These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Tag Archives: introspection

National Bike Day

Posted on September 16, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: I walked out of Shul on Friday night, after Kol Nidre, feeling a little bit guilty. I beat my chest, I proclaimed the words, but I didn’t feel truly connected to sins that seemed so grand. I rattled off ashamnu, bagadnu, dibarnu dofi…., but my heart wasn’t in it. I guess I fell Continue Reading »

Thoughts on Sin and Teshuva

Posted on September 12, 2013 by Deborah Renert

A person has 5 senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching) and 3 additional faculties–the mental, the emotional, and spiritual. Hence, it seems that a person can experience both pleasure and engage in “averot” connected with each of these senses and other faculties. So it seems that perhaps the best way to do teshuva would Continue Reading »

Forgiving Myself on this Yom Kippur

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Here it is. Yom Kippur 2013/5774. This year’s High Holidays sprung upon me somewhat quickly. This is a tough Yom Kippur. It’s been 10 years since my Aunt Rhona died on Yom Kippur in 2003. How has it been so long? This year, I think I have also been very hard on Continue Reading »

The New Year in Israel

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Last year, I spent Rosh Hashanah in Ra’anana with a family I hadn’t known more than a month before the holiday. I didn’t prepare much, and I was getting used to being in Israel. This year, I am surrounded by a new set of friends, an amazing partner, and a lot more Continue Reading »

Investigation: ‘Leading from Behind’

Posted on August 21, 2013 by David Bogomolny

The Genesis at Brandeis University program where I’ve worked for the past two summers has many moving parts on the participant, staff and faculty levels. The ‘investigation’ component of a residential staff member’s responsibilities is an opportunity for professional development, through which the staff person explores an element of hir work at Genesis (or its Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] What I Learned At Pardes This Summer

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Adena Kemper

I spent three weeks at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies this summer, and what did I learn? Yes, I learned about Birkat Hamazon in the Gemara and halachah pertaining to women and even postmodern philosophy. Sure, I learned a few new zemiros tunes and how Karaites differ from rabbinic Jews. But above all, at Pardes Continue Reading »

The Dream (or Nightmare) Inside of us all

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

From my blog: Last week, I had a very odd dream. As the dream wound to a close, I remember thinking, I should write a blog post about this. When I woke up, I thought that I had a great blog post to write…then remembered that the blog-worthy events had occurred only in a dream. Continue Reading »

Why accept a job that is guaranteed to break your heart?

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Andrea Wiese

Every summer when I start working with forty reform North American teenagers, I know exactly what is going to happen. I am going to pour my heart and soul into being their mechanechet (educator), taking them through Europe and Israel, into keeping them healthy, and making sure they feel loved. And when they leave five Continue Reading »

Quietly Back and Possibly Blue

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

From my blog: Forty-eight hours ago, I was in a different country. And no, I did not drive across the border from Mexico to Texas. During the past few weeks, I’ve done a lot of personal journaling, because a lot of what’s happened is just that – very personal. Consequently, less has ended up on Continue Reading »

To Feel – To Know

Posted on June 2, 2013 by David Bogomolny

Here is the reflection I shared at Community Lunch last week- One of the many things that I tell people when discussing Pardes is that I wanted to study here before I ever knew that Pardes existed. As a college student I started wearing a kippah publicly before I had any idea what halakha was Continue Reading »