Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on August 5, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Scene: Campers and counselors are sitting on a grassy knoll partaking in Wednesday night barbecue. (R is an 8-year-old female camper.) R: Why do you always wear skirts? Counselor: Uhhhhh…… Because I’m religious. Because I’m Jewish. Because I’m a woman. Because of modesty. R: What’s that? Counselor: Tzniut. Umm… it means that Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: One of my close friends recently told me that I will forever be in her heart as her “mechitza-going-skirt-wearing-early-morning partner in crime Judaism.” This epigraph described our year at Pardes perfectly: we were two of the three women who regularly attended mechitza minyan; we wore skirts on a daily basis (and even Continue Reading »
Posted on April 5, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: (No, not cleaning the kitchen in my underwear. I’m not that much of an exhibitionist. And it wasn’t even my kitchen, so cleaning in my underwear might have been a wee bit inappropriate.) Thank goodness for Passover, the holiday without which most Jews would never clean their kitchens. But in preparation for the holiday that requires Continue Reading »
Posted on February 26, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: What is the purpose of a story? To be re-written, of course! Below, I have composed a re-telling of one of the most famous stories in Jewish tradition. It is originally found in the Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Bava Metzia, page 59), and I recently learned it from a new angle with one Continue Reading »
Posted on February 12, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: וְהַ֨לֻּחֹ֔ת מַֽעֲשֵׂ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים הֵ֑מָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּ֗ב מִכְתַּ֤ב אֱלֹהִים֙ ה֔וּא חָר֖וּת עַל־הַלֻּחֹֽת “And the tablets were a work of God; the writing was the writing of God; it was carved on the tablets.” (Exodus 32:16) Moses has smashed the first set of tablets. He has pleaded with God to spare the Jewish people or Continue Reading »
Posted on January 26, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I have been living in Israel for 10 months, and everyone knows what happens after 10 months in a foreign country: you go broke and finally start paying attention to the foreign country’s politics. In addition to that, your parents come to visit! It had been five months since I had physically Continue Reading »
Posted on December 27, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: On Tuesday night, I went to Bethlehem. Growing up in America, all I saw of Christmas were signs reading “Buy One get One FREE” and “Sale: 70% mark down! 5-7am only!!” All I saw was consumerism and a huge traffic jam outside of the church. But this year I’m in the Middle Continue Reading »
Posted on December 12, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Yesterday, Pardes had a MASA adventure. Oh boy, oh boy. Teaming up with HUC (Hebrew Union College), CY (Conservative Yeshiva), and JTS (Jewish Theological Seminary), we commandeered four buses and headed to Tel Aviv. The point of the adventure? To learn about “Jewish Renewal” in Tel Aviv. Contrary to my previous belief, Continue Reading »
Posted on November 23, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: In college, Shabbat was always the most social time of the week. I spent Sunday through Friday holed up in my room reading 19th century literature, tucked into a corner of the library writing short stories about God, or sitting studiously in a PowerPoint-endowed classroom, furiously scribbling notes. On Shabbat, I would Continue Reading »
Posted on October 25, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
(Read it on my blog) A Haredi, a kibbutznik, and a Muslim walk into a bar. (beat) Mashiach comes!! Well, I don’t know what would actually happen; I never actually saw the three of them in the same room at the same time. And now for some context: This Tuesday, I went on a tiyul with Continue Reading »
