Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 24, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: The most challenging course I am taking at Pardes is called “Critical Issues in Modern Jewish Thought.” There is no Hebrew involved. There is no Aramaic. I don’t even have to memorize birth and death dates of famous Jewish thinkers. What I do have to do, however, is think for myself. And Continue Reading »
Posted on April 9, 2013 by Heather Kantrowitz
From my blog: There are certain moments in my life where everything has come to a screeching halt. Most of these have just been moments when my personal world, or maybe my family or community, has stopped. Today (Yom HaShoah), I experienced an entire country ceasing all activity – learning, work, driving, shopping – and Continue Reading »
Posted on April 7, 2013 by Tadea Klein
Talk to me, talk to me Talk to me! Fill me up with your stories, play me your life Pour it into a tea-cup and let me drink deep I, once content in my aloneness Find myself craving the contact Of an arm across my shoulder A knee resting against my own Take interest in Continue Reading »
Posted on January 29, 2013 by Rachel Rosenbluth
Tu Bishvat. It’s a day to plant a tree, hug a tree, or nap under a tree. Tu Bishvat symbolizes grounded-ness and growth; rooted-ness and renewal. I celebrated this year’s Tu Bishvat by joining Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) on a trip to Qusra, a Palestinian community in the West Bank. Beginning with blessings in Hebrew Continue Reading »
Posted on December 8, 2012 by Mary Brett Koplen
Originally posted on my CowBird: I AM THAT I AM. Julie is 52 and plays the dulcimer. She is a teacher and a doodler. She strikes a note. “Listen up, Israel,” the first note says to the next. Danielle is 20 and is Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestine, Pro-Peace. She tells me: “To get to the Holy Western 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 October 29, 2012 by David Bogomolny
I remember a late, late Shabbat night conversation several years ago on a street corner in Dupont Circle with a friend of mine. We were standing outside of a bar, as people walked by us, in and out, in and out, not heeding us in the slightest, just as we didn’t pay them any heed. We were Continue Reading »
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Sam Blumberg
(inspired by my Perspectives Israel trip) by Sam Blumberg I believe that this fence has saved lives. that this fence
Posted on June 4, 2012 by Deborah Galaski
Here’s a little bit about my article: “For the Sake of the Righteous:Divine Love and Human Responsibility in Bereshit Rabba” I first fell in love with midrash when I read a passage in Bereshit Rabba, describing the moment when God created the first human being. I was in my second year of graduate school, where Continue Reading »
Posted on January 3, 2012 by Eliyahu B.
Here is a dvar tzedek I wrote and gave to my Social Justice class today on our last day of class: Shalom classmates. I am here before you today to share with you my views on humanism and universalism, two topics which have been prominent in my way of thinking for many years, at Continue Reading »
