Highlights from a day in the life…

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Cara Abrams-Simonton

From my blog:

ד׳ באייר תשע״ג
April 14, 2013
יום ראשון Yom Rishon, the first day (of the week) meaning Sunday…

[I’ve decided to try to write seemingly mundane highlights for blog posts from now on since it has been so difficult for me to actually invest time in the extremely detailed descriptions I initially wrote many moons ago.]

I begin my day with the sunshine and birds’ sweet songs streaming into my bedroom from the window which opens onto my balcony.

On my walk to school two high school boys pass me, apparently reviewing for an exam, and I overhear one say to the other, ”רש”י אומר” which means “Rashi says” … Rashi is a French medieval commentator of Jewish text who is seen as the father of all commentators.

Starting last week, balconies and cars began to display Israeli flags in anticipation of the holidays observed this week and next, יום הזכרון, Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day, יום העצמאות, Yom HaAtzmaut, Independence Day, and יום ירושלים, Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day. This morning I noticed even more flags waving in the wind from balconies, in front of schools and businesses… Continue reading →

[PCJE Dvar Torah] A Bridge Between – by Avi Spodek

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Avi Spodek

Over these past few weeks I have been reading Steven R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as part of my coursework in Jewish educational leadership. Covey’s message and delivery are inspiring, and I highly recommend to this book to anyone and everyone. Its main premise is that leaders are most effective when they are, first and foremost, committed to and guided by principles of a universal and eternal character ethic. These principles enable them to prioritize their goals and forge authentic relationships with their colleagues in a way that cultivates their talents and spurs them toward greatness. Ostensibly intended for a business management audience, The Seven Habits has implications for every individual. Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Into This Breach – by Rabbi Joshua Ratner

Posted on April 6, 2013 by admin

R. Joshua Ratner (Pardes Year ’98-’99) is the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Cheshire, CT. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in May 2012, Rabbi Ratner was a Joseph Neubauer Fellow and also earned a Master’s Degree in Midrash and a Certificate in Pastoral Care. He also worked as an attorney for five years prior to entering rabbinical school. He has received training in congregation-based community organizing and was part of the original rabbinical student cohort of Rabbis Without Borders fellows. He and his wife, Dr. Elena Ratner, are the proud parents of Dimitri, Eli, and Gabriella.

“Dad, why did they have to die? Why couldn’t God have just injured them a little bit?” My boys and I were discussing this week’s parashah, Parashat Shmini, in which Aaron’s eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu, get vaporized by Divine fire after offering “alien fire” incense offerings to God (Vayikra 10:1-2). This episode of seemingly extreme, disproportionate punishment for an unclear violation has perplexed commentators for millenia. Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Living Life’s Polarities – Parshat Mishpatim

Posted on February 10, 2013 by admin

Peter Stein (Kollel '09-'11) writes about Parshat Mishpatim:

In this week’s Torah portion, Mishpatim, we find a series of laws dealing with how to respond to the blessings God gives us.

מלאתך ודמעך לא תאחר
בכור בניך תתן־לי
כן־תעשה לשרך לצאנך
שבעת ימים יהיה עם־אמו ביום השמיני תתנו־לי

“You shall not put off the skimming of the first yield of your vats.
You shall give Me the first-born among your sons.
You shall do the same with your cattle and your flocks:
seven days it shall remain with its mother, on the eighth day you shall give it to Me.” (Exodus 22:28-29)

While the language of the latter two commandments in this list is clear, the language of the first commandment in Hebrew is actually very difficult, and it is not exactly clear precisely what the Torah is commanding. Continue reading →

[PCJE Dvar Torah] A Woman’s Insight by David Bogomolny

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Bogo

This week we are starting the sefer (book) of Shemot (Exodus), which literally means ‘names’. The weekly parasha is also called Shemot. I mention this because the first name that comes to my mind when I read this parasha is ‘Isra Yaghoubi’ (Year ’08-’09, Fellows ’09-’10). She was my first Chumash havruta, and she left me with many clever Torah insights and lots of fond memories. This dvar Torah is l’zchutah (for her merit).

The section of Parshat Shemot that I’d like to focus on is at the beginning of Perek Bet (Chapter two) of Sefer Shemot:

א. וַיֵּלֶךְ אִישׁ, מִבֵּית לֵוִי; וַיִּקַּח, אֶת-בַּת-לֵוִי	1. And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.
ב. וַתַּהַר הָאִשָּׁה, וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן; וַתֵּרֶא אֹתוֹ כִּי-טוֹב הוּא, וַתִּצְפְּנֵהוּ שְׁלֹשָׁה יְרָחִים	2. And the woman conceived, and bore a son; and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.
Continue reading →

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Stu Jacobs — A Special Connection

Posted on December 21, 2012 by admin

Parshat VaYigash has for a long time been a parsha that I have a special connection with. Not only is it my bar mitzvah parsha (20 years ago this year), but it was also the parsha the week following my wedding. After our wedding in Los Angeles, Aviva and I, who had met in Jerusalem the year I spent studying at Pardes, decided to finish out our week of sheva brachot in Israel. As such, we arranged Shabbat morning services in the Beit Midrash of Pardes, where we would be able to gather our friends together to celebrate and I would also be able to read the entirety of my bar mitzvah parsha. I mention this also as some of the insights I will attempt to share below were inspired by the words of my dear friend, Aharon Horwitz, who gave a dvar torah on a similar topic that very Shabbat morning in honor of our week of sheva brachot.

At this point in Sefer Breishit, we are nearing the end of the personal stories of the avot and imahot, soon to transition to the national narrative of the Israelite people. The past number of chapters have been focused on the story of Yosef and his brothers, culminating in this week’s parsha, during which Yosef finally reveals himself to his brothers after putting them (and, knowingly or unknowingly, his father) through tremendous emotional upheaval. With the reunification of the brothers complete, the spotlight then returns to Yaakov (by now renamed “Yisrael”), the last of the forefathers. Before this reappearance, Yaakov had virtually disappeared from the narrative after the tragic disappearance of Yosef, the first and treasured son of Yaakov’s beloved wife, Rahel. In fact, Continue reading →

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Aviva Golbert — Oak of Weeping

Posted on November 30, 2012 by admin

While this week’s parsha, VaYishlach, includes some of our tradition’s high-points (Jacob struggles with an angel and prevails! Jacob’s name is changed to Israel and he is blessed with land and progeny!) as well as some of its low-points (the rape of Dinah; Reuben sleeping with his father’s handmaid, Bilhah), my favorite verse in VaYishlach is probably one of its most overlooked and underrated ones:

Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse, died, and was buried under the oak below Beit El; so it was named Alon-Bachut (the Oak of Weeping).

Genesis 35:8

I take such pleasure in this verse because, in just 14 short words, among so many stories of family opposition and devastation, a real love story is told.

Who was this Deborah? Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Sarah Mulhern on Parashat Lech Lecha

Posted on October 23, 2012 by admin

Sarah Mulhern (Year Program ’09, Fellows ’10) shares her dvar Torah for Parashat Lech Lecha with These&Those. This commentary is provided by special arrangement with American Jewish World Service. To learn more, visit www.ajws.org.

Lech Lecha

One of the things I find most inspiring about studying Torah is that the biblical characters are human. They may be our valorized, mythical ancestors, but they also consistently make mistakes, leaving a record of paradigmatic human foibles from which we can learn. There is one biblical failure, however, that I have always struggled to understand as a useful example. It occurs Continue reading →

Shofar and God’s Love of Israel

Posted on September 10, 2012 by admin

by Rabbi Alex Israel
Cross-posted from his blog Thinking Israel

On the one hand, the cycle of the Jewish year is predictable and familiar: The solemnity of Yom Kippur, the smells and feel of the Sukka and the 4 species, the warmth and intimacy of Hannuka, Purim’s raucous frivolity, the tunes and tastes of Seder night, the lilt of Eikha on the 9th of Av, and so forth. We know what to anticipate, and we look forward to the special atmosphere that each holiday brings.

And yet, each year is unique. Something is happening in my life this year that is different from last year. As individuals, we face new concerns and challenges; our health, our finances, our family undergo change and development. Our insights expand us, new experiences unlock fresh emotions and understanding. Nationally, the challenges of Israel and the Jewish people shift and fluctuate with time. And so, in some way, each year is experienced anew.

And so, looking towards Rosh Hashanna, I found myself seeking an insight that will generate new kavanna, a fresh perspective to inspire the powerful davening experience of the day. I would like to share the following idea which has excited me this year. I hope it will affect you as well. Continue reading →

Dvar Torah for Shoftim

Posted on August 26, 2012 by Derek

This week was my last back at my shul Young People’s Synagogue, which last year, raised around $7,000 to send me to Pardes for a year. Yesterday, I delivered this speech to let them know how their investment turned out.

So, how have you all been? For those who don’t know, from September through the end of May, thanks largely to the generosity of YPS, I was living in Jerusalem studying Torah at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, the world’s only non-denominational co-ed yeshiva and widely considered to be the world’s greatest yeshiva above a Mazda dealership. Then from June 8 through August 12, I worked as the mashgiach at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin.

I’ll sum up my experience at camp with the following anecdote: When I told my Rosh Yeshiva at Pardes, Rabbi Danny Landes, that I got the job, but I was nervous since I had never been a mashgiach before, he asked, “Are you a detail-oriented person?” “Yes,” I said “Are you paranoid?” “I’m Jewish,” I said. “I think you’ll do fine.” He was right, I loved my job.

But your investment was in Pardes, so that’s what I’m going to talk about. Continue reading →

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