Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 18, 2013 by Hannah Joy
From my blog: In the days leading up to Yom Kippur, we spent a lot of time at Pardes learning about the book of Jonah. The concept that has stuck most in my mind is something we discussed in a lecture given by Judy Klitsner: that of human’s desire and ability (or lack of ability) to change. Continue Reading »
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 »
Posted on April 8, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Rabbi Brent Spodek (Year ’01) reflects upon the Role of Pain: We fear pain. We fear events that twist our hopes, catastrophes that strain our bodies, indignities that weary our spirit. When we suffer, our pain becomes all we can see, so that the best we can do is grind on, endure, make it from Continue Reading »
Posted on March 16, 2013 by Aaron Voldman
I miss Pardes so much. As I shared with my classmates and teachers before departing, it was a dream to learn in Israel and my experience at Pardes turned out so much better than I ever anticipated! I feel very grateful to my classmates for sharing your insights in class, and for in havruta study Continue Reading »
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I am presently having an odd experience of disconnect. The premise is this: Bad things keep happening to me. In the grand scheme of life, they are not terrible things: no death, no serious illness, no natural disasters. But sometimes the little things seem even more powerful, especially in a world of Continue Reading »
Posted on February 16, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Originally posted on Ayeka BlogBy Aryeh Ben David (Year ’80) A few years ago a colleague, Rabbi Gordon Tucker, told me the most depressing observation about parenting. He said, “You’re only as happy as your least happy kid.” What?! That’s not fair at all. We have six kids. If 5 are happy and one is Continue Reading »
Posted on November 21, 2012 by Lauren Schuchart
Originally posted on my blog: “We need enormous pockets, pockets big enough for our families and our friends, and even the people who aren’t on our lists, people we’ve never met but still want to protect. We need pockets for boroughs and for cities, a pocket that could hold the universe.” -Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Continue Reading »
Posted on October 1, 2012 by David Bogomolny
I credit this quote to Dr. Viktor Frankl, having read his book (a must read), but first heard this idea from my mentor Aryeh Ben David: Source: google.com via Rocio on Pinterest To paraphrase: The only thing you can control is your attitude. Some years ago I was sitting with a teacher, learning about the fast of Continue Reading »
Posted on September 30, 2012 by Naomi Zaslow
When I was first applying to Pardes, (two years ago!) it took me a while to come to terms with the fact that we have no campus. Pardes is located above a Mazda dealership, on the border of the Talpiyot Industrial Zone. In my dreams, I had imagined studying gemara in some leafy quad and Continue Reading »
Posted on October 23, 2011 by Shibley
In our efforts to try and find spirituality and deep connections in prayer often lead us to take t’fillah very seriously. Generally, that is a practice which I would commend, and even recommend, since it would theoretically allow us to block out distractions and concentrate solely on our relationship with Gd. Perhaps the best example Continue Reading »
