[Alumni Guest Post] Derekh Eretz by Kim Phillips

Posted on March 20, 2013 by admin

Kim Phillips (Summer '06) is a marketing professional,
artist, writer and teacher in Nashville, Tennessee.

One Shabbat morning, the rabbi entered Torah study and, instead of launching into the text, looked intensely around the circle of people gathered there. “I want to know how you feel about Israel,” she said. “However you feel is fine, but you have to say.” When it became clear that we would be expected to speak in turn, I started to sweat. I had only converted to Judaism weeks before, and the ground underneath my feet had not stopped shifting.

Jews are generally expected to support Israel, but we’re not often asked to declare our exact positions publicly. In fact, many born Jews are not pinned down on the subject and asked to pledge loyalty to Israel the way converts are. I have always-Jewish friends whose opinions about the place range from “Meh” to hard-right Zionism.

To the rabbi’s question, I answered that I didn’t feel qualified to comment, as I had not yet set foot in Israel. That may seem like a dodge, but it was true and it planted the seed in me, the desire to go to Eretz Yisrael. I continued my Jewish studies, became a Hebrew teacher and Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Ayeka: The Cherry on my Spiritual Journey’s Cake

Posted on January 12, 2013 by admin

By Mira B. Shore (Summer ’09, ’10; Year ’12)

As a self-identified progressive, liberal, secular Jew growing up at Jewish Day School, I spent a lot of my time and energy speaking about why prayer and G-d were NOT a part of my life. I actively ran from prayer. Once I had my bat-mitzvah, there was nothing my parents could do to get me to synagogue. I prided myself on my rebelliousness and frequently claimed my atheism as a controversial badge of honor.

For university, I continued on my secular path by attending Sarah Lawrence College, named the #1 least religious college in America by The Princeton Review in 2011. While Sarah Lawrence was the perfect school for me in all other ways (academically, socially, professor/student ratio, philosophy, classroom dynamics, etc.) it was very taxing on my Judaism. After my sophomore year, I decided to go back to Israel and study at Pardes to try to find something I felt I’d lost.

Deciding to come to Pardes in the summer of 2009 was a difficult decision for me as a proud, secular Progressive, and I was concerned about how it might feel alienating. I was right. Continue reading →

Gift of Life blog post from Summer ’11

Posted on December 29, 2012 by admin

Laura Marder has constantly been in our community’s thoughts since she left us recently for America; and her recent post reminded us of Mary-Brett‘s post from her Pardes Summer ’11 program… M-B also spoke about the Gift of Life at Pardes this Fall, and many more Pardesniks got swabbed when the Gift of Life representative visited us during community lunch!

Here is M-B's post from Pardes Summer '11

“SAVE A LIFE!!!”

the sign had said.

I’ve seen that sign before.

I’ve made that sign.

“A SIMPLE CHEEK SWAB CAN GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE!!!”

For the past three years, I have volunteered at Ohio University’s Bone Marrow Drive. It’s been Hillel’s Tikkum Olam project, and because I am really passionate about Hillel, I became really passionate about Gift of Life. At least that’s how it started: creating Jewish spaces, planning Hillel programs, and of course you can’t be a Jewish organization without a social justice project, so Gift of Life was ours.

But then suddenly I was in the immediate and desperate thick of registering as many people as possible. Stopping every week at a swabbing table to yell out to the world: “Have you been swabbed for our bone marrow drive?” Answered questions: “What does this mean? Does it take long? Does it hurt?” I carried tables around campus, counted forms, stuck labels, all the while telling everyone who would listen: “You could save a life.”

The passion for saving lives washed over me unnoticed. One day I was dialoguing with Jewish students about their Jewish experience and identity. I was buying them cups of coffee and hearing their fears and goals and needs to be connected to something more meaningful. Then more coffee, and more dialogue about what it meant to be a part of a national bone marrow registry; then explaining how easy it is to save lives. Is there difference in these two conversations? Connecting students to meaningful experiences; inviting them into a wider community of social intention? I stopped seeing lines between the two.

Seeing the Gift of Life poster hanging in the Pardes lunchroom was thrilling. This moment and this small piece of paper brought me home seven thousand miles away. So often we become different people when we go to unfamiliar places; we try on new shoes. My feet stood high on the chair I’d climbed into. My shoes held tight.

“Hi everyone,” I say loudly. “I am Mary Brett, your classmate.” They are looking at me, expecting something. “Let me tell you how you can live your Torah study. Let me tell you how you can save a life.” And I told them about Gift of Life, and how I spend some of my more meaningful moments on soapboxes, asking people for a few minutes, for a few cheek cells. It’s that easy.

The Gift of Life swabbers came during lunch, and in this desert place across the sea, I was a swabber too. 10 seconds on the right cheek; 10 seconds on the cheek left; a front and a back page of paperwork; four stickered labels: it’s become a dance I am happy repeating.

Friends come up to me and say things: it’s wonderful you do this; I was swabbed years ago; I swabbed last year; I swabbed today. But the words that make me most happy are the words that say, “I want to do this too; I want them on my college campus; I want my students involved.”

“Let’s get coffee,” I tell them, smiling and feeling at home in this place.

Jerusalem: Pulled to a Place

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Shanee Michaelson

During the summer of 2011, I was a recovering attorney who had just completed a year teaching in Jewish early childhood education. I felt a calling towards deepening my own formal Jewish education and learned at Pardes for 3 weeks. I was exposed to the tip of an iceberg of knowledge of every imaginable sort. Intellectually stimulated and overwhelmed with discovery (of a non-litigious sort), I went a little bit crazy and decided I had to try this “learning at a yeshiva” thing for a longer term. I returned to D.C. and for 6 months immersed myself in electronic discovery as a temp attorney, working overtime to save up for the unconventional scheme of living in Jerusalem and learning full time.

Almost a year ago, I came back to Jerusalem for the Spring 2012 term at Pardes. It was a tough adjustment, especially in the first week when my housing fell through, my luggage was lost, and I had problems with the person taking care of my dog in North America. But as I have learned to do in life, I persevered. I got to know the diverse student body, including several students in the Educators Program. I delved deeper into the texts and into various personalities and opinions in Jewish history. As a weekly volunteer at the local Community Garden, I pulled up weeds and wondered why the sages used the euphemism of “pulling up plants” to designate one who has become a heretic.

There was so much to absorb and before I knew it the semester was over. I made a decision to delay my return to North America and to wait for a second semester to complete what would be “my year of learning.” I was able to Continue reading →

[Alumni Guest Post] Opening Eyes

Posted on September 3, 2012 by admin

by Pardes Summer Program 2012 Alumn Jason Kravitz

L’takken olam b’malkhut shaddai. Three times a day in our repetition of the Aleinu, we are reminded of the need and responsibility to repair the world. Each of us has our own special memories of the lives we have touched.

Six years ago, I was granted one of life’s most precious blessings – the gift of giving a child the ability to see the world. For those of us who struggle without our corrective lenses, we don’t take for granted the beauty of the world around us. In my case, I led a program to ensure that 63,000 of the poorest children in El Salvador would not go blind from a lack of Vitamin A. Helping to prevent childhood blindness for 63,000 children, dayenu.

As part of the launch of this program, I joined the vitamin executive who donated the vitamins to the local NGO. One day we had the opportunity to see a seven-year old girl who suffered from strabismus undergo a successful surgery. A few weeks later after we returned to San Salvador, she was fitted with her first set of eyeglasses. I’ll never forget the sheer excitement the girl exhibited when she first saw what the world looked like. For the rest of my life, I’ll remember that moment and am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to experience that with my own eyes.

I share this story because over the last three weeks our rabbis and teachers have opened our eyes, hearts, and minds to so many new beautiful aspects of Judaism and Jewish learning. Just like the overwhelming feeling that the little girl in El Salvador had, I felt and witnessed a similar excitement during moments our teachers opened our eyes to a passage in the Talmud, or the Tanakh, or something in our spirituality or social justice classes. The experience has truly been eye opening.

In the Beit Midrash and in our classes we have discussed many of the brilliant sages from long ago, but at least speaking for myself, I’ll forever think of my teachers and reflect on what we’ve learned as I go throughout my life. While we may only represent a brief moment in the history of Pardes, I know all of us will remember these three weeks for the rest of our lives.

I recall my rabbi back home telling me before I left not to have any expectations and just soak up the entire experience. He said that my havrutas would turn out to be some of the most impressive people I would ever meet. He was spot on. I stand here humbled in front of so many brilliant minds and beautiful hearts. Thank you to all of you for opening your hearts and minds to each of us as we explored our respective connections to Judaism.

As we return home—to our communities, families, jobs—let us not forget the wonderment that we’ve experienced over the last few weeks and open the eyes of our friends and loved ones. In honor of our experience and our teachers over the last three weeks, I look forward to hearing many more stories about the lives we’ve changed back home in order to perfect the world.

Never the Same River Twice

Posted on August 5, 2012 by Falynn

J. Benedict Roth will never forget the first time he learned Gemara (Talmud) 23 years ago with Pardes faculty member, Leah Rosenthal. “Leah showed me that the Gemara is like a rough diamond,” Benedict explains. “You take a stone which looks rather uninteresting, and you think you can understand it. But then you crack it open, and suddenly you discover countless different facets; you can see it from a myriad of different angles, lights shining from all directions.”

About four years ago, Benedict started teaching in his London community, both formally and informally. He taught Tanakh and Talmud, including a passage from tractate Yoma he had learned with Leah. “There were about 50 people in that class,” says Benedict. “Most had never learned Talmud before. They were just captivated.”

Benedict realized that if he wanted to continue to teach, he needed to deepen his learning and signed on for another Pardes learning experience, one he believes is unique in the Jewish world today. “The Torah being offered in the Diaspora is often very technical,” says Benedict. “People are intent on getting through material, but they rarely ask what is this text really telling me and what difference does it make to my life? They are not teaching Torah in a way that allows it to be internalized. I am very interested in what is going on in the Talmud and what is going on in day to day life and how they link up. Pardes is the best place to explore this connection.”

Both Leah and Benedict were pleasantly surprised to meet again over Gemara in this year’s summer program. “Benedict was in my very first Gemara class,” recounts Leah. “I will always remember every student in that first class.” Another layer to this teacher-student reunion is that Leah’s summer class is on the same tractate of Talmud that she taught to Benedict so long ago.

Leah remarks, “The meeting of two people over a text is what has always excited me. So the meeting of two people again over a text adds a whole new dimension to the learning experience. The fact that we are studying the same section of Talmud that I taught to Benedict so many years ago has been very eye-opening. It is fascinating to see what has changed in our reading of the text 23 years later and how much hasn’t changed at all.”

Benedict concurs, “I see things in the Gemara that I didn’t see that last time we learned it, perhaps as a product of my stage of life, my maturity. This is exciting. I can’t wait to bring this back to my home community. And I can’t wait to learn again with Leah in the future. I’ve already booked my ticket for next summer.”

Benedict is planning an online Gemara course with Leah that meets in London and parallels Leah’s class at Pardes. They will be learning Masechet Mo’ed Katan. For more information, please contact Dean David Bernstein at dav...@pardes.org.il.

Benedict Roth is from London. He received a BA in Hebrew from Oxford University and a Masters in Operations Research from Stanford. He works as a risk management specialist and is the proud father of three grown children.

This piece was written by Karen Feuer, Pardes alumna ’99-00, and Assistant to the Dean.

[Student Profile] From 19 to 91

Posted on August 3, 2012 by Vicki

Pardes Summer Program students Annabelle Jaffe, almost 91, and Jacqueline Cohen, almost 19, are decades apart in age and live in different parts of the globe. But they both brought to Pardes lifelong involvement with their local Jewish communities and will leave Pardes with renewed commitments to Jewish life in their hometowns.

Annabelle Jaffe and Jacqui Cohen

Annabelle Jaffe is the oldest student in the 2012 Summer Program. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and her Orthodox family sent her younger brother to yeshiva, but “girls didn’t necessarily get a Hebrew education,” in those days, she said. Her formal Jewish education began at 11 when she was invited to visit a friend’s Talmud Torah class at a Conservative synagogue. “I fell in love with it,” she recalled during a recent interview in the Pardes Beit Midrash. The class met after school five days a week, and by high school Jaffe was studying Talmud and Mishna. The United States entry into World War II ended her plans to travel to Israel (then British Mandate Palestine) for a year of study after high school.

She enrolled at the University of Cincinnati, studied Perkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) with her grandfather and taught in the Hebrew school at her shul. She also met and married a young Army Air Corps biochemical engineer, Louis Jaffe. Annabelle finished her bachelor’s degree in education, and taught high school history and English. When her principal suggested she consider becoming a counselor, she earned a master’s degree in counseling at George Washington University. July 1, Jaffe officially retired from 50 years as a counselor in the Montgomery County, Maryland, school system. Alongside her public school career, she taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies in local Hebrew Schools.

Jacqueline Cohen may be younger than Annabelle, but she also has been continuously involved with her local Jewish community. Jacqui, as she prefers to be called, is the youngest student in the Summer Program. She was born in South Africa, but grew up in Adelaide, Australia. Her Modern Orthodox parents, Mark and Justine, are leaders in the Adelaide Jewish community and at their synagogue, the Adelaide Hebrew Congregation. Jacqui attended Jewish primary school, but the small Adelaide Jewish community of about 1,000 can’t support a Jewish high school. Jacqui felt that lack left some gaps in her Jewish knowledge, and came to Pardes because she wanted to continue and improve her Jewish education in a supportive setting where she wouldn’t be made to feel out of her depth.

Both women are halfway through the Pardes Summer Program, and they both say it is challenging and rewarding in the way that only Torah study can be. Annabelle is taking an introductory Talmud class, “Better to Die than to Sin?” with Jennie Rosenfeld and “The Law and Philosophy of Maimonides,” with Rabbi Reuben Godner as well as “Judaism and Conflict Resolution Studies,” with Rabbi Daniel Roth. When Jaffe goes back to the U.S., she isn’t going to let retirement get in the way of working. She plans to be a substitute counselor in the school system as well as a substitute Hebrew teacher at her shul, Ohr Kodesh in Chevy Chase, Maryland. And she is already making plans for next summer. “I think I’ll come back [to Padres] next year,” she said. “This program is good for the young and the old… I’ve learned so many new things.”

Jacqui is spending her gap year in Israel, in a program for training youth movement leaders. The program includes studying Hebrew and Zionism, visiting Poland, and two months on a kibbutz. For the program’s options period, she chose to study at Pardes. “Pardes is welcoming and open,” she said. She’s also in Rosenfeld’s introductory Talmud class, and studying “Women and Judaism” with Tehama Goldman-Brash, “Jewish Leadership Dilemmas,” with Marc Rosenberg and “Judaism and Human Rights in Israel and Beyond,” with Rabbi Gideon Sylvester. She especially appreciates the openness to questioning and the self-motivated approach to study. “One of the things I love is looking at a piece of Talmud – that moment when I finally understand the Mishna and Gemara – I find that fantastic.”

She will return to Adelaide to be a leader of JAZY – The Jewish Adelaide Zionist Youth, created to include all Jewish young people in Adelaide’s community, from secular to Orthodox. Jacqui will combine her JAZY leadership with studies in commerce at university, but she hopes to transfer to Melbourne where she can also study Jewish education. Pardes has given her new styles of learning and teaching, she says. She wants to introduce chuvruta-style learning to JAZY, and also looks forward to using her Pardes-enhanced teaching skills. Now, “I have something I’ve learned and can teach … not just something I’ve looked up on the Internet.”

The Rules of the Game

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Ross Meltzer

I am not sure when the last time was I actually did something for the first time. So when I was approached a few days ago to write a blog, I knew instinctively from childhood that I have to try everything once. I wasn’t sure how to approach this, or if anyone would even read it. Once I gave it some thought, I realized people probably just blog to get their thoughts to paper (ooops old school), and I have certainly done that before. Besides, I never do anything half way. Like the natural spring mikvot I sometimes go to after classes, it doesn’t help to go in half way, you immerse yourself fully in a task and you feel refreshed and invigorated. Here we go!

What do I mean by “Rules of the Game”?

I recently had the chance to study and write exams for my Hockey Referee Level Four Theory (Level Five for the semi-pro and pro Leagues and 6 for International Hockey). It is not that I am bragging, I was quite humbled by the experience. If you know anything about ice hockey, you know there are a lot of rules and this seemed like an onerous task.

Of course, I brought forth my vast knowledge from the first three levels of refereeing, but I was unprepared for the volume of new rules. I started my study routines, got myself a study partner, wrote to rules experts looking for patterns and spent countless hours with the text. I realized at some point in my studies that I might be over my head and was ready to submit. Really not do the Referee courses and not interact with the 100 other referees from North America and Europe.

Over the course of the preparation, I had an epiphany. I had been in many of these situations before, previous practical experiences applying the hockey rules. I hadn’t spent enough time in my studies, looking at the interpretations booklet they provided me, only the text itself. I started pouring over the practical applications of the rules and drawing on all my previous experiences. Once I got to the courses, I was in the top third of all categories of rules and contributed a vast amount to the learning experience.

Now you must know the journey is not over, only the courses and examination. As the new season approaches in September, they will begin sending supervisors to watch me in action and evaluate me over time to see how I apply the rules and how I handle difficult situations during challenging games.

So why write about the “Rules of the Game” in this context? Our time at Pardes is very similar to this experience. We pour over text for hours and hours, and then we analyze more text on what the great rabbis and scholars understood from the text. I don’t have to tell anyone about how exciting it is to study Tanach, Talmud and tefillah, in Jerusalem at Pardes, with incredible morim (teachers).

What I really think is important is what I do after Pardes. How I apply these teachings and lessons in the practical day to day Jewish and secular parts of my life, in Toronto. Too bad there won’t be anyone watching me and evaluating me after Pardes, or will there be?

—–

My Pardes experience has been a tribute to my ima, Rivka bat Sarah, of blessed memory, 09/01/94. My soul is bound up with yours until eternity.

Find What’s Yummy

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Rachel Bikofsky

(Cross-posted from Little by Little לאט לאט

Shalom from Israel! I do feel like I should apologize for the long stretch without any postings…as predicted, getting computer access has been a bit tricky. But, though I haven’t been writing, I’ve been quite busy exploring Jerusalem and reuniting with dear friends after many, many months apart. This week I began a 3-week-long course of study at the Pardes Institute, and although I’ve only had three days of learning so far, I’ve already made one major discovery: I LOVE learning Torah!

This is no small realization, especially because I distinctly remember a time when I thought studying Torah sounded both tedious and unproductive. I’ve found that not only is learning Torah way more mentally stimulating than I’d originally thought, but also that I have a huge appetite for it. I can’t get enough of the beit midrash, with its continuous current of debate and intellectual energy. I am completely enthralled by Talmud and the scrupulous attention that the talmudic rabbis paid to every single detail. Also, I just love the feeling of exploring something new in an environment where every question is valid and every opinion merits air time. Beginning to learn Torah has also been incredibly humbling–it has been a long time since I’ve had to learn ANYTHING from scratch, and the feeling can be uncomfortable at times. But at the same time, the struggle is delicious because the rewards are so satisfying.

At first, I couldn’t really see how my newfound enthusiasm for Torah learning related to recovery, but I believe I’ve found a link. Discovering what energizes us is a major part of recovery work–figuring out what truly excites us, and making space for it in our lives. A great therapist of mine once said, “You need to find what’s yummy to you.” In other words, it’s important to figure out what genuinely brings you positive energy and joy. For me, in this moment, learning Torah is yummy. I’m grateful to have this opportunity to bring it into my life, and I look forward to sharing with you what I’m learning!

What about you? What does your soul find delicious?

[Student Profile] Shanee Michaelson

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Bogo

Shanee recalls the family gatherings of her childhood with great fondness. Jewish holidays with her mother’s family were full of warmth and love, and they all still lived nearby in the Los Angeles area, having emigrated from Iran together. In the USA Shanee was given opportunities that her mother hadn’t received in Iran, and so she became the first woman in their family to attend a Jewish day school and read from the Torah for her bat mitzvah.

Hebrew was Shanee’s favorite subject, and language study came easily to her so she minored in Spanish literature at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), while studying psychology and sociology. The young woman also joined the UCSD Israel Action Committee, and brought an increased awareness of Israeli culture to her university through campus-wide Israeli movie nights and dances. She also twice attended the AIPAC conference in Washington, DC, as a student delegate.

After college, Shanee’s Jewish involvement manifested in her work as a Hebrew school teacher, which she pursued even as she attended law school at the University of San Francisco. It was a challenge for her, having had no training, but she found that she enjoyed teaching and working with children – a theme that would unexpectedly recur after she completed her law degree.

Tragedy soon struck the young woman when her mother was diagnosed with cancer after her law school graduation, and Shanee became her mother’s primary caregiver while she worked for the State Bar of California and then at a small law firm. After her mother passed away, Shanee took a poetry class in the evening at the University of Southern California (USC), and was offered a teaching assistantship, which would cover her tuition. Shanee accepted, and began taking classes such as screenwriting, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

In 2008 Shanee completed her Master’s degree in creative writing, and decided to take a summer vacation to Israel. She’d only been here once before – on a Birthright trip – and Shanee wanted to visit some Israeli friends and explore the country on her own. After a week in Jerusalem and another week in Tel Aviv, Shanee began to feel that she never wanted to leave… but she ultimately returned home to be near her family.

Recalling her love of teaching, Shanee found work at an international school in San Diego where her grandmother, aunt and uncle were living, and moved back there. In San Diego, she started attending services and classes at Chabad, and started to get excited about Jewish learning. Eventually, another student mentioned Pardes to her, and the idea of an open, pluralistic beit midrash in Jerusalem grabbed her imagination.

Once again, tragedy struck unexpectedly when Shanee’s grandmother passed during her stay in San Diego, and she felt the loss acutely. After two years of teaching, Shanee applied to study at Pardes during the summer of 2010, but she ultimately delayed her trip when a legal project came through for her. Shanee soon moved to Washington, DC to work at a Jewish preschool, and then attended the 2011 Summer Program at Pardes – studying with others in the educators track. “Three years ago, I fell in love with Israel,” she says, “That summer, I fell in love with Jerusalem.”

After three weeks at Pardes, Shanee knew she would have to return to continue her studies in Jerusalem - there was so much to learn! She felt incredibly drawn to Israel, and returned to America only to save up enough money to study at Pardes in Spring 2012. Now having returned, Shanee continues to enjoy the challenging conversations and wide ranging perspectives of the Pardes community, and finds herself delving into the Tanakhic texts through Pardes’ Intensive Tanakh Track (ITT).

In the near future, Shanee looks forward to hosting other Pardesniks at her Purim seudah^1,2 next week, and in the long run… well, Shanee’s now thinking of moving to Israel!

Seudah: festive, celebratory meal(see: Seudat Purim)
Shanee’s seudah will have a creative theme! Please bring a poem, story, song, or joke to share!

Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies

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