These and Those

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

Archive: March 2014

Side trip to Greece

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Near the beginning of my journey in Israel, I spent some time in Greece. Things are coming full circle because Emet and I just got back to Israel after a short vacation in Greece last week. It was nothing like the last time I was there…in September 2012, it was sunny and Continue Reading »

Putting on Tefillin for the First Time

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

There has been a lot of hype around women wearing tefillin lately (see here, here, here, and here). Since I just started taking the “Women and Mitzvot” class, this is a topic that I have followed. I’ve also been intrigued by the whole idea of tefillin for a while now. For most of my life, I saw tefillin as Continue Reading »

Shabbat: New Experiences and Emotions

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Since I’ve been keeping Shabbat, I have had some that are absolutely fabulous and some that aren’t as much. It depends on whom I’m with, mainly. This past Shabbat was so amazing; I can only attempt to explain it. On Friday night, Emet and I went to a Reform shul. I haven’t Continue Reading »

What I’ve Learned About Myself Thanks to the Israeli Health System

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: As a resident of a country whose primary language isn’t my own and where the health system is very different, I often have challenges when needing to get things done. Seeing a doctor that speaks English is so amazing, you have no idea. We completely take it for granted in the US Continue Reading »

Kiddushin and the Queers

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

This week, a classmate of mine at Pardes wrote a blog post about Kiddushin, being a gay man, and how he might see this tradition actualized in his own future relationship. I am a queer observant woman who is getting married to another queer observant woman, and my partner and I have discussed how to balance our Continue Reading »

Our NYE’s Engagement Party

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Our wonderful friends at Pardes threw us a New Year’s Eve Engagement Party. We are so blessed to have friends and family who are supportive. I was telling our story to one of my classmates, and she explained how emotionally involved she is in our relationship. Many of our classmates feel very Continue Reading »

Relating to Prayer

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Prayer is a topic that I feel constantly comes up at school, and I’m amazed at how many people say they truly struggle with it. I never thought that prayer was something religious people struggled with. You either do it and love it or don’t feel connected to it at all and Continue Reading »

December

Posted on December 21, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: Can’t believe it, but December is almost over! We just survived a big snow storm here in Jerusalem last week. You might have heard about it – Jerusalem shut down for a week, and we were stuck inside for a while. It did give Emet and I lots of time to work Continue Reading »

25th anniversary of WoW at the Kotel

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Jessica Baverman

From my blog: This Monday, Rosh Chodesh Kislev, I went to the Kotel to pray with Women of the Wall (WoW). This is the second time I’ve gone to pray with the group but I wasn’t successful in finding them last time. This time, I went with Andrea, who is a WoW veteran, and Emet. Continue Reading »

Our Engagement!

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Jessica Baverman