Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 25, 2023 by Matthew Filderman
In reflection to his experiences on the Pardes Jewish Heritage Journey to Poland guided by Pardes Dean Emeritus David Bernstein. My name is Matthew Filderman. I am a proud Reform Jew from Memphis, Tennessee. I graduated from the University of Alabama in 2017 and am currently studying in The Year Program at The Pardes Institute of Jewish Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2023 by Yitzi Gittelsohn
In reflection to his experiences on the Pardes Jewish Heritage Journey to Poland guided by Pardes Dean Emeritus David Bernstein. Day 2 – Rocks of Treblinka The rocks were really heavy: They must have been really heavy to move, All those rocks, Together, For the monument. The lives must have been even heavier, They must Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2020 by Joe Schiff
This blog post was written by Joe Schiff, a second year PEP student. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting last academic year took eleven lives. I happened to be at Pardes during the attack last year. Among our cohort were multiple people who knew the synagogue, the area, and the victims intimately. When a person is killed, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2020 by Golda Gross
This blog post was written by Golda Gross a first semester student (Fall 2019) from France. Our last step in Auschwitz was Block 27: a room containing a non-exhaustive list of people who had set foot in this cursed place during the Holocaust. We flipped through the thousands of pages filled with names, and then Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2020 by Lara Rodin
This blog post, written by Lara Rodin, a second year PEP student, was originally posted on January 19, 2020 on her personal blog. It has been reposted here with her permission. “They didn’t have time to think,” Dean Bernstein told us about the victims of Treblinka, Majdanek, Auschwitz, and the other death camps and memorial Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2020 by Branden Charles Johnson
This blog post was written by Branden Johnson, a PEP student. Before learning about the Heritage Poland 2020/5780 trip, I had never wanted to go to Poland. I know many people who have been there, and most of them said it was cold, dark, and too sad. After returning from the trip, I can now Continue Reading »
Posted on January 13, 2020 by Doug Berkowitz
This blog post was written by PEEP student, Doug Berkowitz, prior to his trip to Poland this year. Two things that are true about me: 1. I love to travel 2. I really enjoy learning about history So you’d think that when I learned that Pardes was taking students to Poland on a Jewish Heritage Continue Reading »
Posted on January 15, 2018 by Danielle Plung
Yiddish writer Israel Joshua Singer (older brother of noble laurate Isaac Bashevis Singer), entitled his 1946 memoir—published posthumously after his death in 1944 and detailing his life in Poland before emigrating to America—Of a World that is No More. Obviously, this title evokes melancholy, and draws attention to the tremendous loss that took place during Continue Reading »
Posted on January 19, 2015 by Samantha Vinokor
Under the night sky, lit only by stars, we return. None of us have been here before, to this town trapped in time, and yet our presence here is a return. We come as a memory of what once was, confronting the sky, the trees, and the houses with each footstep. On a footpath in Continue Reading »
Posted on October 11, 2012 by Lauren Schuchart
This past Sunday night was Simchat Torah. I spent the evening in the Pardes beit midrash, dancing and singing, along with many of you. The energy in the room was palpable, and filled me up with a feeling of pure joy. I experienced a particularly moving moment when the singing shifted to “Am Yisrael Chai: Continue Reading »
