Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 15, 2017 by Hirsch Fishman
Karen Feuer (Year ’99-’00 and current Pardes staff member) shares her thought about Tu B’Shvat. Seven years ago I underwent induced labor with twins at only 21-weeks into my pregnancy. The pregnancy was no longer safe for me, and this forced, early labor (that sounds nicer than “abortion”) was the result. It was a gut-wrenching Continue Reading »
Posted on November 21, 2016 by Miriam Lorie
This blog was originally posted at the author’s blog, miriammuses.com. Since publishing the blog below, the situation I described has developed, I hope and believe for the best. While what I wrote below remains an accurate description of the past few months, and a true reflection of my thoughts on it, it feels right to add Continue Reading »
Posted on August 1, 2016 by Miriam BenSander
Imagine my family – a Jewish family, a respected family in FSU Moscow in 1983 … When I was an adolescent my parents decided to return to our Jewish roots and begin to observe traditions again – in a time when that was dangerous. They studied for themselves and tried to teach us, their children – Continue Reading »
Posted on October 29, 2015 by Nathaniel Jhirad
This week, I had the opportunity to visit a Palestinian girls’ school in an East Jerusalem neighbourhood with a group of foreign visitors. We entered the school gates aware that there were cultural norms to be observed, such as modest dress and refraining from taking pictures within the school premises. As we walked towards the Continue Reading »
Posted on October 24, 2015 by Zvi Henderson
Pardesniks come from a variety of professional backgrounds; some from leadership roles in youth movements, some from the Jewish professional world, from finance, business and social work. My professional background is public health, and in particular sexual health and well-being. It’s as wide a field as you can imagine. Before making Aliyah from Scotland and Continue Reading »
Posted on September 30, 2015 by Dan Pelberg
3:00 am Walking through Jerusalem’s Old City at this hour makes me marvel at how the place can get so loud and crazy during the day. The winding, dimly lit streets are empty enough to make me feel like a lone rat in a maze, trying to find any way I can to reach my Continue Reading »
Posted on April 22, 2015 by Debra Weiner-Solomont
Last night I sat with hundreds of others for the Memorial Ceremony, organized by the young leaders of the Youth group EZRA. This year my 16 year old son, a group leader-Madrich- for 3rd grade boys-sat with them. Each year, following the siren, young members read the names of the youth group members from the Continue Reading »
Posted on March 27, 2015 by Geo Poor
The chuppah travels down the isle, carried by the youth of Istanbul. Dozens of people walk with it, surrounding it on all sides as if they would prop it up with their tightly-packed selves – many shoulders for the chuppah to lean on. On each side, the crowd, parted like the Red Sea, stands cheering Continue Reading »
Posted on January 28, 2015 by Nate Goldman
From our trip to Poland, we definitely had our share of sad sights. Through the five days of our tour of the country we visited countless ghettos, camps, and graves. The stories about life as a Jew during the Shoah were tragic and horrifying. Other stories, like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, seemed heroic. Seeing Schindler’s Continue Reading »
Posted on November 18, 2014 by David Derin
Those of you who know me well are aware of the fact that I do not like to talk about things related to politics. I personally feel that when people talk about politics it frequently leads to disagreement, yelling, and hurt feelings. At the end of the day, my opinions are my opinions and I Continue Reading »
