Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 22, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Here is a set of two poems. They are written in different styles, but they are about the same subject. I am still working out exactly how to fit them together and how to make the images convey what I want them to convey. Any feedback would be helpful. Enjoy! (In keeping Continue Reading »
Posted on March 10, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I am usually a very tolerant person, especially when people are trying to understand human diversity. I will kindly explain that, no, Connecticut is not New York and that, yes, I would rather watch reruns of “Gilmore Girls” than new episodes of “Jersey Shore.” I will gladly explain that I would much Continue Reading »
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I am presently having an odd experience of disconnect. The premise is this: Bad things keep happening to me. In the grand scheme of life, they are not terrible things: no death, no serious illness, no natural disasters. But sometimes the little things seem even more powerful, especially in a world of Continue Reading »
Posted on February 24, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Sometimes, a simple touch can make all the difference. In the Jewish world, some girls don’t touch boys. Some girls touch some boys. Some girls touch only one boy, and everyone hugs their mother. As a part of this world, I have become especially attuned to the presence and absence of human Continue Reading »
Posted on February 23, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog, written before Shabbat: A Dusky Holiness before Shabbat… Stories from the week… …still on air from serendipity. It was on a Thursday, on which we presumably do organized chesed projects, but on one specific Thursday, I chose to simply organize myself: carrots, sweet potatoes, scallions, cumin, coriander, cumin, whirr whirr whirr in Continue Reading »
Posted on February 13, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I was in the middle of writing another post, but this one needed to come out first. I spent all day hiding these words inside – please read them now and know. As many of you know, there was a shooting yesterday in College Park, MD. It was a small shooting. Only Continue Reading »
Posted on February 3, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: It’s Saturday night in Israel. You know what that means: Put your head on the pillow by 9pm because tomorrow is a work day, which is fine, because who needs Sunday anyway? Sunday is a totally over-rated day of the week: people just use them to do chores, which you could do Continue Reading »
Posted on January 27, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: It appears that I may have two souls. My first soul isn’t sure how it feels about this. Previously, it was always the center of attention, benefiting from activities that are “good for the soul” – like yoga, baking and writing (note that I said soul, not souls). Now, however, it appears that Continue Reading »
Posted on January 21, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog, posted after the Arava Tiyul: One year ago, I was about to take a semester off from college. I was the thinnest I had ever been; I could no longer run or bike; the slightest bit of yoga made me dizzy. My stomach twisted and turned every day, and I hated my Continue Reading »
Posted on January 19, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: (written two days ago) So, last night, I sat around a crackling fire with a group of religious people chanting incantations in ancient languages while passing around a hand-carved knife and letting the blood from our left pinkie fingers drip over the hot, scalding flames… Okay, that was an exaggeration. But I Continue Reading »
