Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 27, 2011 by Derek Kwait
In Social Justice, everyone must give at least one d’var tzedek during the course of the semester. Here is my first: I was raised by television. When I was little, we lived on a busy street with no boys, meaning instead of going outside to play, I sat inside watching TV and playing with action Continue Reading »
Posted on September 23, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(X-posted to my home blog Yinzer in Yerushalayim.) I think it would be fair to call this my first “normal” week in Israel. For starters, I moved in to my apartment Sunday after class, which means I finally have a big quiet (for Jerusalem) room with fast, reliable Internet all to myself, am living with Continue Reading »
Posted on September 23, 2011 by Derek Kwait
Who we are slideshow What we’re looking at slideshow (X-posted to my home blog Yinzer in Yerushalayim on the side column.) I can’t write about last weekend’s Shabbaton at the Beit Yehuda Hostel in the southwest of Jerusalem. To properly capture an experience so jam-packed and uplifting, with so much bonding, learning, singing, eating, Continue Reading »
Posted on September 20, 2011 by Derek Kwait
Facinating article for discussion from Reform Judaism Magazine (for the record, I stumbled upon it via a positive review on an Orthodox site): http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2854 Campus Life 201: Trying Out Frum by Emily Langowitz For the past week, my alarm has gone off every morning at seven—the click of the radio calling me to another day Continue Reading »
Posted on September 19, 2011 by Derek Kwait
It occurred to me that as a new blogger and new face around Pardes, many of you may not know who I am. To bring a tikkun to this situation, I decided I should share the author’s bio from my thesis novella, Masters of Turning: derek m. kwait is Scholastic’s hottest new author with the Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(Cross-posted from my blog for “The Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh”, Yinzer in Yerushalayim.) I am writing this now on a mirpeset* (even people who don’t speak Hebrew call them mirpesets here, and it’s already become such second-nature for me that I can’t go back) with a sweeping view of Jerusalem at night, including the lit-up Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog for “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim, 9 September 2011) Sunday was orientation at Pardes. The getting-to-know-you introductions at the beginning made one thing clear straight-away—this is a place of diversity. The students at Pardes range from future Open Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, to a dude who’s Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog with “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim 4 September 2011.) Thank God, everything arrived on time. From getting the Mega Bus in Pittsburgh ($1.50 ticket!) to the planes at JFK and Kiev, I had no problems. By far the best part of the trip though was getting to Continue Reading »
