Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 15, 2014 by Laura Marder
What do we have to do in order to get the beautiful blessings that are promised to us in this week’s parsha? Blessings that really take care of us – our whole selves, emotionally and physically. Blessings that have blossoming effects on our shared land and bring food and joy to our tables. It seems Continue Reading »
Posted on February 7, 2014 by Jessica Baverman
There has been a lot of hype around women wearing tefillin lately (see here, here, here, and here). Since I just started taking the “Women and Mitzvot” class, this is a topic that I have followed. I’ve also been intrigued by the whole idea of tefillin for a while now. For most of my life, I saw tefillin as Continue Reading »
Posted on February 5, 2014 by Tani Cohen-Fraade
Daniel Roth presented our ‘Judaism and Conflict Resolution’ class for Jewish Educators with this assignment, and below is the ‘Third Story’ that I wrote about Jacob and Essau: It was the day of Reuven’s Bar Mitzvah. All of the brothers were there. Things had been a little awkward between the family and Uncle Esav and Continue Reading »
Posted on December 28, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: This isn’t the first time I have written about The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and honestly, it probably won’t be the last. Today, Shabbat, Parsha Va’Eira, was very special. There was a Bar Mitzvah of Avi, a son of one my teachers at Pardes, Meesh Hammer Kossoy. I have no idea Continue Reading »
Posted on December 19, 2013 by Lisa Motenko
I chose to write a dvar torah for this week’s portion of Shemot because it is the week of my birthday and this was also the portion for my bat mitzvah 17 (gasp!) years ago! I have been privileged to study Shemot in depth this semester at Pardes and could describe dozens of fascinating insights, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 17, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
Nataliya Naydorf read from the Torah last week for the first time. Then there was a terrible snowstorm. She assures me the two are not related. She’s used to the snow, of course, because Nataliya hails from the former Soviet Union (FSU). Her country of origin literally doesn’t exist anymore. I roll this thought around Continue Reading »
Posted on December 15, 2013 by Sara Spanjer
On Monday, December 9, one of our fellow students, Nataliya Naydorf, celebrated her Bat Mitzvah at Robinson’s Arch. Despite the cold weather and wet ground, we were all warm listening to Nataliya read beautifully from the Torah, and her meaningful and well written D’var Torah on Parshat Vayechi. Nataliya is, beyond question, a role model 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 May 13, 2013 by Gabby Goodman
Reflections on Rosh Hodesh Sivan with Women of the Wall, 5773 – 2013 Throughout the year I have studied here in Jerusalem, I have learned that the Wall has its own identity crisis. It is part of a larger structure that was built and carried, lost, built again and then destroyed, and built again, and Continue Reading »
Posted on May 13, 2013 by Laurie Franklin
I went to the Kotel on Rosh Chodesh Sivan expecting to pray, and I did. I was surprised that I could focus on prayer in the volatile atmosphere; the hullabaloo made me concentrate even harder than usual. “Ozi v’zimrat Yah” never had greater meaning for me than it did on Friday morning as I stood Continue Reading »
