These and Those

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

Archive: November 2011

The Pardes Sunset Project (2009)

Posted on November 1, 2011 by David Bogomolny

Inspired by Ben’s post, I dug up this photo from Dec. 20th, 2009.

Old City Tour: 4 Quarters

Posted on October 27, 2011 by David Bogomolny

On October 6th, some of us went on a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem… read Lauren’s account of it here. And check out some of our photos below:

Community Lunch

Posted on September 27, 2011 by David Bogomolny

[Student Profile] Amy Kaldor

Posted on September 16, 2011 by David Bogomolny

“All of my grandparents were holocaust survivors, and they all grew up in traditional Jewish families in Hungary… I want to be a part of the tradition that they grew up with… and at Pardes, I can begin to reclaim it.” Amy arranged her arrival to Israel to overlap with the final weeks of her Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Louis Sachs

Posted on July 2, 2011 by David Bogomolny

Over the course of many consecutive summers as a camper at JCA Shalom in Malibu, Louis learned about Judaism “without realizing” it. He first attended camp as a fifth grader, and returned year after year until the summer after his first year of college (as a camp counselor). “I did USY for six years, and went to Hebrew school through 10th grade, but Continue Reading »

Alumni Testimonials

Posted on June 6, 2011 by David Bogomolny

Check these out! Alumni Josh Laurence‘s, Rebecca Karp‘s, and Tom Johanix‘s Pardes testimonials on the Masa Israel blog!

[Student Profile] Merissa Nathan Gerson

Posted on June 1, 2011 by David Bogomolny

“… now I better understand what I was looking for… I didn’t know what to ask for – I didn’t know what it looked like – I didn’t realize I could trust Judaism, but at Pardes I’ve realized that everything I was looking for exists in Jewish texts.” As a young woman growing up in Washington, DC, Merissa was heavily involved in race dialogues, and later came Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Avi Strausberg

Posted on April 28, 2011 by David Bogomolny

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 Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Brian Stein

Posted on April 21, 2011 by David Bogomolny

Raised in the Squirrel Hill neigborhood of Pittsburgh, Brian’s fascination with Jewish tradition grew through his USY involvement. For the young man, “regional USY Shabbatons were a religious experience in a way that Hebrew school never was.” He experienced traditional Shabbat seudot, and learned about netilat yadayim, lechem mishneh, seudat shlishit, and singing zmirot. As time went on, Brian Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Jonathan Tassoff

Posted on April 5, 2011 by David Bogomolny

On his 40th birthday, during a silent Shambhala meditation retreat on a mountain in Vermont, Jonathan (’09-’10, Fellows ’10-’11) asked himself, “what do I really want to do?” And the answer came to him, “I want to study Torah in Israel.” Soon thereafter, Jonathan applied to Pardes, and received the nicest e-mail from Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy that he had ever received Continue Reading »