Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on December 9, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor
Parshat Vayeshev is bookended by accounts of dreams. It opens with Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, sharing his dream with his brothers: (ה) וַיַּחֲלֹ֤ם יוֹסֵף֙ חֲל֔וֹם וַיַּגֵּ֖ד לְאֶחָ֑יו וַיּוֹסִ֥פוּ ע֖וֹד שְׂנֹ֥א אֹתֽוֹ׃ (ו) וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֑ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָ֕א הַחֲל֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָלָֽמְתִּי׃ (ז) וְ֠הִנֵּה אֲנַ֜חְנוּ מְאַלְּמִ֤ים אֲלֻמִּים֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֛ה קָ֥מָה אֲלֻמָּתִ֖י וְגַם־נִצָּ֑בָה וְהִנֵּ֤ה תְסֻבֶּ֙ינָה֙ אֲלֻמֹּ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם Continue Reading »
Posted on December 5, 2014 by Tamar Benus
When I was ready to enter nursery, my parents brought me into a school. First they were interviewed, and then I was. One of the first questions I was asked was, “do you have any brothers or sisters?” At the time, I had one younger brother. Rather than a yes or no to answer this Continue Reading »
Posted on December 5, 2014 by David Wallach
Night Seder Chevrutas Binyamin Cohen and David Wallach join together to reflect on this week’s parshah. “וַיָּקָם בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא, וַיִּקַּח אֶת-שְׁתֵּי נָשָׁיו וְאֶת-שְׁתֵּי שִׁפְחֹתָיו, וְאֶת-אַחַד עָשָׂר, יְלָדָיו; וַיַּעֲבֹר, אֵת מַעֲבַר יַבֹּק”. (בראשית ל”ב:כ”ג) “In the middle of the night he got up, and took his two wives, his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and Continue Reading »
Posted on December 4, 2014 by Suzanne Hutt
During my second Shabbat in Israel, some friends and I bumped into a couple that one of my friends knew from back home. It was near midnight on Friday night and the couple had just been accidentally locked out of their apartment. As it turned out, my friend’s roommate was out of town, so he Continue Reading »
Posted on December 3, 2014 by Sarah Marx
For someone so easy to dislike, Yaakov is well-loved. His mother deceives her husband and eldest son in order to secure his destiny; Lavan takes him in for more than a decade and sees him as a worthy opponent; his wives’ adoration for him is almost painful to read. This pattern of veneration continues beyond Continue Reading »
Posted on December 3, 2014 by Geo Poor
Forms dart and flow drip and flight not liquid quite not the light of sight but a charged shadow byte that drift up and down, in and out bringing energy – dangerous healing energy life giving – kivyachol
Posted on November 30, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ: בראשית יב:א “Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1. HaShem tells Avraham to leave his land, his birthplace, his father’s home and go to another land. HaShem continues Continue Reading »
Posted on November 28, 2014 by Geo Poor
ויחלום והנה סלם מצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה והנה מלאכי אלהים עלים וירדים בו In Parshat Vayetze, Jacob has a dream about a ladder, some angels, and God. The common interpretation is that the angels are traveling up and down the ladder, but the Hebrew is actually rather vague. When it says “bo,” the direct Continue Reading »
Posted on November 21, 2014 by Yocheved Retig
Parshat Toldot finds us smack in the middle of a generations-long family dynamic concerning favoritism and absenteeism that has yet to be resolved or recognized. The dynamic comes to a climax when Rivkah Imanu compels Ya’akov Avinu to deceive his father into receiving the blessing that Hashem pre-ordained for Ya’akov (כה:כג), but that Yitzchak intended Continue Reading »
Posted on November 19, 2014 by David Curiel
This post is dedicated to the memories of Moshe Twersky, Abraham Goldberg, Aryeh Kopinsky, and Kalman Levine, that their souls should rise to the great beit knesset in the sky, where they might be able to pray in peace, and that their memories should be for a blessing. Horrific news rocked Jerusalem again yesterday. I Continue Reading »
