Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
I was fortunate to be able to take a break from the office and participate in one class during the Pardes “Yom Iyun Sukkot.” The class, taught by Pardes faculty member, Tovah Leah Nachmani, was entitled, “Sukkot: Is God on the Guest List?” Starting with the controversial statement by Hillel the Elder – “If I Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
Pardes is a wonderful place to study, and also an amazing community. Like every community, the one at Pardes is formed of shared experiences. The community that is Pardes really became real for me at the first tish of the school year, during our first retreat. Tish is a time in the evening to share Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
It was my first class with Rav Levi Cooper and my study partner and I were moving slowly, looking up nearly every word in our Hebrew-English dictionaries when the thrill of the moment overtook me as I realized that I was actually reading and translating RAMBAM – Maimonides, the great Jewish scholar – from Hebrew. Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
This semester at Pardes, I am a participant in the “Social Justice Track.” The “Social Justice Track” is so named because it is more than a class that meets for a prescribed period of time each week. We do meet as a class, to read, to debate and to understand classical texts. However, we also Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
“ברוך אתה ה אלוקינו מלך העולם מתיר אסורים” – “Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of universe who releases the bound” – I am particularly grateful for this blessing from Birckot Hashachar. It is symbolized through stretching. I have always thought of stretching as something purely physical, however, this bracha makes us aware that there Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
Hundred of years ago in candle lit rooms Rabbis argued on the rules of Judaism and on the words of the Torah. These arguments come to life everyday in the Beit Midrash through ribbons of pinks and yellows and greens and blues and through sing-song voices that might make us smile just a tiny bit. Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
The importance of honoring your teachers Brenna Stein Studying Gemara sometimes feels like an experience in between reading a Supreme Court case fought by Rabbis over a few generations to watching a halachic discussion unfold (often with several tangents) on an E-mail list-serve or chat room. Recently I was given a reminder of the etiquette Continue Reading »
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
on the flood a kick in the sand the castle lies at my feet to begin again on babel handfuls of feathers brought near to the lips of God scattered by his breath May we come together after the scattering. By Avi Strausberg
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn
vayera, וירא Huge, life-changing events happen in this week’s parsha. A city is annihilated, the smoke and ashes of its people filling the land, an entire people are made barren and then healed by God and, the long-awaited child of Sarah and Avraham, Yitzhak, comes within in seconds of a young death, nearly sacrificed to Continue Reading »
