Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on December 21, 2011 by Derek Kwait
At my shul back home, Young People’s Synagogue, members take turns giving the d’var Torah each Saturday morning. This is one I gave for Parashat Mikketz/Shabbat Chanukah on December 19, 2009 about the parsha, Chanukah, and the Holocaust. For what it’s worth, these themes repeated themselves again this year when we began learning about the Continue Reading »
Posted on December 20, 2011 by Derek Kwait
On Sunday the 11th, the Social Justice Track went on a tiyyul to South Tel-Aviv to explore the situation of refugees and migrant workers in Israel. Refugees in Israel are mostly asylum seekers fleeing persecution in their native Sudan, Darfur, and Eritrea. While walking through South Tel-Aviv, it is easy to forget you are still Continue Reading »
Posted on December 4, 2011 by Barer
Deborah grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, where her family was active in a local chavura, as well as a Conservative shul. When Deborah was eight years old, her mother decided to attend the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC), and her family moved to the Philadelphia area. While studying at RRC, her mother also became very involved Continue Reading »
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Leah Stern
Hey Pardesians and World, As some of you may know, I am learning the commentator Seforno on the parsha each week with the awesome Hayim Leiter (back right hand corner of the Beit Midrash). Two weeks ago we were studying Parshat Chayei Sarah, during which we read the story of Eliezer going to find a Continue Reading »
Posted on November 16, 2011 by Shibley
Over the past weeks, I have used afternoon seder to study the laws of aveilut (mourning). As with many areas of halakha, there are numerous details and caveats. I have found myself troubled by the seemingly impersonal details of the halacha, which is brings me to Chayei Sarah, our parasha this week. Sarah dies in Continue Reading »
Posted on November 14, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Having grown up in Newton, Massachusetts, Sean had a lot of exposure to Judaism. His family’s liberal church would often invite Jewish members of their extended community to speak from the pulpit, and Sean attended many Passover seders at a family friend’s house as a boy. And of course, he only dated Jewish women 🙂 Sean began dating Kelilah Continue Reading »
Posted on November 9, 2011 by Barer
This is PEP student Rabbi Julie Gordon‘s presentation on her theological views presented today in Zvi’s Critical Issues in Modern Jewish Thought class, responding to the following questions: Where does the Torah come from? What is God’s role, if any? And how do you deal with the challenges of biblical criticism? What authority does the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 8, 2011 by Lauren Schuchart
This was originally posted on ‘Life According to Lauren’ My roommates and I decided a few weeks ago that we wanted to make our kitchen kosher. The word kosher literally means “fit,” and it refers to the Jewish dietary laws. There are different reasons why one might choose to “keep kosher.” Here are a few Continue Reading »
Posted on October 30, 2011 by Eliyahu B.
Cross-posted from the Peaceable Pilgrim: Shalom friends! It is the beginning of a new week here in Jerusalem, and the past one was filled with SO MUCH AWESOMENESS that I just have to share with you. Classes started up again full-swing on Sunday, and even though I was somewhat dreading getting back to a normal Continue Reading »
Posted on October 29, 2011 by Derek Kwait
Ever since I’ve arrived here there’s been stuff I wanted to talk about but just didn’t have room for in that week’s blog post. Since this was a relatively slow week, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share some of them, but I’ll start with the biggest story from this week: *So Continue Reading »
