Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 7, 2015 by Sarah Pollack
As we culminate the book of Genesis, I looked back to see what we had learned. How the stories fit together. What the commonality between the past 50 chapters held. In the women’s commentary to the Torah, Tamara Cohn Eshkanezi writes that Genesis is accounting for the human condition with it’s possibilities and perils.
Posted on October 1, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: “To not forgive would be an unbearable breach of the unity of creation.” – Jay Litvin It seems as though this is the time to talk about doing teshuva, returning, asking for forgiveness. I feel as though since I arrived in Israel, a day has not passed by without talking about forgiveness. Continue Reading »
Posted on May 4, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog on Thursday: It was about three weeks ago that my mom was flying to visit me in Israel. Another blog about that to follow, hopefully soon. She flew from Miami to Tel Aviv, through Rome. She highly recommends this flight because you get to Rome in the morning, have breakfast, fly to Continue Reading »
Posted on April 11, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed the narratives of a Haredi woman, a settler, a kibbutznik and an Arab woman. Somehow, every experience that I have, Continue Reading »
Posted on February 26, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed the narratives of a Haredi woman, a settler, a kibbutznik and an Arab woman. Somehow, every experience that I have, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 31, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
As part of the orientation weeks, we decided to get together and uncork our creativity by painting wine bottles together!
Posted on January 27, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: I traveled to Bethlehem with my Jewish roommate on a program called Encounter. I also wrote about it here and here. While waiting in line to take pictures in front of the tree, we saw a Palestinian friend that we had met earlier in the day. “Aliya! (name has been changed)” I screamed, “Hey!” She came Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: Deuteronomy 20: 19. When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 3, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: Last week, specifically the day after Christmas, I went to Bethlehem. I spent two days in Bethlehem with 15 other participants on a program called Encounter. When I saw the dates of the upcoming trip, I was eager to participate in the cross-cultural exchange, but also eager to venture into Bethlehem, the site Continue Reading »
Posted on January 2, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: Standing in Bethlehem, in a circle of Americans, Israelis, Palestinians, Muslims, Christians and Jews, we played a game. The rules of the game were simple. One, listen for the statement to be read in English and Arabic. Two, step into the circle if the statement applies to you. I AM A PERSON Continue Reading »
