Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 12, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I hope you are well, recovering from dairy-filled Shavuot meals and enjoying the beautiful weather of summer. Here in Jerusalem, summer has certainly arrived and we managed to make it through only ONE day of dairy meals on Shavuot. As some of you may know, this week was also the graduation of my Continue Reading »
Posted on June 5, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This week I read Torah for the first time with an egalitarian Orthodox minyan at Pardes. While enjoying a festive breakfast later that morning, my friends turned to me and asked, “So, how did it feel? What was that like? What’s next?” Truth be told, there’s something almost anti-climatic about the experience because Continue Reading »
Posted on May 29, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This afternoon during my Tanach class I took a poll of students and staff asking the following questions: have you spent (significant) time in the desert? If yes, how did it feel? How would you describe your experience(s) there? The reason I took this poll is because these questions have followed me as Continue Reading »
Posted on May 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This week’s parsha, Parshat Bechukotai, has prompted me to return to the subject of Israel and explore my relationship and understandings of this place as a reality and an ideal. There is a bizarre word in the parsha, which funnily enough I’ve encountered countless times before reading the parsha this week, as it Continue Reading »
Posted on May 15, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This past Monday I visited Mount Herzl in Jerusalem with my classmates to commemorate Yom Hazikaron, Israel Remembrance Day. We visited the graves of young soldiers who had fallen recently and those of heroic figures like Hannah Senesh. Many questions raced through my mind as we walked among the graves: Where am I Continue Reading »
Posted on May 9, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I feel very privileged to write to you today after my first week back at Pardes. On numerous occasions this week, I have been reminded of the incredible blessing to learn Torah full time, from such dedicated and wise teachers and classmates, and of course, in my beloved Jerusalem. And yet, this week Continue Reading »
Posted on May 5, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I’d like to start today’s dvar Torah with a bit of a provocative riddle: What do a prostitute, Shabbat and a nazir (religious ascetic or monk) have in common? [I knew that would get your attention that way….. Now follow along with me and I’ll help you solve the riddle.] This week we Continue Reading »
Posted on April 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Moadim l’simcha! (This is a special greeting for the interim days-chol hamoed-between the Yom Tov at the beginning and end of Pesach, or Sukkot.) I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the crunchy taste of matzah this Passover. I was fortunate to spend the Seder with my friends and my sister Continue Reading »
Posted on April 18, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Believe it or not – I’m in Jerusalem! And although I’m tempted to take a nap before Shabbat comes in, I felt it would be a bad way to start off my “spring season” of learning. So, I did some reading on the plane and managed to read over the parsha and special Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Much ink has been spilled over the seemingly cryptic laws of ritual purity and the illness of tzaraat recounted in Parshat Tazria. Actually I learned this week from Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (of the UK) that the original translation of the disease of as “leprosy”. This is a misnomer since the biblical disease of tzaraat Continue Reading »
