These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Archive: December 2009

Beliefs as Truths

Posted on December 22, 2009 by David Bogomolny

R. Levi Cooper, my Chassidut (Chassidism) teacher, has consistently inspired me with his wisdom. I’ve heard some of my own thoughts echoed back to me in Levi’s particularly articulate and reasoned way, and other insights of his have seeded entirely new contemplations in my mind. In discussing the history of the Chassidut, RLC taught us Continue Reading »

one day at a time

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Naomi Adland

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the future. “But,” you say “it’s too soon to be thinking about life after Pardes.  You have until the end of May.” Trust me.  I know.  After today, I have one hundred and sixty days left in Jerusalem.  That’s plenty of time to figure out what I’m Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] Living in a prayer

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Brenna

Experiencing prayer is one of my favorite things in Israel and Jerusalem in particular. This whole country is a place of prayer. Where else but Israel, would one hear in the beginning of the show “Survivor” one of the secular contestants sing “Modeh Ani” (a prayer praising G-d for returning to life in the morning)? Continue Reading »

Why Listen?

Posted on December 5, 2009 by Mosheh

One central aspect of religion and tradition is ritual. Regardless of one’s theological perspective on the meaning of religious ritual, ritual in and of itself plays a primary role in human life. People have both religious and not-necessarily-religious rituals for waking up, leisure time, family time, important life transitions (such as a bar mitzvah or Continue Reading »

A Spoonful of Sugya Helps the Medicine Go Down

Posted on December 3, 2009 by Pious Antic

The rumors were swirling even before the day of Rav Landes’ shiur k’lali last week.  Tuesday morning he would be addressing the Pardes community about kavod shel Beit Midrash (respect for the Beit Midrash) and what this means in terms of behavior. Although presumably no one knew in advance exactly what our Rosh Yeshiva was Continue Reading »