Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
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 November 16, 2012 by Aliza Geller
When I was asked to write a Dvar Torah for Parshat Toldot, two memories came to mind: The first, was from when I was in forth grade, at Solomon Schechter of Bergen County, in New Milford, New Jersey. For certain Parshiot, we were assigned to do a project, Parshat Toldot was mine. I made my Continue Reading »
Posted on November 8, 2012 by Derek Kwait
“Oh, so you’ve been here [almost a year/two years]! So are you planning on making aliyah?,” they say, bearing their teeth and gently lifting their eyebrows in anticipation of the upcoming hearty “Mazel tov!” they’re sure to owe me. “No.” “Oh,” this is less an expression than the sound a face makes as it falls. Continue Reading »
Posted on October 20, 2012 by Mary Brett Koplen
Originally posted on CowBird. Har Nof, Jerusalem: a village of the black-hatted and side-locked sort of faithful, and these are the people we pass this Saturday evening. We walk through the middle of the street, knowing there will be no cars, that the stores will all be closed. I turn to my brother-in-law, his black Continue Reading »
Posted on October 18, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
In memory/honor of Leibka Feiga bat Chanoch A”H (Laura Faye Topper) This week marks the 9th anniversary of my mother-in-law’s passing. Laura suffered most of her adult life from Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body and causes – amongst other symptoms – visual disturbances, muscle Continue Reading »
Posted on October 17, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Bruce Shaffer was raised in an assimilation-bent household in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Northwest Detroit, fairly typical of what he saw around him. His curiosity for Jewish learning and Jewish text was seeded at his Hebrew school. There was no core of professional Jewish faculty – Bruce’s teachers were mostly Yiddish-speaking European refugees, and Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Last year was my blogging year. This year is the one where I step aside and help other people blog Pardes. This suits me just fine since this is also the year where I have no time to blog (almost). It occurred to me, however, that if I am to run this blog, then I Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2012 by Lauren Schuchart
I have decided that Sukkot is my favorite holiday to celebrate in Israel. Appreciating the simplicity of life. Showing gratitude for our blessings. Being in the great outdoors. Quality time with friends. An offensive amount of food. A reason for my family to say, “a week off from school? come home and get a job!” Continue Reading »
Posted on September 25, 2012 by Stuart Matan Lithwick
(Cross-posted from my blog) Hello world! This is the first post of my first ever blog on my first studymoon with the first person in my life, Annie. This first month has gone by so incredibly fast, and so much has happened, I hope I can capture at least some of it here. Jerusalem is Continue Reading »
Posted on September 14, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Over the summer, I worked for an amazing summer program called Genesis at Brandeis University. One of the programs that we developed for our participants was called ‘iDentity’, and each of the six community educators modeled this project for the community, each sharing something of ourselves in different media. The question we all had to Continue Reading »
