Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on December 12, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
This week’s PCJE dvar Torah comes from Susan Yammer, beloved teaching coach This Dvar Torah is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Nechama bat Velvel V’Aliza, on the occasion of her 13th Yahrzeit. Towards the end of our Parasha, in Bereishit 48:20, the Torah states, So he [Yaakov] blessed them on that day, saying, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 12, 2013 by Nataliya Naydorf
This is the dvar Torah that I gave at my bat mitzvah on Monday: (enjoy!) In this week’s parsha, Yakov, nearing his final days, travels to Egypt to visit Yosef, his favorite son whom he thought was dead. Upon meeting Yosef, he finds that Yosef has two sons of his own, Ephraim and Menashe, born Continue Reading »
Posted on December 12, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
We have a snow day, but we’re staying warm with Torah! Pardes’ beit midrash is full! Not only that, we even came early to daven. Talk about dedication. No better place to study. Thank you, Pardes community!
Posted on December 11, 2013 by Alanna Kleinman
Last week, in Self Soul & Text with Rav James, we talked about concepts of generosity and opening oneself up to giving. We were given the assignment to “just say yes” for one week, and then to “say no” for half a week. This practice just so happened to coincide with Thanksgiving, with Hannukah, and Continue Reading »
Posted on December 11, 2013 by Sydni Adler
I start every personal statement with some variation on the same story: One afternoon in high school, I came home to find my two-year-old brother running around the house, screaming the Shema. Earlier that day, Jacob had learned the prayer in preschool, and now he was yelling it, laughing it, dancing it, while running circles Continue Reading »
Posted on December 10, 2013 by Arlene Harel
by Arlene Harel (Year ’85), staff member since ’03 Take 5 Pardes faculty, add in 6 staff members, mix with 4 spouses, sprinkle in 11 kids, stir well and dump them all near the Dead Sea at Nachal Og. What do you get?? The First Annual Pardes Faculty/ Staff Hannukah Hike. Why should students have Continue Reading »
Posted on December 10, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: Beyond my time studying Torah at Pardes, I am in my fourth season refereeing American football in Israel. I have seen a lot of amazing things, bones breaking, players helping each other, Christians, Jews and Muslims gaining respect for each other on a field. But this past Thursday topped all of these Continue Reading »
Posted on December 10, 2013 by Jeremy Borovitz
This is going to be very long, but here are my thoughts on Ukraine: I was sitting at my mother’s desk, obsessively scanning my news feed and hitting refresh on the Kyiv Post’s homepage, when I realized I had to go to Ukraine to see it for myself. I lived in Ukraine for nearly three Continue Reading »
Posted on December 10, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
From my blog: With Chanukkah break quickly approaching, I searched for the perfect thing to do. Combine a limited budget with a week to fill and I arrived at hiking in the North – the Yam L’Yam trail to be more specific. In Hebrew, yam means sea and, thus, the hike goes from the Mediterranean Sea to Continue Reading »
Posted on December 9, 2013 by Debra Weiner-Solomont
by Debra Weiner, staff member since 1998 Pardes is more than a place to work, Pardes is family. Staff and faculty are connected outside of the office and Beit Midrash. This year I had the special zechut (privilege) to spend the last night of Chanukah with Arlene Harel. Arlene lives in the Nachlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem, Continue Reading »
