Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on February 24, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Sometimes, a simple touch can make all the difference. In the Jewish world, some girls don’t touch boys. Some girls touch some boys. Some girls touch only one boy, and everyone hugs their mother. As a part of this world, I have become especially attuned to the presence and absence of human Continue Reading »
Posted on February 21, 2013 by Gabby Goodman
Yesterday at Pardes, during the Jewish Day of Constructive Conflict, after practicing three skills for constructive conflict in the Beit Midrash — deep listening, asking opening questions, and mirroring — we moved into small groups to see what would happen with these skills when we applied them to a live conversation, over a delicious lunch, Continue Reading »
Posted on February 17, 2013 by David Bogomolny
On Saturday, I returned to the Kotel to daven at the minyan that I’d happened upon the previous Shabbat. Once again, the group was friendly, and one of the participants noted that I had arrived on time, which he encouraged me to do again. On my way through the Old City to minyan, I found myself Continue Reading »
Posted on February 15, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Yishai Paquin (Year ’11-’12) is an avid photographer. Here he shares a spiritual insight that he gained through photography: Sometimes reminders come from unsuspected places. I was learning how to edit photos today when my instructor mentioned that dark layers are for light and light layers are for dark. It is the same basics for Continue Reading »
Posted on February 5, 2013 by Abayiss
I sit on a hill, overlooking Gaza Strip, so near yet so far. It seems almost peaceful. No planes in the air, no fires, no pillars of smoke. Just the sound of vehicles on the highway below. If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was looking at another Israeli town. You’d think there was Continue Reading »
Posted on January 28, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) It’s been quite a long time since we last checked in. As you might recall, in parts one and two, we looked at what Meir and Rahel had to say about praying. The arrangement of the shiur was fascinating, because we heard first from a very capable prayer, and Continue Reading »
Posted on January 19, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: (written two days ago) So, last night, I sat around a crackling fire with a group of religious people chanting incantations in ancient languages while passing around a hand-carved knife and letting the blood from our left pinkie fingers drip over the hot, scalding flames… Okay, that was an exaggeration. But I Continue Reading »
Posted on January 12, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
By Mira B. Shore (Summer ’09, ’10; Year ’12) As a self-identified progressive, liberal, secular Jew growing up at Jewish Day School, I spent a lot of my time and energy speaking about why prayer and G-d were NOT a part of my life. I actively ran from prayer. Once I had my bat-mitzvah, there Continue Reading »
Posted on January 11, 2013 by Shoshana Rosen
Posted yesterday on my blog: I should be cleaning my room, but this is more fun. In case you don’t know, it is snowing currently in jerusalem. After almost 4 days of non stop cold rain storm, it finally started to snow. For a country who when war breaks out, life continues, but snow, watch Continue Reading »
Posted on January 4, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Shira has left us for another adventure, and we miss her… But her insightful writing continues (x-posted here below)! Legacy. A pretty big word around here. Here being Jerusalem, a city that many nations hold dear due to its history and importance in relation to their people, their culture, their religion. As a proud member of Continue Reading »
