These and Those

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

Archive: September 2017

Charlottesville and Beyond: A Chassidic Response

Posted on September 3, 2017 by Mira Niculescu

Charlottesville was much more than Charlottesville. And what we can get out of it is much more than tears. A couple of weeks ago, I saw with consternation these men –  these women too, blond and bold, walking martially, torches in hand, closed jaws, empty eyes, shouting the chants that too often in history have Continue Reading »

Bringing a Piece of Jerusalem to North America: The Pardes Community Beit Midrash Initiative

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Yaffa Epstein

This article originally appeared in The Times of Israel. Click here for the original post As we approach Yom Ha’atzmaut, my thoughts return repeatedly to a different Yom Ha’atzmaut two years ago. It was on that day when, with hope in my heart and tears in my eyes, I made the difficult decision to take Continue Reading »

Matching a Couple is as Difficult as Splitting the Sea

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Jonah P.

We are taught: “Matching a couple is as difficult as splitting the sea.” And we are also taught: “At the moment of each person’s conception, a Heavenly Echo calls out and decrees their future partner.” Which is it? Two weeks after becoming engaged to Rebecca, as we enter our 4th year as a couple, I Continue Reading »

[Alumni/Staff Guest Post] My story of loss, hope and Tu B’Shevat

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Hirsch Fishman

Karen Feuer (Year ’99-’00 and current Pardes staff member) shares her thought about Tu B’Shvat. Seven years ago I underwent induced labor with twins at only 21-weeks into my pregnancy. The pregnancy was no longer safe for me, and this forced, early labor (that sounds nicer than “abortion”) was the result. It was a gut-wrenching Continue Reading »

The G word. Defining God and other existential questions in a Parshanut class

Posted on January 4, 2017 by Mira Niculescu

So a few weeks ago, in my parshanut class, we had the God discussion. Anyone familiar with the Jewish world, and with the yeshiva world in particular, will know that while we spend our days reading and discussing what He does, how we relate to Him, what it means to be in His image, how Continue Reading »

When We Say Goodbye

Posted on August 30, 2016 by Abigail Emerson

My grandmother, Beatrice Gould Emerson, died the first time I left the United States alone. My trip was in part for her sake. I was traveling for a summer in Russia, the first of our family to return to that part of the world since our great-grandparents left. I had been there a week when my dad sent Continue Reading »

Learning Torah From My Kidney – by Donating it to My Dad

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Yael Krieger

This post was originally published in Forward.  In the Hebrew Bible, the word “kidneys” is mentioned over a dozen times to metaphorically describe one’s emotional and moral choices. With a literal translation, Psalms 138:13 reads: “It was you who created my kidneys; You fashioned me in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am Continue Reading »

Shouting Down From the Women’s Balcony, a Latter-Day Yentl Discovers That Prayer is Protest

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Andrea Wiese

This article originally appeared on The Sisterhood blog on the Forward. I have always been adamant that my personal prayer was not a protest or a fight for something. Then a recent interaction with a rabbi — me on the women’s balcony, him down below in the men’s section — made me rethink my stance. Continue Reading »

Why Am I a Mohel?

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Hayim Leiter

This blog originally appeared on  Times of Israel One word: money. Well, in truth, that’s where the story began, but where it’s ended up is a different place altogether. When I was on the road to rabbinical school, someone mentioned to me that as a rabbi in the States you have a great deal of Continue Reading »

Pardes on the Moon: Shmeir on the Elevator

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Elana Weiner

It was one of those days at Pardes on the moon. It was a lazy, unfocused kind of day and everyone in the Beit Midrash was bitulin Torah, even Shmeir Meiger. He just couldn’t focus—the thunder outside was deafening, every time he looked at his page of Gemara, a flash of lightning would distract him and he’d lose Continue Reading »