Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 29, 2014 by Leah Lesch
From my blog: It’s 95 degrees in Jerusalem. And it’s supposed to be hot all week. In Hebrew this is called a Hamsin (heatwave) and you pronounce the H with the Israeli CH in your throat so that it comes our of your mouth sounding all hot and bothered. For those of you who have never been to Jerusalem, this is unusual as well Continue Reading »
Posted on May 23, 2014 by Hannah Joy
From my blog: This past Tuesday night was the Masa Israeli Cultural event at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem. Top Israeli artists of all kinds were brought in for us to hear from, and the night culminated in an incredible performance by the Voca People. I chose to go to the session with Alex Levac, a Continue Reading »
Posted on May 23, 2014 by Alanna Kleinman
I’m leaving Israel today. I hurry to catch my plane, held up before security for sentimental reasons. Rushed goodbyes and confusion. I enter the plane with a crowd full of men in black jackets, fur hats, and peyos. I walk inside to find the aisles crowded full of these men, pushing and shoving, frantically fitting Continue Reading »
Posted on May 8, 2014 by Aliza Riemenschneider
Aliza Riemenschneider (Mechina ’08, PEP ’10) writes regularlyon her own blog, Each & Every bs”d At the closing community lunch, David Bernstein will stand up and make a speech, telling you that you are all b’nei/b’not bayit. Meaning, once you come to Pardes to learn, you are always welcomed back with warm, open arms anytime you Continue Reading »
Posted on March 27, 2014 by Sydni Adler
A few weeks ago, Meira was listening to a riddle, when the teenager sitting next to her said, “This makes my head hurt. See, this is why I don’t think about God.” Every Tuesday night, Meira spends her time volunteering with an insightful, passionate group of teenagers at Crossroads, a non-profit organization that helps English-speaking Continue Reading »
Posted on February 16, 2014 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
1. WAIT, YOU’RE GAY? I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED! Probably I don’t get this as much as I feel like I do, but hey, we are all humans and so sometimes I go to work in my normal pants and sometimes I go to work in my garish neon-rainbow-flag leather tuchus-less chaps! This is really Continue Reading »
Posted on December 21, 2013 by Jessica Baverman
From my blog: Can’t believe it, but December is almost over! We just survived a big snow storm here in Jerusalem last week. You might have heard about it – Jerusalem shut down for a week, and we were stuck inside for a while. It did give Emet and I lots of time to work Continue Reading »
Posted on December 13, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
There is a very famous story about Hillel, which follows: “Most famous perhaps is the incident which occurred before his rise to leadership, when he was not yet a scholar, but had a burning desire to study Torah. At that time, Torah study was tightly controlled and limited only to those of the highest caliber Continue Reading »
Posted on December 12, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
From Yishai Paquin’s (Year ’12) blog: Yes, it is snowing in Jerusalem! Yes, for my family and friends in the United States, it gets cold enough to snow in Jerusalem. Yes, it is a blessing. And yes, it may not seem like a blessing but it is. Sure it is really cold, which is tough Continue Reading »
Posted on December 8, 2013 by Itay Zaidenberg
Living in Jerusalem, it’s easy to feel like Israel is abundantly observant. But when I get off the 480 at Tel Aviv’s Arlozorov bus station, I’m immediately reminded, it’s not. And if I didn’t take the 480 so many times that I now recognize several of the bus drivers, I don’t think I would have Continue Reading »