These and Those

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

Archive: May 2013

Our Prophecy at Pardes

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Sydni Adler

My dvar Torah from the Galil Shabbaton: On Shavuot, Rabbi Ruth Gan Kagan spoke about the prophetic power of G-d’s ruach – G-d’s spirit, breath, or wind. Throughout Tanakh, whenever ruach appears, G-d pervades material being, and often, individual human beings. In both the Torah and Haftarah portions of Be’haalotecha, we deal directly with ruach Continue Reading »

Together in Our Wanderings

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Sean Ference

My dvar Torah from the Galil Shabbaton: In our parsha, we are given a vivid description of the Israelite’s journey through the wilderness, and what this vast undertaking entailed. Their journey would begin when the divine cloud would lift off the Mishkan; only then would the Israelite camp begin to move. How long Israel stayed Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Dear Pardes Year ’13

Posted on May 26, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Dear Pardes Year ’13, It’s been nearly 4 months since I’ve seen you all. Now most of you are getting ready to return to North America. Here are a few things I’ve experienced since I’ve been back. I hope this helps prepare you! Size Matters Everything is a lot bigger in America. This includes the Continue Reading »

That’s my favorite flavor of Manna!

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Hannah Perlis

My dvar Torah from the Galil Shabbaton: Imagine hypothetically waking up late because you snoozed your alarm too much. Then, you go to put your ethnically thick, but luscious, hair into a ponytail and you snap yet another hair tie. Then, you slip on your size 6 pink flip flops to run to school and Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Build a House like Solomon

Posted on May 24, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Dvar Torah by Daniel Shibley (Year ’11, Fellows ’12) in honor of Hannah Landes and Eitan Gavson: Last evening I had the extraordinary pleasure of celebrating the marriage of two friends who are dear members of our community. The chatan and kallah sparkled with radiance as their parents beamed with pride. As the chatan and Continue Reading »

My Modern Jewish Thoughts

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

From my blog: The most challenging course I am taking at Pardes is called “Critical Issues in Modern Jewish Thought.” There is no Hebrew involved. There is no Aramaic. I don’t even have to memorize birth and death dates of famous Jewish thinkers. What I do have to do, however, is think for myself. And Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Peter Avniel Salzman of Blessed Memory

Posted on May 24, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Alicia Jo Rabins (Year ’99, Fellows ’00) wrote the following in memory of her friend Peter Avniel Salzman z”l A few weeks ago, when the current Pardes students asked me to write something for this blog, I planned to write about how the two years I studied there changed my life. How I was, at Continue Reading »

[Pardes from Jerusalem Podcast] Beha’alotekha 5773: Speaking Against Moshe

Posted on May 23, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

This week, Neima Novetsky discusses Parashat Beha’alotekha in “Speaking Against Moshe.” beha’alotekha ’73 Shabbat shalom!

With apologies to the foodies…

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem

From my blog: From R. Uziel Meizlish of Ostrog, Tiferes Uziel, Beha’alotecha שָׁטוּ הָעָם וְלָקְטוּ וְטָחֲנוּ בָרֵחַיִם אוֹ דָכוּ בַּמְּדֹכָה וּבִשְּׁלוּ בַּפָּרוּר וְעָשׂוּ אֹתוֹ עֻגוֹת וְהָיָה טַעְמוֹ כְּטַעַם לְשַׁד הַשָּׁמֶן The people walked about and gathered it. Then they ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooked it in a pot and made it Continue Reading »

What goes around comes around

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem

From my blog: A nugget from Zeev Wolf of Zhitomir, Or haMeir, Behaalotecha If you see people spreading lies about you, know for sure they are only giving you back your own, and that you have brought this upon yourself because you could not keep your mouth shut.