Musings from students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 21st, 2012
Dear G-d, I’m going to write to You now to review our shared experience of the last hour. I preceded my hitbodidut discussion with a quiet meditation in the yard by my apartment. I meditated for twenty five minutes or so, and I was very pleased to find that my alarm signaled the end of [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 20th, 2012
The shift from first semester to second semester started during our week off when half of Pardes went on a tiyul to the Arava desert. I’m not a hiking fan, but I love the desert in Israel and have always felt connected to it. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to reflect on my [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 17th, 2012
On this week’s podcast, Meesh discusses one of the more controversial laws introduced in Mishpatim, that of “an eye for an eye” Mishpatim 5772 Tweet
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 15th, 2012
Joseph is a Persian Cowboy. He was born in Dallas, Texas to immigrant parents from Iran. He and his older brother David attended the Akiba Academy of Dallas, an Orthodox day school, through Joseph’s middle school years. When he was eleven, Joseph’s parents decided to move to LA to be closer to family, where he [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 10th, 2012
In this week’s podcast, Michael Hattin talks about the central event of the parsha, the giving and receiving of the Torah. Yitro 5772 Tweet
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 4th, 2012
(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) I decided to challenge myself this semester, to fully take advantage of my time here by trying new Jewish things and getting outside my comfort zones. Since every subject of Torah has its own special jargon, world view, sources, legends, authorities, inside jokes, the result has been [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 3rd, 2012
On this week’s podcast, Rav Meir discusses the parsha describing Bnei Yisrael‘s journey from being slaves to a free nation. Beshalach 5772 Tweet
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 30th, 2012
Tovah Leah, my teacher for Personalizing Prayer, and Relationships class, cites Rav Kook nearly everyday! I finally realized that I loved almost every quote that she brought from him. So last week I bought a book that compiles Rav Kook’s thoughts on the Parshiot, the weekly Torah portions. Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 29th, 2012
“What influenced me the most was how my parents acted toward others. Both of them were my role models. Both were black sheep… I like black sheep ” After escaping from Hungary during the Holocaust, Carolina’s grandparents didn’t affiliate themselves with the Jewish community of Venezuela, and raised their children without much Jewish tradition… so it came as [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 27th, 2012
(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) Despite popular belief, the Creation narrative in the Bible does not depict creatio ex nihilo, a creation of something out of nothing, or יש מאין (yeish mayain), as we say in Hebrew. In fact, as even the most cursory glance at Genesis 1 will tell you, before [...]
