Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 1, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Alissa Thomas (Spring ’11) blogs about relating to Jewish Converts, inspired by her own father: There is nothing like seeing my father dressed head to toe in all white. His soul hearkens to the time of the Kabbalistic rabbis who, draped in white clothing, would sing Kabbalat Shabbat in the fields. I imagine my father in his Shabbat white Continue Reading »
Posted on November 19, 2012 by David Bogomolny
I shared the following vort at night seder tonight: Parshat Vayeitzei opens and closes with Ya’akov erecting a מצבה (monument) made of a single אבן (rock). These scenes beautifully bookend a significant period of Ya’akov’s life, during which he builds his family of twelve children (Binyamin hasn’t been born yet) with his two wives and their two Continue Reading »
Posted on September 20, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
parshat ki tavo, in which God reveals His master plan of divine reward and punishment, is a doozy to read. and by doozy, i mean incredibly difficult and theologically challenging. God unleases a litany of curses that will befall the israelites if they fail to obey the covenant. and lest you think “hey, this curse Continue Reading »
Posted on September 6, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this week’s parshat re’eh teaches a bit of the old mixed with some of the new. the old: don’t worship other gods. this is something pretty fundamental to our covenant with God that we’ve covered several times over in other places of the Torah. however, the bit of the new: don’t worship אלוהים אחרים אשר Continue Reading »
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parshat va’etchanan, moshe attempts to perform the greatest magic trick of all time: to convince an entire nation, to truly make them believe, that they were all somewhere where they were not. the ideas of forgetting and remembering dominate this parsha in which once again moshe details all the laws and decrees Continue Reading »
Posted on August 6, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I am writing to you this week from my home in Toronto. It’s hard to believe that July has come and gone and the summer is starting to come to a close. I know none of us want to hear that, but it’s the truth. If you think July flew by, August will Continue Reading »
Posted on May 17, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in parshat behukkotai, God makes us an offer we can’t forget. on one hand, if we follow all of His Laws and observe all of His commandments, all will be right in the world. abounding peace, a land free of enemies, produce to our hearts’ content. however, if we spurn Him, if we disobey His Continue Reading »
Posted on April 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Moadim l’simcha! (This is a special greeting for the interim days-chol hamoed-between the Yom Tov at the beginning and end of Pesach, or Sukkot.) I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the crunchy taste of matzah this Passover. I was fortunate to spend the Seder with my friends and my sister Continue Reading »
Posted on February 20, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, What a week of learning, both inside and outside the walls of Pardes! A particular highlight for me was picking oranges for an organization called Leket Israel, which provides for Israeli children who are hungry and/or do not received proper nutrition. This volunteering project was organized by Pardes students in loving memory of Continue Reading »
