These and Those

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

Tag Archives: mikveh

[Alumni Guest Post] Political Activist Turned Mikveh Lady

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Ilana Sumka

Cross-posted from Ilana Sumka’s (Year ’05, Fellows ‘6) blog post on the Mayyim Hayyim blog: I’m a political activist by training, so I was as surprised as anyone to find myself teaching Tanakh, (Torah, Prophets and Writings) and Jewish law to a group of conversion students. A few weeks ago I had the profound honor of witnessing my students Continue Reading »

Tribal gowns and knit kippot

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Sam Stern

From my blog: She believed in dreams, all right, but she also believed in doing something about them. When Prince Charming didn’t come along, she went over to the palace and got him. For anyone who hasn’t already heard the play-by-play (or can’t wait to hear it again) of the Beit Din/mikva experience, click HERE Continue Reading »

Play-by-play:

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Sam Stern

From my blog: Tuesday (Jan 28/27 Shevat): It was a normal Tuesday evening. Finish Pardes classes at 5, frantically run to the bus stop, ride around Jerusalem for about an hour, sit through my lady learning class, talk to Rav D, go home angry. But on this particular night, I left thinking “ma nishtana ha’lila Continue Reading »

Yam L’Yam Day 3 | Can’t Rain On Our Parade

Posted on December 15, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: Day 3 | 14 km: “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene Recap. Where did we leave off? We were sleeping at Beit Sefer Hasadeh thanks to the hesed of Meir. We set our alarms for five, hoping Continue Reading »

“Peak Attack”

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Eva Vadasz

I shared these words in the beit midrash on the last day of the 2012-13 Pardes year I dressed up in white. Because whenever I am preparing to do something big, I always wear white. This is a principle of mine since I have known Zsolt Erőss. Zsolt – a Hungarian mountain climber. Zsolt, who Continue Reading »

[Pardes from Jerusalem Podcast] Tazria-Metzora 5773: The Woman who has Given Birth

Posted on April 11, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

This week, Neima Novetsky discusses Parashat Tazria-Metzora in “The Woman who has Given Birth.” T-M ’73 Shabbat shalom!

[Alumni Guest Post] Thank You, God, For Life and Babies

Posted on April 3, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Posted by Carrie Bornstein (Year ’06) on the Mayyim Hayyim blog: My five-year old has been asking for a while if she can go swimming where I work. She loves Mayyim Hayyim, which is probably not entirely unrelated to the never-ending supply of animal crackers and pretzels. In the past few months her requests have Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] The Beating Heart of the Jewish World

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

Sara Brandes (Year ’01, Fellows ’02, Elul ’05) shares her Pardes reflections: I met my friend, teacher and fellow Pardes alumna Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer during the summer before I arrived at Pardes, as a participant in the Brandeis Collegiate Institute. Inspired by her teaching and hungry for more, I sought her out. When I told Continue Reading »

The trees are alive with the sound of silence

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Shoshana Rosen

By Shoshana Rosen How do I even begin to put into words, an experience that in its essence has no words? Just recently coming back from a silent meditation shabbaton, up north at Kibbutz Hannaton I realize only how much it impacted me by the stark reality of coming back home. Like many have said Continue Reading »

Tefillin

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Andrea Wiese

Recently, with the help of a teacher and a friend, I have taken on the mitzvah of tefillin. To be honest, I’m not sure when I really started wanting to try it, it’s such a personal experience so it’s hard to say, “I wanted to have this feeling, so I started to wrap tefillin.” But Continue Reading »