Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on February 13, 2020 by Amanda Avnery
This blog post was written by Amanda Avnery (Year program ’20) The generation that drank the routine of exile and subjugation more than any generation before it…the generation that its entire existence is to be a bridge from the destruction and exile to a life of freedom and independence…” (Katznelson, Davar Newspaper, 1934). This quote Continue Reading »
Posted on February 13, 2020 by Emuna Keswick
This blog post was written by Emuna Keswick, the 2020 Pardes Communications Fellow and Year Program student (’19-’20). When people would ask me what I was doing in Israel, and I would reply that I had was living on a kibbutz up north, spending my days playing with children and cows. Typically, they would then Continue Reading »
Posted on December 1, 2019 by Alissa Platcow
This article is by current PEEP (’19-’20) student Alissa Platcow. This was originally written after the holidays, and serves as a Fall semester reflection. WUSHHH! The wind whistled through the trees outside as we perched peering out the window into the storm watching the sukkah my family had lovingly built up from the ground, the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 28, 2019 by Branden Charles Johnson
This post was written by Branden Johnson (PEEP ’18-’19. PEP ’19-’20). Ever since I was a young child, I have wanted to travel the world and see new places. There are very few places at which I would balk; and even fewer that don’t inspire some amount of curiosity in me. For better or worse, Continue Reading »
Posted on October 7, 2019 by Eitan Marcum
“We had a shabbaton, this weekend, and as part of that, we sat around a big table drinking, snacking, and sharing stories and zmirot (a certain type of Jewish song) after dinner on Friday until the wee hours of the morning (this tradition is called a Tisch, it’s german/yiddish for table). I shared this very Continue Reading »
Posted on September 24, 2019 by Grant Besner
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been three weeks since Orientation and the 2019-2020 year kicked off. Though the days are often long, starting every morning promptly at 8:30 with Chumash or Mishna and sometimes stretching until 9pm with Jewish Meditation, the weeks surely are short. Already, this passage of time is a reminder Continue Reading »
Posted on August 1, 2019 by Rabbi Irv Elson
This blog piece was written by Rabbi Irv Elson, alumnus of the Pardes 2018 and 2019 Summer Programs. Many years ago, (did I say MANY”?) when I first arrived in New York to attend college, I was faced with the task of opening a bank account at a local bank. The choices were many. In Continue Reading »
Posted on July 30, 2019 by Tamy Jacobs
Imagine sitting in the shade on a Saturday morning. There’s a bit of a breeze. We just finished davvening (praying) and had a snack. It’s our final Pardes Shabbaton. We are in Tavor Alon at a retreat center. Everyone is relaxed and happy. We’ve broken into small groups to reflect back on the past year. Continue Reading »
Posted on April 8, 2019 by Jason Gusdorf
I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri in a reform Jewish household. My seminal Jewish experiences were my Bar Mitzvah and Jewish Summer camp, which I attended for 7 years. OSRUI was formative in my identity and I have a deep love for the institution, the friends I made, and the time I spent there. Continue Reading »
Posted on March 26, 2019 by Mina Pasajlic
If anyone would have asked me if anything about my life would be different after the year at Pardes – I would have probably said something like: “Well, I’m guessing I will know a little bit more than I do now and hopefully I’ll be more confident when teaching anything Jewishly in the future”. And Continue Reading »
