These and Those

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

Tag Archives: personal growth / transformation

A Song of Gratitude and Request

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Ahava Zarembski

This is a song of gratitude and request As I flow into the next phase of life May I integrate all of the various pieces of myself May I share it with others may I share it with myself May I stand in fullness in all of the fragments That once shattered into being And Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Awakening the Divine

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Baruch Tauber

Dear Friends In January, I attended my first meditation retreat at Awakening the Divine. As a beginner to meditation practice, I definitely had my doubts. Sit for hours at a time?! Not talk to anyone?! Really?! Will I have a million emails when I get back? Will I die from boredom? What the hell will Continue Reading »

Go For Yourself

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Hannah Joy

From my blog: This past week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, made me think of my own decision to take a year to study in Israel. The first verse reads as follows: וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. Vayomer Hashem el-Avram Lech Lecha me’artzecha umimoladetecha umibeit avicha el-ha’aretz asher ar’eka. “And Continue Reading »

A Name for Us / A Name for You

Posted on October 6, 2013 by David Bogomolny

I presented this dvar at our Shabbaton yesterday: Parshat Noach contains one of my favorite Biblical stories: that of the Tower of Babel. Together with you, I’d like to tease a few details out of the p’shat (the simple reading of the text), explore two midrashim (early rabbinic exegesis), and suggest a metaphor for the Continue Reading »

Blogging Between Classes

Posted on October 2, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: Post College learning is incomparable to undergrad. It’s not even a question. If I were to sum up my undergrad formalized learning experience in one word, honestly, I would use coasting. I kind of floated through my classes, tried just hard enough to make it by, and instead focused my efforts on Continue Reading »

Sukkot 5774 Dvar Torah

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: You shall dwell in Sukkot seven days. All citizens of Israel will stay in Sukkot, so that your generations may know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 23:42-43) The Torah lets us know that Sukkot has Continue Reading »

A NFTY Gmar Chatima Tova (A good signing into the book of life.)

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 »

I just want this to be Perfect

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

From my blog: This summer, I tried to teach Judaics to 15 year olds for 8 weeks. It was probably a failed mission from the beginning, because the last thing any 15 year old wants to do is spend an hour inside with a 24 year old authority figure, even as patently cool and with-it 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 »

What I Learned in School Today

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Stefanie Groner

From my blog: I had more class hours today than I attended in an average week of college. This post is a ‘typical day’ post, but you might notice this is not a ‘typical’ school in any way. Here’s what I studied: 8:30-11:15 am: In our intro to Mishneh class (early biblical commentary), we studied Continue Reading »