These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Archive: January 2015

[PCJE] We Return

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Samantha Vinokor

Under the night sky, lit only by stars, we return. None of us have been here before, to this town trapped in time, and yet our presence here is a return. We come as a memory of what once was, confronting the sky, the trees, and the houses with each footstep. On a footpath in Continue Reading »

The Reality of Dreams

Posted on December 9, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor

Parshat Vayeshev is bookended by accounts of dreams. It opens with Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, sharing his dream with his brothers: (ה) וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם יוֹסֵף֙ חֲל֔וֹם וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֕א הַחֲל֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלָֽמְתִּי׃ (ז) וְ֠הִנֵּה אֲנַ֜חְנוּ מְאַלְּמִ֤ים אֲלֻמִּים֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֛ה קָ֥מָה אֲלֻמָּתִ֖י וְגַם־נִצָּ֑בָה וְהִנֵּ֤ה תְסֻבֶּ֙ינָה֙ אֲלֻמֹּ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם Continue Reading »

[PCJE] Bursting the Pardes Bubble

Posted on October 21, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor

“It’s a mitzvah!” Over sukkot, I found myself in New York, running through Union Square to meet a friend. I was running late, laden down with packages (a necessity of every visit to Manhattan), when I was stopped by a man holding a lulav and etrog and asking every passerby who’d listen if they were Continue Reading »

[PCJE] The Heart of Israel

Posted on September 22, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor

I struggle deeply with my feelings about Jerusalem. For years, I felt like I didn’t “get it.” I didn’t understand that feeling that I heard people talk about. That sense of holiness, of connection to God, which they only experience here. While others longed for Jerusalem, my mythical city was Tel Aviv. The fast-paced, modern Continue Reading »

[PCJE] Opening my Heart in Jerusalem

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor

Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. – Abraham Joshua Heschel When Heschel described radical amazement, he could easily have been speaking about the initial euphoria that people experience Continue Reading »