These and Those

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

Tag Archives: childhood / children

[Student Profile] Tamar Landau

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Barer

Tamar views her Jewish journey as a work in progress, or, as Zvi Hirschfield suggests, that of a Gemara sugiyah.  As a child growing up in Los Angeles, she went to Hebrew school three days a week and was ‘that kid’ who loved it.  Perhaps Jewish education’s emphasis on modern Hebrew at the time made Continue Reading »

Celebrating Robby Grossman’s Newborn Daughter

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Andrea Wiese

Pardes is excited to welcome Bracha Ariel to our community! MAZAL TOV to Robby Grossman and the Grossman family! 😀

My Child, The Holocaust Denier

Posted on April 19, 2012 by Barer

Andrew Lustig’s latest poem, performed in Pardes in honor of Yom HaShoah

Big Questions

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Jackie F.

I wrote this upon exploring the Israeli narrative with Perspectives Israel: I made aliyah 2.5 years ago. Someday (G-d willing) I will be a mom – a mom to sabras. It will be my turn to directly shape the next generation of Israel. What will I say when they ask about the Separation Barrier? What Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Storytelling

Posted on March 20, 2012 by David Bogomolny

My mother tells me that when I was a child, I would stand on the perimeter of the playground, mouth agape, watching the children play with one another. She’d have to nudge me towards them before I’d move. In retrospect, I think I went through my childhood feeling overwhelmed by sensory and emotional inputs. Every Continue Reading »

Week 26: Making a Lasting Impression

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Derek Kwait

When I woke up to a snowstorm this morning, I was so happy I could dance. It wasn’t just snow, it was big-flaked, sticky snow, the kind you could make snowballs out of were there enough of it, and it looked for all the world like there would be before too long. I grabbed my Continue Reading »

Genesis 16: Narrative

Posted on February 23, 2012 by aliza

This semester I am taking a course in Peace and Conflict.  Recently we have been talking about the power of narrative to color, and help resolve conflict.  The challenge is always to understand the narrative of both sides so well that you see them in their highest light.  In order to begin this work, we Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Stu Jacobs

Posted on February 21, 2012 by David Bogomolny

“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 Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Joseph Shamash

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Barer

Joseph is a Persian Cowboy.  He was born in Dallas, Texas to immigrant parents from Iran.  He and his older brother David attended the Akiba Academy of Dallas, an Orthodox day school, through Joseph’s middle school years.  When he was eleven, Joseph’s parents decided to move to LA to be closer to family, where he Continue Reading »

Week 23: Planting Seeds

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Derek Kwait

(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) Some of my fondest Jewish childhood memories are of Tu B’Shvat. Every year in Sunday School, we at Beth Israel Center threw a huge seder, with tens of species of exotic and familiar fruits, and a student-made Hagadda. Every year I looked forward to watching the grape Continue Reading »