Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on August 16, 2023 by David Gutbezahl
At the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, eager learners of all ages come together to study throughout the year creating a truly multigenerational environment. One family, now spanning three generations of Pardesniks, recently stood out to us as a testament to the power of intergenerational learning.
Bobbie and Ed Winter, seasoned Pardesniks, followed their son Ariel after his year at Pardes, and have studied together at Pardes for over 10 years, regularly attending the Summer Program and the Pardes Learning Seminar. This summer, Ed and Bobbie seized the chance to share their passion for Jewish text study with their granddaughter, Ilana, bringing her with them to the Summer Program. We recently sat down with Ed, Bobbie and Ilana to explore their perspectives on this unique journey.
Bobbie (aka Savta/ Grandma): We were thrilled to be able to learn together as a family at the 2023 Pardes Summer Program. Ilana, our granddaughter, has followed in the footsteps of her father, Ariel, who studied in the year program in 1994-95, followed by us, his parents, who have been coming for over 10 years. Now we have Ilana, a third generation Pardes student.
It has been an incredible opportunity to be able to learn together in havruta (paired learning) and for Ilana and her saba, (grandfather) Ed to sit next to each other in the gemarra class. We are grateful to Pardes for enabling us to have this unique opportunity.
“Studying together at Pardes allows us to talk to each other as fellow students, not just as grandparents and grandchild, and to learn about the aspects of each other we had not seen before.”
Ilana Winter (granddaughter): It felt a little surreal to walk in on the first day and see all of the staff greeting my saba and savta as old friends and to hear the director of the Pardes Summer Program tell me that he and his wife knew my father from his time at Pardes -almost 30 years ago.
It was amazing to see the evidence of my family’s years at Pardes and the lasting connections they had made. I love being able to sit in class and witness my saba’s accumulated years of gemarra expertise and my savta’s deep knowledge of Tanach, and to have the opportunity to speak with them about Torah, God, and life in general.
I am very grateful that I’ve had this chance to learn alongside, and from, my Saba and Savta this summer.
Ed Winter (aka Saba – grandfather): We are also grateful to Hashem for being able to have this unique opportunity to learn with Ilana. May we continue to be part of the community at Pardes, and to have such special learning experiences in the future.
שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ הִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה
Ed, Bobbie and Ilana Winter in the Pardes Beit Midrash, Summer 2023
