Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 22, 2013 by David Bogomolny
After joining AmeriCorps, getting a graduate degree in public policy, and working for several years at the U.S. Department of Energy, I’ve developed a fascination with politics. I read a lot about U.S. politics, which I’m very familiar with, on a regular basis even though I’ve actually been living in Israel for the past several Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2013 by Laura Marder
In Parshat Bo we are given the first Mitzvah from G-d. The mitzvah of being aware and sanctifying time with Rosh Chodesh. “This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year”. Bo 11:2 While reading BO I tried to Continue Reading »
Posted on January 12, 2013 by Eva Vadasz
My uncle, as we call him in Hungarian, Otto, wrote an open letter to the MP of the Hungarian Parliament who called for a list to be drawn up of the Jews in the Parliament. My uncle, who survived Auschwitz and lives in Israel, is from Gyöngyös, Hungary and the name of the anti-Semitic lawmaker Continue Reading »
Posted on December 16, 2012 by Aliza Geller
On Wednesday, December 5th, a group of approximately 20 members of the Pardes community gathered to talk about what we could do to facilitate conversations on challenging issues among ourselves. This session was expertly led by Shoshana Rosen (Year Program ‘13) and Meesh Hammer-Kossoy. The biggest concern voiced at the meeting is that people do not necessarily have the skills to Continue Reading »
Posted on December 14, 2012 by Andrea Wiese
Originally posted on my blog: I recently learned about Women of the Wall and their struggle for equality at the Kotel, the Western Wall, the most significant religious site for Jews. Every Rosh Chodesh they go to the Kotel to pray together in a minyan (technically, a group of 10 Jewish men, but for them, Continue Reading »
Posted on November 6, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Cross-posted from Ben Barer‘s (Fall ’10, Fellows ’11-’12) blog: Last year, I posted a short reflection on why I wear a kippah, but there is another major aspect of publicly identifying as Jewish that I would like to fill in now. I believe that, in addition to the freedoms and decrease in antisemitism that have Continue Reading »
Posted on October 29, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
By Jeremy Sorgen (Spring 2011): What is prophecy? Who are prophets? Traditionally, prophets have played the role of messenger of God. They are God’s mouthpiece, communicating their revelation to mankind–at once an onerous responsibility and an unpleasant task. The prophets of the Bible are unhappy creatures, driven mad by the intimate presence of God and Continue Reading »
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Jessie Gindea
By Jessie Gindea, PEP ’12 What an evening this is. As I look around this Beit Midrash, surrounded by my brilliant teachers, my esteemed colleagues, and all of the people who have effected my experience in the last two years, it seems only natural to turn to psalms 133, verse 1: “Hiney mah tov umah Continue Reading »
Posted on June 13, 2012 by Sam Blumberg
By Sam Blumberg, PEP ’12 Over the last three years at Pardes, I have learned a ton. I’ve learned Torah, Talmud, Mishna, pedagogy, philosophy– all things that I knew little about before my time in the Pardes Educators Program. But I didn’t come here to learn. I came here to teach. In the thirteenth chapter Continue Reading »
Posted on April 24, 2012 by aliza
We are a group of international students living in Jerusalem deeply disturbed by the racism that has recently manifested itself in a series of violent incidents involving the Beitar Jerusalem soccer fans. On March 19, hundreds of Beitar fans stormed the Malha mall in Jerusalem, violently assaulting Arab workers while chanting racist slogans including “Death Continue Reading »
