Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 9, 2011 by The Director of Digital Media
Let’s meet some of this year’s Pardes Fellows! Benjamin Barer is from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and first attended Pardes in the Fall of 2010 before completing his undergraduate studies in philosophy at UBC last Spring. Before matriculating at UBC, Ben studied at a Chofetz Chayim yeshiva for high school in Vancouver, and now at Pardes, Ben revels in the diverse 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 »
Posted on June 1, 2011 by David Bogomolny
“… now I better understand what I was looking for… I didn’t know what to ask for – I didn’t know what it looked like – I didn’t realize I could trust Judaism, but at Pardes I’ve realized that everything I was looking for exists in Jewish texts.” As a young woman growing up in Washington, DC, Merissa was heavily involved in race dialogues, and later came Continue Reading »
Posted on April 28, 2011 by David Bogomolny
After graduating from Northwestern University in 2005 with a major in theater, Avi Strausberg (2010-2011) started a non-profit theater company called the ‘Hometown Theater Project’, and continued acting and directing in Chicago for nearly three years before she found herself becoming antsy. “I wanted to be some place beautiful, and I became interested in organic Continue Reading »
Posted on April 21, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Raised in the Squirrel Hill neigborhood of Pittsburgh, Brian’s fascination with Jewish tradition grew through his USY involvement. For the young man, “regional USY Shabbatons were a religious experience in a way that Hebrew school never was.” He experienced traditional Shabbat seudot, and learned about netilat yadayim, lechem mishneh, seudat shlishit, and singing zmirot. As time went on, Brian Continue Reading »
Posted on April 5, 2011 by David Bogomolny
On his 40th birthday, during a silent Shambhala meditation retreat on a mountain in Vermont, Jonathan (’09-’10, Fellows ’10-’11) asked himself, “what do I really want to do?” And the answer came to him, “I want to study Torah in Israel.” Soon thereafter, Jonathan applied to Pardes, and received the nicest e-mail from Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy that he had ever received Continue Reading »
Posted on March 22, 2011 by David Bogomolny
This profile is in honor of Katie Greenberg‘s upcoming wedding to Matan Glazer on March 31st. From all of us at Pardes, we wish Katie and Matan… 🙂 מזל טוב ובהצלחה 🙂 Katie (Summer ’06 & ’07, Year ’09-’10, Fellows ’10-’11) and Matan met at Kibbutz Ketura while Katie was on the Young Judea Year Course, Continue Reading »
Posted on March 10, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Austin (Spring ’11) had planned to begin his university studies at Reed College this year, but then he learned of Where There Be Dragons (WTBD). Before graduating high school in 2010, Austin had led a fairly predictable life. He grew up in San Diego, attending temple services on Friday evenings before having family Shabbat dinner. As a child, he Continue Reading »
Posted on March 1, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Samahra (Spring ’11) first found the words to describe her passion for ‘bridging communities’ as a York University student upon receiving the annual ‘Partnership and Outreach’ award from UJA and Hillel of Greater Toronto for activism as Hillel ‘Tzedek’ Chair. After completing her B.A. Honors in theater and B.Ed. in education, Samahra continued to pursue cross-cultural education as the Education and Continue Reading »
Posted on February 18, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Natalie (above, right) and her sister Sharyn (above, left) from Melbourne, Australia arrived at Pardes in September, knowing they would only be able to join us for one semester. Natalie (Nat) informed These&Those that the Australian summer holiday is in December and January, and the academic year runs from February through November. This explains her plans to return home next week to continue her professional studies. Continue Reading »
