Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on February 26, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed the narratives of a Haredi woman, a settler, a kibbutznik and an Arab woman. Somehow, every experience that I have, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 10, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: Beyond my time studying Torah at Pardes, I am in my fourth season refereeing American football in Israel. I have seen a lot of amazing things, bones breaking, players helping each other, Christians, Jews and Muslims gaining respect for each other on a field. But this past Thursday topped all of these Continue Reading »
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Derek Kwait
Hannah Grossman is an explorer. Her Jewish journey has taken her from the farthest ends of the earth to the deepest corners of her psyche. Yet the further she has traveled from her native New Jersey, the closer she has come to finally finding her Jewish home. Hannah grew up in West Orange, NJ to Continue Reading »
Posted on January 21, 2013 by David Bogomolny
Sydni Adler (Year ’13) and Ben Gurin (Year ’13) met during the Summer of ’10 in Washington DC, as participants on the Mechon Kaplan program of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Together with their cohort, they took classes on Social Justice and Judaism, and each interned for an NGO; Sydni worked on campaign Continue Reading »
Posted on December 4, 2012 by Kayla Higgins
(Cross-posted from Interfaith Youth Core) I had just taken my first bite of lunch when I suddenly saw everyone around me stand up and head for the front door. I hadn’t even heard the siren. I put my sandwich down and joined my fellow classmates filing into the bomb shelter, where we gathered for ten Continue Reading »
Posted on October 17, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
by Ben Barer (Fall 2010, Fellows 2011-12) Cross-posted from his blog. “All Jews are friends” I came across this article recently, and the tenor of the article greatly disturbed me. My friend and fellow Pardes alum did a wonderful job setting the record straight, but I see the underlying problem as requiring more thought as Continue Reading »
Posted on September 27, 2012 by Kayla Higgins
This essay is cross-posted from The Jewish Daily Forward‘s April 13, 2012 issue. The article including this personal essay in The Forward was a collection of “It Gets Better” posts requested from young queer-identified Jews involved with Nehirim, a national community of LGBT Jews founded in 2004: “Jewish Enough” Kayla Higgins, 22 ‘It gets better” Continue Reading »
Posted on December 11, 2011 by Suzi
By Suzi Brozman You’ve seen her face, always smiling and earnest. You may have noticed her occasional parrot-hued head coverings. But I’ll bet you don’t know that the parrot motif is part of the clown persona she uses in an off-duty activity—Karen is a medical clown (more about that later!) She’s officially the Assistant to Continue Reading »
Posted on November 20, 2011 by Barer
Naomi grew up in a Modern Orthodox community in South Miami, where her family helped found a Young Israel. She was immersed in Judaism from a young age – shul, day school, day camp – but rarely in a community as diverse as Pardes. It is in a Modern Orthodox community that Naomi feels most Continue Reading »
Posted on November 3, 2011 by Suzi
A couple nights ago, I accompanied Rabbi Barry Leff on his monthly visit to the Emmaus monastery near Latrun for Torah study. The monastery sits at the site of a Byzantine church. Couldn’t see much at night, so I hope to go back in the daytime to see the ancient ruins. It was fascinating to Continue Reading »
