Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 18, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: Sukkot is a holiday that is really about joy. We are commanded to be happy. We build a booth outside in the elements of the weather to show God that we trust and depend on him. We are told to dwell in the booth/sukkah that we made. The rabbis interpreted this to Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: During Yom Kippur, we are commanded to “afflict ourselves.” “עינוי נפש” The gemara has a very lengthy discussion of what this could mean. Does it mean we don’t have sexual relations, does it mean we physically hurt ourselves? No, the gemara concludes, it means that we don’t eat or drink. But how Continue Reading »
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 »
Posted on July 19, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
Another dvar Torah I wrote for NFTY! This week in the Parsha, ve’etchanan, Moshe is still reminding the Jewish people about the things they saw and learned in their traveling. He says to the Jewish people, “Take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with Continue Reading »
Posted on July 12, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
I wrote this dvar Torah after a four-day desert adventure with NFTY: This week we start reading the book of Devarim / Deuteronomy. Devarim takes place right before the Israelites are going to enter the land that God gave them. And Moshe is reminding the Jewish people of the laws that God gave to the Continue Reading »
Posted on April 25, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: This is my fourth summer working for NFTY in Israel. The past three summers I have been in charge of my group and logistics, but this summer I am also going to be the tour guide. I have been in a course for the past few months going around Israel to learn Continue Reading »
Posted on July 30, 2012 by Andrea Wiese
(From “You’ve given me the most beautiful set of wings.”) This is very rare that I have such a long absence from blogging, but thus is life, and it happens. Since my classes ended at Pardes, I was working for NFTY. http://www.nftyisrael.org/ It’s reform Judaism’s summer trip to Israel. This was my third summer working Continue Reading »
Posted on July 2, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Over the course of many consecutive summers as a camper at JCA Shalom in Malibu, Louis learned about Judaism “without realizing” it. He first attended camp as a fifth grader, and returned year after year until the summer after his first year of college (as a camp counselor). “I did USY for six years, and went to Hebrew school through 10th grade, but Continue Reading »
