These and Those

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

Archive: February 2010

Learnathon – A success!

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Lauren

The Learnathon for Haiti was last night, and it was a rousing success.  Some of Pardes’ best teachers taught amazing shiurim looking at many of the most challenging issues surrounding social justice and tzedakah, particularly in regards to imperatives for giving tzedakah to non-Jews and how we balance our finite resources. The Beit Midrash is Continue Reading »

'Self, Soul & Text' Class at Pardes

Posted on February 20, 2010 by David Bogomolny

Pardes is a very academic institution, which puts tremendous emphasis upon Jewish text study. Morning classes alternate between Talmud (or Mishnah) study & Chumash study, and the afternoon classes, which are subject-based, are also grounded in Jewish texts (Tanakh, Mishnah Berurah, Midrash, etc.). Unlike some other traditional Jewish learning institutions, Pardes does not aim to Continue Reading »

Pardes Learn-A-Thon

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Lauren

Hello faithful readers! This is a short post to inform you about the Pardes Learn-A-Thon, going on from now until February 24th to raise money for Haiti’s earthquake relief efforts through AJWS. We’ll be taking on extra learning above and beyond our classroom hours on topics of tzedakah and tikkun olam. Please check out our Continue Reading »

Yom Iyun Shel Chesed

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Naomi Adland

“Today was a good day.” It’s not often that I find myself able to unequivocally utter these words.  But every once and a while, a day comes along that is so good that there is nothing left to say. Today was a good day because it was the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar – Continue Reading »

Random musings about celebrations

Posted on February 8, 2010 by Lauren

Celebration #1:  Tu B’shvat For me, it feels like Tu B’shvat in Israel all year round because of the multitude of dried fruits all over the place, but during January, they really hit their peak.  It’s time to go back to the fresh fruits, in my opinion… I’m ready for springtime.  Nonetheless, I attended two Continue Reading »

Cold

Posted on January 10, 2010 by David Bogomolny

Several weeks ago, I decided that it was high time for me to visit the Tayelet in J’lem, and I woke myself up at an early hour to daven (pray) the shacharit (morning) service with my tefilin (phylacteries) at sunrise, facing the Old City of J’lem. It was a chilly morning, and I felt it. Continue Reading »

Two shabbatot

Posted on January 5, 2010 by Katie

I would like to share a unique shabbat experience I  had a couple of weeks ago. It was on a small religious yeshuv (town/gated community) called Hoshaya in the North of Israel. I went with my boyfriend to stay with one of his friends from Hebrew Universtiy who is studying archeaology with him. We had Continue Reading »

The one where the family comes to visit

Posted on January 3, 2010 by Lauren

My family’s visiting Israel this week for the very first time.  Not only is it their first time in Israel – it’s also their first time traveling abroad, if you don’t count Caribbean cruises. I’ve been excited about this week since I first arrived in September, especially the opportunity to show them my “turf” and Continue Reading »

Beliefs as Truths

Posted on December 22, 2009 by David Bogomolny

R. Levi Cooper, my Chassidut (Chassidism) teacher, has consistently inspired me with his wisdom. I’ve heard some of my own thoughts echoed back to me in Levi’s particularly articulate and reasoned way, and other insights of his have seeded entirely new contemplations in my mind. In discussing the history of the Chassidut, RLC taught us Continue Reading »

one day at a time

Posted on December 22, 2009 by Naomi Adland

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the future. “But,” you say “it’s too soon to be thinking about life after Pardes.  You have until the end of May.” Trust me.  I know.  After today, I have one hundred and sixty days left in Jerusalem.  That’s plenty of time to figure out what I’m Continue Reading »