These and Those

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

Tag Archives: balance

[PCJE] Parshat Yitro: The Model of Nationhood

Posted on February 6, 2015 by Daniella Adler

In this week’s parsha, פרשת יתרו, God tells Moshe ואתם תהיו–לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, “and you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). What does this statement mean?

Jerusalem Diaries #8….Study, study, and more study!

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Ariella Siegel

From my blog: September already! Time flies when you’re being Jewy, I suppose. What a whirlwind! And I’m exhausted! Last we left off, it was orientation and more orientation and lots more orientation and then shabbat. The contrast between doing, doing, doing and then not doing at all (except actually doing, because Shabbos is a Continue Reading »

iGemara?

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Tani Cohen-Fraade

From my blog: A question that is a very hot topic right now in Jewish education is about what the role of technology should be in the Jewish classroom. It was once a given that Jewish learning was being done in physical books. Enter the Xerox machine. All of a sudden, we don’t need to Continue Reading »

Volunteering & “La’asok b’Divrei Torah”

Posted on May 23, 2014 by Deborah Renert

Every morning when we recite Birchat haTorah we say “Blessed are You, HaShem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us “la’asok b’divrei Torah.” It has always struck me that this blessing could have utilized clearer wording if it were meant to refer specifically to studying Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Eli Witkin

Posted on March 16, 2014 by Sara Spanjer

Want to learn a ditty or two from the tallest guy at Pardes? Eli Witkin is your man! He loves and knows probably every song in the Pardes bencher, and he’s a patient and wonderful teacher. It seems the only thing that may distract Eli from his intense studying is music. If music is playing Continue Reading »

My Trip to Germany

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Benjamin Friedman

“Without a profound simplification the world around us would be an infinite, undefined tangle that would defy our ability to orient ourselves and decide upon our actions…. We are compelled to reduce the knowable to a schema.” -Primo Levi The above quotation by Holocaust survivor Primo Levi says something profound yet simple about human nature Continue Reading »

Life is a journey, God is the guide

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Melissa Scholten-Gutierrez

Today in Neima’s Chumash class, we were asked to think / write about how we view or relate to God as part of a discussion about revelation. I had to (sadly) admit to myself that I don’t really think about God on a regular basis, I have just internalized the relationship as a part of Continue Reading »

Social Justice Track|Dvrei Tzedek

Posted on October 15, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: You can’t really know me at this point and not know that I spent a summer in Uganda working for the American Jewish World Service or AJWS. If that’s the case, we should talk some more! AJWS is a non-profit organization supported mostly by American Jewry that works to realize human rights and Continue Reading »

What Sarah thinks Judaism Has to Say About….

Posted on October 7, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: RELATIONSHIPS. Relationships with just anyone and relationships with Hashem. I’m hoping that if I sit down at the end of the day to try and process all of my thoughts and create a semi-coherent train of thought, it will help me to sort the things that I’ve learned and retain the information better. Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] In the Balance

Posted on August 25, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

X-posted from Eryn London’s blog post: [expand title=”Click for Eryn’s bio”] Eryn London (Summer ’06 & ’07, Community Education ’10, Year ’10-’11, Hourly ’11-’12) made Aliya from New Jersey three years ago. She is currently studying in the Manhiga Hilchatit Program at Midreshet Lindenbaum, which is a 5 year advanced Halacha learning program. Beyond learning Continue Reading »