Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 1, 2016 by Elana Weiner
If I were to be accused of avodah zarah, it would be to name among the mortal world a God of Audre Lorde. Since I first met her words, I have found meaning and comfort in them. One of my favorite quotes of hers aptly describes what I have learned here at Pardes: “Your silence will not protect Continue Reading »
Posted on May 29, 2016 by Maya Zinkow
When I thought about what I could say to encapsulate two years spent in this special place of learning and growth, I thought about the Maya of two years ago, how she might be unsure of where, even, to begin. There was always the parsha to look to, but if she were to close her Continue Reading »
Posted on April 3, 2016 by Yisroel Shapiro
This Sunday, the 24th of Adar, is the yahrzeit of my Bubbie, Mrs. Ruth Morris Lieberman – Rivka bas Zalman Shevach. She was like a mother to me and served as a great role model for all of her grandchildren. Though it has been ten years since her passing, I still think of her often and her kindness, Continue Reading »
Posted on February 10, 2016 by Ma'ayan Dyer
When I decided to volunteer at Hillel, a non-profit organization in Jerusalem that is dedicated to helping former ultra-orthodox Jews that have decided to leave the Haredi world and assimilate into secular society, I was not entirely sure what I was getting into. Inspired by a disturbing report in a 2014 article in The New Continue Reading »
Posted on January 29, 2016 by Elana Rothenberg
“A man walks into a bar. Ouch.” Silence. Then suddenly, five Turkish twenty-year-olds begin laughing hysterically at this classic joke. When was the last time someone actually laughed at this joke, I wonder? I marvel and give the joke teller, a fellow Pardes student, a look of amused awe. The twenty-year-olds, leaders of a Jewish Continue Reading »
Posted on December 27, 2015 by Cathy Schechter
There was once a man who was successful in all things. He had a fine wife, a loving family, and a craft for which he was justly famous. But still he was not happy. “I want to know Truth,” he said to his wife. “Then you should seek her,” she replied. So the man put Continue Reading »
Posted on October 15, 2015 by Hannah Joy
(Cross-posted from Hannah Elovitz’s blog Finding Joy in Jerusalem: http://joyinjlem.blogspot.co.il/2015/10/start-somewhere-parshat-bereishit-5776.html) Good Yuntiv. Just kidding. Good Shabbos. This time of year always feels like endless new beginnings to me. For those of us connected to the academic calendar in some way, it’s the start of a new school year. Perhaps for some of us the start Continue Reading »
Posted on December 19, 2014 by Jonah P.
Humans are fundamentally tropical animals. When we ventured out from the equator where our species originated, we survived only by bringing the tropics with us. In our schools, cars, and homes we crank up the thermostat well into the 70s (that’s 20s Celsius for the non-Americans.) We must indulge in humidifiers, moisturizers, and lip balm Continue Reading »
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 11, 2014 by Alana Bandos
Today at Pardes, we had a faculty panel about the conflict and two related day trips- one to Hevron and the other a tour of 3 vastly different cities (a Charedi village, secular Kibbutz, and Arab-Israeli village). On the panel sat Meir Schweiger, Rahel Berkovits, Tovah Leah Nachmani, and Daniel Roth, four incredible teachers from Continue Reading »
