Tag Archives: Yeshivat Hadar

2011-2012 Pardes Fellows (3 of 3)

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Let’s meet some more of this year’s Pardes Fellows! 

Kalie Kelman

Kalie is originally from Phoenix, Arizona, and before arriving in Israel, she was completing her undergraduate degree in American Studies at George Washington University (where she also directed a hip hop dance company!). In the fall of 2010, she was gearing up to begin an M.A. in Media and Public Affairs at GWU, but at the last moment she decided to come study at Pardes. 

“The thing I love most about Pardes is the drastic range of ideas and opinions on politics, religion, and everything else under the sun… The ‘safe space’ that is cultivated at Pardes makes for a warm community with educators who are accessible and receptive to students.” 

Kalie’s ‘Fellows Project’ focuses on working with the Pardes director of development – to help meet Pardes’ fundraising goals, and on a personal level,  she is hoping to learn a lot more halacha and Jewish history, and hopes to strengthen and develop her relationship with God. She also hopes to make some new friends and grow closer with her mentors in Israel. 

In the future, she is hoping to work in development or communications/PR for a Jewish non-profit in either Israel or the US… and Kalie’s future plans also include a husband & family at some point :)  

Victoria Raun

Vicki hails from California, and before coming to Pardes she was the receptionist at Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego. She holds a BA in American Studies from Skidmore College (2010) through the University Without Walls program; and before becoming the CBI receptionist she worked as a U.S. Air Force and civilian journalist for three decades.

Vicki deeply appreciates the sense of community at Pardes, and her ’Fellows Project’ is to provide greater opportunities for Pardes students to interact with, & learn about Israel. She aims to help new students adjust comfortably to living in Jerusalem, and her personal hopes for next year are to continue her improvement in Hebrew and to focus on text study. This year, Vicki has made Aliyah, and her long-term goal is to make her home in Israel, get a job and find a way to make a positive impact upon Israeli society through volunteer work.

Daniel Shibley

Daniel calls Washignton, DC his home, and he lived in NYC for a year as a fellow at Yeshivat Hadar before beginning his studies at Pardes in 2010. Shibley completed his B.A. in sociology with a concentration in Jewish Studies at Clark University in Worcester, MA, and throughout his college career, he taught religious school and advised Jewish youth groups. This year, Daniel’s ‘Fellows Project’ is to organize Shabbatonim and tiyulim for Pardes, which bring the entire community together even beyond the Pardes beit midrash.

“I like guacamole, and I don’t understand why Israelis use that fan thing to light their BBQ.”

Shibley is also preparing himself for rabbinic school, and is using this year as a mechina program, while developing his Hebrew language skills. His long-term goal is to provide access for those who seek to understand the texts of their Jewish tradition.

You can find Daniel’s writings on his two blogs here:

  1. Shibbles’ Eyes
  2. Tussling with T’fillah (thoughts on prayer)
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Observations

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A few years ago, I had the privilege and the pleasure of living in Manhattan while I was learning at Yeshivat Hadar. New York is well known as a center of culture, arts, business, and the like. There is also a significant population of weirdos in New York, as in any city. I developed two theories about weird, eccentric, off-beat people, or whatever label you’d prefer. The first is that there is a certain percentage of people in the world who the majority would classify as “weird,” and because of New York’s population and population density, the weird folk are more visible. The alternate theory states that because of New York’s reputation as a cultural center, people are more “tolerant”, and therefore being weird is more permissible. I am not sure to which theory I subscribe.

Now, you’re probably asking what does this have anything to do with my life in Jerusalem? Sorry if you like suspense, because here’s the reason. It is not uncommon to see things here that make you think, or say, “only in Jerusalem.” Usually such happenings are related to some aspect of Jewish life, Israelis, or Arabs. Recently however I saw two unexpected sites. The first was a well-dressed young man walking down the street brushing his teeth, totally unconcerned about the lack of a sink, toothpaste, or any of the typical teeth brushing materials. The second site, a group of older men clad in plaid flannel pajamas boarding a bus. It’s very uncommon to see people covered up, for religious reasons, even during the heat of the day. I am unaware of any religion that wears flannel plaid pajamas in public, in the summer. If you find one, let me know.

Hebrew word of the day: mivreshet shinayim (Tooth brush)

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[Student Profile] Avi Strausberg

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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 eating & farming — so I moved to New Zealand to farm and manage an organic grocery store!

But after about a year in New Zealand, I realized that I really missed having a Jewish community… and then I heard about ‘Adamah’.”

In the Fall of 2008 Avi joined Adamah, and found exactly what she had been looking for. She lived in, farmed along with, and celebrated Shabbat with her new Jewish community, and even started exploring the texts of the siddur and Tanakh on her own.

After completing her three month Adamah program, Avi felt that she wanted to continue Jewish text study, and she spent the Summer of 2009 learning at Elat Chayyim before moving to NYC to begin a prestigious, year-long fellowship at Yeshivat Hadar. As one of 18 Fellows, Avi learned a great deal at Hadar. She developed her Talmud study and shaliach tzibbur skills, and she became inspired to study towards the rabbinate.

At Yeshivat Hadar Avi also met her girlfriend Chana Kupetz, another Fellow, who had come from Israel to study Torah for the year after completing her Israeli Army service. After being accepted into Hebrew College for rabbinical studies, Avi deferred to live and study Torah in Israel for a year, and she selected the Pardes Year Program for its diverse student body.

At Pardes, Avi can be found leading the egalitarian minyan as its gabbai, and grabbing volumes of Talmud off the shelves of the beit midrash with her chevruta. In Talmud class, Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield pushes Avi to become an independent Gemara student, and she finds herself greatly appreciating the skills that she learned from Leah Rosenthal at dissecting and clarifying Amoritic texts… some day, she’d like to integrate her new text skills with her passion for theater and the arts.

“I’d like to synthesize text with the creative energy of the arts to create deeper connections with the material, and make it more relevant and more personally meaningful. This was my vision for the Haiku Torah Project, which I began on Simchat Torah.”

UPDATE: Avi received the Wexner Fellowship for next year!

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[Alumni Guest Post] Hametz Prayers

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Below is a guest post from 2 Pardes alumni:

Rabbi Jon Kelsen & Dena Weiss are both alumni of the Pardes kollel program. Jon teaches at the Drisha Institute, and Dena teaches at Yeshivat Hadar. Together in chevruta, Jon & Dena wrote two prayers, in anticipation of bedikat / biur hametz this year.

Here is their explanation. (read that first)

Here are their personal prayers:

Hineni

I am present, in body and mind, to fulfill the positive commandment of  “On the first day, you shall dispose of hametz from your homes.”

As I prepare to destroy all the leavened food in my possession, so I commit to removing all  objects and aspects of  my life which share distinct features with hametz:
clothing I do not wear which might clothe another,
tzedakah I am withholding which might sustain another;
love I have not shown which might inspire another.
I also prepare to challenge my traits of procrastination, selfishness and narrow perspective, arrogance, and fear.

הנני מוכן ומזומן

הנני מוכן ומזומן לקיים מצוות עשה כמו שכתוב בתורה “אך ביום הראשון תשביתו שאור מבתיכם.”

וכמו שאני מוכן להשבית כל מחמצת שברשותי, כן אני מוכן להשבית שאר דברים שברשותי שיש בהם מעין תערובת חמץ:

בגדים שאינני לובש היכולים להלביש ערומים,

צדקה שקפצתי בידי היכולה להקים דלים,

אהבת חינם של חננתי.

ואף אני מוכן להתמודד עם יצרי הרעים שבכל מחבואות מחשבותי ,שאור שבעיסה:

החמצה, אנוכיות, מוחין דקטנות, גאווה, ופחד.

Yehi Ratzon

God, should it please You, help me to grow from the experience of discovering and destroying the hametz from my home and office, my closet and my desk, my heart and my mind. I recognize that I have not done so completely. Regard my efforts as achievements. Help me to turn my mistakes into lessons and to continue this process of purification throughout the coming year.
This year we are here, next year may we be in Eretz Yisrael. This year we are slaves, next year may we be free.

יהי רצון

יהי רצון מלפניך ה’ אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו, שתעזרני ללמוד לעלות ולהתקדש על ידי עבודת בדיקת וביעור החמץ:

הן מביתי הן ממשרדי,

הן מארוני הן משולחני,

הן מליבי הן משכלי.

מתודה אני לפניך שלא סיימתי את מלאכת הקודש בתמימות.

צרף יגיעתי להשגתי, מחשבתי למעשי.

הפוך שגגות לזכויות, ירידות לעליות, ותזכני למשוך שפעת הקדושה והטהרה  של מצווה זו.

השתא הכא, לשנה הבאה באראע דישראל . השתא עבדי, לשנה הבאה בני חורין.

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Personal Reflection: Memorization

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Memorization is a powerful tool. Usually we associate memorization with preparation for tests. I want to associate it with prayer. For now, I am going to leave aside the potential halakhic problems that may arise from memorizing prayer, which is fair game for a later post, and instead share my own memorization journey.

Last year, when I began learning at Yeshivat Hadar, I had a conversation with one of my teachers about the memorization of prayer, specifically the Amidah. I was staunchly against memorizing the pillar of Jewish prayer (I consider the Shma a statement, not a prayer). I felt as if my own words would be somehow cheapened if they were committed to memory, almost like I would be performing the prayer rite with less than total focus. I felt comfortable with the siddur (prayerbook) in my hand, and I was certainly not going to let it slip from my grasp.

Sometime later, I found myself having unintentionally memorized the Amidah. Simply, if you say something enough times, it becomes easier to recall. One could certainly make the argument that because our prayers are fixed, and the possibility for memorization exists that there is a problem to be found here. I’ll leave that aside for now as well. Finally I decided to attempt to recite the entire weekday Amidah without any siddur assistance. I found that I actually was more focused and concentrated because I did not have the words printed before my eyes. I did not have the luxury of rushing through words or running syllables together. Without a siddur, I had to provide all of the punctuation and enunciation. It was truly a watershed moment.

I don’t want to put forth the idea that the entire could or should be memorized, because there are certainly pitfalls if the davener is not careful. Rather, selective memorization has the potential to be useful, and not just for standardized test preparation.

I would be curious to hear the opinions and experiences of others with regard to Amidah memorization.

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Transitional Silences

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Transitional moments within davening are generally opportunities to keep the t’fillot at hand moving along without delays that would cause a lapse in concentration or disrupt the atmosphere of holiness. As an aside, halacha takes into consideration this fact, and prohibits the burdening of the congregation.

I learned last year at Yeshivat Hadar, that sometimes singing or prayer is enhanced by the inherent contrast between voices and the silence that exists before and after. I agree wholeheartedly with the concept when discussing the moments following the conclusion of a niggun (wordless melody), but I’ve been wrestling recently as to how this might apply to t’fillah.

Among the moments within davening where there are “transitional silences,” none is more powerful for me than that heading into and out of the silent amidah. Regardless of which service of the day, the shaliach tzibbur (prayer leader) has a vocal role before the amidah begins, whether in the form of a bracha or half-kaddish. Once the shaliach tzibbur concludes however, there is hopefully a silence that pervades as all present begin the personal amidah. The transition allows individuals the opportunity to gather his or her thoughts before commencing the t’fillah. It is undoubtedly tempting to rush into the amidah, a temptation to which I have succumbed on numerous occasions. In the last week, I have found my personal amidah to be far more meaningful and moving when I take those few seconds, absorb the quiet, gather my thoughts, and only then begin the amidah.

On the other hand, there is a certain shattering of the silence when the shaliach tzibbur begins the repetition of the amidah. Though this week of experimenting, I have come to think of the whispered words “Hashem sfatai tiftach u’fi yagid t’hilatecha” (God open my lips that they should declare Your praise), as a warning to the kahal that the silence is about to end and the repetition will shortly begin. Yes, the aforementioned quote from Psalms it’s own meaning, paralleling the “y’hi ratzon milfanecha…”(So may it be Your will…) at the conclusion of the amidah. For the purposes of this t’fillah element, I am relying on my own understanding.

I would be curious to hear/read about others’ thoughts an/or attempts at the method that I have suggested.

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