after to see my friends who are living there. (Six years ago I lived and studied in Istanbul.) I stayed in my friend’s apartment and I stayed through another Shabbat. At first I was nervous because I didn’t want anyone Continue Reading »
Posted on January 18, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
Shabbat at Etz Hayim in Ortakoy – Shabbat came with a lot of logistical coordinations, it was hard to arrive Thursday and then jump into Shabbat as foreigners, but the Etz Hayim community welcomed us and Rabbi Cooper with open arms. We had a wonderful Kabbalat Shabbat mixed with traditional sephardi tunes and then Eli Witkin led Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
I presented this on our ’14 trip to Turkey: The first commandment Bnei Israel was given as a people was: שמות יב:ב הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים: רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה. Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Continue Reading »
Posted on January 10, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
Tonight, I am sharing this dvar with the communityof Istanbul tonight on Shabbat: When I think about Turkey, and specifically visiting Turkey, I think about hospitality. I have lived in a lot of places and countries, but no place in the world receives guests like Turks. Some may argue that it’s because of Islam: Muhammad Continue Reading »
Posted on December 28, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: This isn’t the first time I have written about The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and honestly, it probably won’t be the last. Today, Shabbat, Parsha Va’Eira, was very special. There was a Bar Mitzvah of Avi, a son of one my teachers at Pardes, Meesh Hammer Kossoy. I have no idea Continue Reading »
Posted on December 16, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
There was something very special about this morning’s davening (praying) that I don’t always feel. But it started way before my friend started to sing pesukei d’zimra (the opening blessings). This morning wasn’t your average morning, yes, we came early for davening at 7am like other days, but it was difficult. After the Jerusalem snow Continue Reading »
Posted on December 13, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
There is a very famous story about Hillel, which follows: “Most famous perhaps is the incident which occurred before his rise to leadership, when he was not yet a scholar, but had a burning desire to study Torah. At that time, Torah study was tightly controlled and limited only to those of the highest caliber Continue Reading »
Posted on December 12, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
We have a snow day, but we’re staying warm with Torah! Pardes’ beit midrash is full! Not only that, we even came early to daven. Talk about dedication. No better place to study. Thank you, Pardes community!
Posted on December 10, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: Beyond my time studying Torah at Pardes, I am in my fourth season refereeing American football in Israel. I have seen a lot of amazing things, bones breaking, players helping each other, Christians, Jews and Muslims gaining respect for each other on a field. But this past Thursday topped all of these Continue Reading »
