These and Those

Tweet

Read Full Post »

Dear G-d, I’m going to write to You now to review our shared experience of the last hour. I preceded my hitbodidut discussion with a quiet meditation in the yard by my apartment. I meditated for twenty five minutes or so, and I was very pleased to find that my alarm signaled the end of [...]

Read Full Post »

This was it. This was the part of the trip that I had most been afraid of. I had always been afraid of visiting this place, it was part of the reason I had delayed going to Poland until now. The name that is engraved on the heart of every Jew: Auschwitz. I have always [...]

Read Full Post »

Many of us who fall under the label ‘modern liberal Jew’  view women’s role (or lack thereof) in traditional Judaism to be a serious affront to our notions of egalitarianism.  ‘How can it be’ we ask, ‘that anyone could live in a Western democracy in the 21st century and subject women to secondary-citizen status in [...]

Read Full Post »

“I’m very adamant about a pluralistic model of Jewish practice.” -Stu Jacobs In 5th grade, a teacher inspired Stu Jacobs to explore and gradually start keeping more mitzvot, and throughout his youth the young man strived to connect to and practice a new mitzvah every single year. His teacher had said that ‘he didn’t have [...]

Read Full Post »

I am so nervous, and so excited! I am flying in two days to the US for student teaching! I am really lucky since I will be able to see my family first in Chicago before going to Philadelphia, but then it will be down to business! I am so excited to see what a [...]

Read Full Post »

Last weekend, I spent a lovely Shabbat in the holy city of Hevron.  What a place! The four Pardesniks that went were a tour de force of “peace and conflict.”  Personally, I made it my duty to wear a huge smile and say hello to every person I happened across, be they Jew, Arab or [...]

Read Full Post »

Tweet

Read Full Post »

The shift from first semester to second semester started during our week off when half of Pardes went on a tiyul to the Arava desert. I’m not a hiking fan, but I love the desert in Israel and have always felt connected to it. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to reflect on my [...]

Read Full Post »

(Mostly X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) * For Tuesday’s group lecture, Robby Berman, head of the Halakhic Organ Donor Society came to give a riveting, inspiring, infuriating talk. I’ll sum it up in brief: There is no valid Jewish (or non-Jewish) reason to not save lives by being an organ donor. If [...]

Read Full Post »