These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Archive: April 2022

People of Pardes Highlights Jack Snyder

Posted on April 27, 2022 by Jack Snyder

It was a typical Tuesday morning in my middle school history classroom, and I was ready with my class plans and coffee, anticipating the day’s lesson. The students’ task for the day was to try and define “religion.” Simple, huh? The classroom environment was teeming with thoughts brought from home, synagogue, and past years at Continue Reading »

Dvar Torah on Parashat HaChodesh by Carole Daman

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Carole Daman

The focus of this Dvar Torah is the maftir for Shabbat Hachodesh. The maftir, referred to as Parashat Hachodesh, consists of the first 20 verses of Chapter 12 of Shmot. Not only does it relate to Pesach, but it mentions both my and my son Avi’s Hebrew birthdays, the 10th (on an actual Shabbos Hagadol Continue Reading »

Student Reflection: Bracha Lieberman—Pardes Learning Seminar Winter 2021

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Bracha Lieberman

This post was written by PLS participant Bracha Lieberman. To learn more about the Pardes Learning Seminar program, which runs during the summer and winter, please visit www.pardes.org.il/seminar. I grew up Modern Orthodox and studied in Orthodox schools through high school. My mother had wanted me to learn about the Jewish people, Jewish values, the Continue Reading »

Poland Jewish Heritage Trip Day 1 Blog from Sarah Klein

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Sarah Klein

Today, Tehilim 130:1 was on my mind all day. “A song of ascent: Out of the depths I call to you Gd.” שִׁ֥יר הַֽמַּעֲל֑וֹת מִמַּעֲמַקִּ֖ים קְרָאתִ֣יךָ יְה This verse is also my personal addition to the end of the amidah which starts with the first letter of my name ש and ends with the last Continue Reading »

From Quarantine to Presence: My Experience in Winter Seminar

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Josh Rolnick

I had so many reasons not to apply for the Pardes winter seminar on Cultivating Courage and Resilience. It took place during the holiday break, when my four children were off from school, a time of family and togetherness. Every day for five days, I knew, the seminar would take precious time away from my Continue Reading »

Poland Jewish Heritage Trip Day 1 Blog from Jonathan Chamberlin

Posted on January 11, 2022 by Jonathan Chamberlin

This blog was written by Jonathan Chamberlin, a current student in the year program at Pardes. Jonathan chose to attend the Poland trip in part to explore his relationship to the Shoah as a Jew by choice. Sunday – Tikocyn As we walk on the path, I am looking for rocks. I left the one Continue Reading »

Pardes Learning Seminar 2021 Student Reflection – Julie Kohl

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Julie Kohl

This post was written by PLS participant Julie Kohl. To learn more about the Pardes Learning Seminar program, which runs during the summer and winter, please visit www.pardes.org.il/seminar. When the COVID surge caused my plans to go skiing in Colorado to fall through, I unexpectedly found myself with extra time during the final week of Continue Reading »

Why I am Fasting Today – A Reflection on Yitzhak Rabin z”l Yarzheit 5782

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Dani Satlow

Daniel Satlow is a first-year PCJE student. Growing up attending Jewish Day School, I always knew that the Fast of Gedalia was done in commemoration of the assassination of a Jewish leader in charge of Israel following the destruction of the First Temple. This leader, Gedalia, son of Ahikam was accused of collaborating with the Continue Reading »

Rabbinic Israel Seminar 2021 – Galil Tiyul Reflection

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Claire Abramovitz

Claire Abramovitz is a second-year Fellow and Talmudic Literature Fellow at the Pardes Institute for Jewish studies. When she’s not steeping herself in Torah, she is most likely working on a play, poem, story, painting, a batch of fresh pasta dough, and of course many, many soups. I sit in the water and I wait Continue Reading »

Reflections on the Rabbinic Seminar: Enjoying Torah Best in the Marketplace

Posted on October 17, 2021 by Audrey Honig

This was written by Pardes year student Audrey Honig (Summer ’20, Year ’21-’22). Audrey graduated from Kalamazoo College in 2021, where she studied Religion and English. Audrey is passionate about Jewish summer camp, playing the flute, and reading. On one of my favorite stops during the tiyul, we squished together to overlook an ancient market Continue Reading »