Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
The Mirrors and Windows of the Beit Midrash: Encountering Many Faces
Posted on February 23, 2020 by Rebecca Swartz
Posted on February 6, 2020 by Evan Gewirtz
The Many Faces of Me: Exploring Identity in a Post Modern World. Students from around the globe gathered at Pardes in January this year to ask big questions about identity, and to see what Jewish texts and stories from our tradition have to offer on this topic. Here is a reflection offered by Evan Gewirtz Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2020 by Joe Schiff
This blog post was written by Joe Schiff, a second year PEP student. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting last academic year took eleven lives. I happened to be at Pardes during the attack last year. Among our cohort were multiple people who knew the synagogue, the area, and the victims intimately. When a person is killed, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2020 by Golda Gross
This blog post was written by Golda Gross a first semester student (Fall 2019) from France. Our last step in Auschwitz was Block 27: a room containing a non-exhaustive list of people who had set foot in this cursed place during the Holocaust. We flipped through the thousands of pages filled with names, and then Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2020 by Lara Rodin
This blog post, written by Lara Rodin, a second year PEP student, was originally posted on January 19, 2020 on her personal blog. It has been reposted here with her permission. “They didn’t have time to think,” Dean Bernstein told us about the victims of Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz, and the other death camps and memorial Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2020 by Branden Charles Johnson
This blog post was written by Branden Johnson, a PEP student. Before learning about the Heritage Poland 2020/5780 trip, I had never wanted to go to Poland. I know many people who have been there, and most of them said it was cold, dark, and too sad. After returning from the trip, I can now Continue Reading »
Posted on January 16, 2020 by David Bernstein
A 17th c. Shul blown up by the Nazis on November 11, 1939. Pardes students turn it into a place for Jewish prayer again. The roof was built by the Lauder Foundation in the 1990’s.
Posted on January 16, 2020 by Elyssa Hurwitz
This blog post was written by Elyssa Hurwitz, 2019 PEEP student. Today I am 25 and a half. I know that that may seem insignificant, but it’s important to me. I was born on July 14, 1994, and I can’t remember being the kind of person who has liked being spoiled or the center of Continue Reading »
Posted on January 14, 2020 by Mimi Farb
This blog post was written by Mimi Farb, first year PEP student. My day began with morning minyan in the hotel conference room in Warsaw. We read the beginning of Sefer Shemoth from the tiny Sefer Torah we borrowed from the family of Adi Rubnista, that we carried against our chests later in the day Continue Reading »
Posted on January 13, 2020 by Doug Berkowitz
This blog post was written by PEEP student, Doug Berkowitz, prior to his trip to Poland this year. Two things that are true about me: 1. I love to travel 2. I really enjoy learning about history So you’d think that when I learned that Pardes was taking students to Poland on a Jewish Heritage Continue Reading »
Posted on January 9, 2020 by Rhoda Weisman
This was written by Rhoda Weisman, alumna of the Winter 2019 Pardes Learning Seminar. I love the Oxford English dictionary’s definition of transformation: “a complete change in someone or something.” I am that someone who’s been transformed and the wonderful catalyst was this year’s Pardes Winter Learning Seminar. For those of you reading this post Continue Reading »
