Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on April 24, 2012 by Leah Stern
My life in Israel this year has been amazing. I’ve been so lucky to make new friends, learn new things, and experience everything that is Israel. Most of my day is spent at Pardes, where I’ve had to opportunity to learn with faculty and peers about everything Jewish, from the tefillot in the siddur to Continue Reading »
Posted on March 8, 2012 by Leah Stern
Most people have never even heard the word shtender. They think I am making up a pretend word, though to my knowledge it is Yiddish. I said it recently to an Israeli friend and the closest word I could use to explain it was the word מעמד, which means a stand, but that isn’t even Continue Reading »
Posted on February 21, 2012 by Leah Stern
This was it. This was the part of the trip that I had most been afraid of. I had always been afraid of visiting this place, it was part of the reason I had delayed going to Poland until now. The name that is engraved on the heart of every Jew: Auschwitz. I have always Continue Reading »
Posted on January 22, 2012 by Leah Stern
Hi Pardesians and World, On Friday morning at 4:30 AM, I arrived back from Poland with my fellow Pardesians. Though we are happy to be back in Israel and are looking forward to the coming semester, we continue to process and ask questions about our experience in Poland. The first experience I would like to Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2012 by Leah Stern
Hello Pardedians and world, While our time in Poland has been very meaningful so far, it is very hard to write full posts while we are here because of how full our days are. Till I devote time when we arrive home in Israel, I will share impressions of our other community members about their Continue Reading »
Posted on December 21, 2011 by Leah Stern
Hello Pardesians and World, For the first time in over a decade, Pardes took a tiyyul to the city of Hevron. It was a visit filled with mixed emotions. We examined Hevron from many different angles in order to assess the situation that is in Hevron today. While there are many things I could discuss, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 13, 2011 by Leah Stern
Hello Pardesians and World, I am writing to you from a small cafe in Tel Aviv. I must confess that I was at a loss as to what to talk about in my next blog post. I was going to try to follow my theme of faces in jerusalem of my first blog post, but Continue Reading »
Posted on November 29, 2011 by Leah Stern
Hey Pardesians and World, As some of you may know, I am learning the commentator Seforno on the parsha each week with the awesome Hayim Leiter (back right hand corner of the Beit Midrash). Two weeks ago we were studying Parshat Chayei Sarah, during which we read the story of Eliezer going to find a Continue Reading »
Posted on November 18, 2011 by Leah Stern
Hello fellow Pardesians and world, I am thrilled to be starting my first blog post on these and those. I am so excited to be sharing my thoughts with you!! I have decided that each week, I am going to talk about a different person or people that live in Jerusalem and how they make Continue Reading »
