Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on April 28, 2014 by Rory Sullivan
It took me eight years to get back to Pardes. During a Birthright trip my freshman year of college, we sat in the Beit Midrash, the great big room filled with tables of four chairs each and books lining every wall. We studied a text that I don’t remember. What I do remember is liking Continue Reading »
Posted on July 26, 2013 by Michal Kohane
In Pirkei Avot (5:25) we find, “turn her, turn her, everything is in her” – הפוך בה, הפוך בה, הכל בה. We knew this theory before coming to Pardes, but feeling it on an almost daily basis for the last three weeks has been a whole different story. Perhaps there is no better place to Continue Reading »
Posted on June 9, 2013 by Tadea Klein
A little over a year ago, I went out for my first shawarma. I walked past the Kinyon Hadar, and turned into this vaguely sketchy open-wall joint that said “15 Shekel Shawarma” in big neon letters. Bogo, who was accompanying me, showed me what to order. When we were finished eating, he pulled out a Continue Reading »
Posted on April 13, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: I have Haredi cousins. I did not know this until last Friday night, enjoying couch-conversation with one of said cousins before Shabbat dinner. “So what do people in this neighborhood call themselves?” I asked, wondering (after seeing all the black hats and streimels) which sect of Ultra-Orthodoxy I had resigned myself to Continue Reading »
Posted on March 29, 2013 by Hannah Grossman
Throughout Pesach my mind has been overflowing with questions, thoughts and new insights. As I ponder what to share with you, I recall one tradition which gets my mind thinking every year. After the birkat hamazon (grace after meals) a cup set aside for the prophet Elijah is poured and we open the door for him. Continue Reading »
Posted on November 1, 2012 by AdAm Mayer
Every Shabbat when I sit down to eat dinner I start by singing Shalom Alechem, a song of welcoming angels. The four verses of this song begin as follows: “Shalom” – a greeting, “Boachem” – bringing in, “Barchuni” – asking blessing, and “Tzetchem” – leaving. I would like to suggest that this song can inform Continue Reading »
Posted on October 18, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
In memory/honor of Leibka Feiga bat Chanoch A”H (Laura Faye Topper) This week marks the 9th anniversary of my mother-in-law’s passing. Laura suffered most of her adult life from Multiple Sclerosis, a disease that slows down or blocks messages between the brain and the body and causes – amongst other symptoms – visual disturbances, muscle Continue Reading »
Posted on April 12, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Rob Murstein comes from a ‘very liturgical’ family; they attend Shabbat services every Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon until havdalah. Rob’s father is a regular Torah reader at shul, his brother studied chazzanut with their cantor, and Rob himself read Torah at shul for the first time when he was six years old; and then again at Continue Reading »
Posted on September 20, 2011 by Derek Kwait
Facinating article for discussion from Reform Judaism Magazine (for the record, I stumbled upon it via a positive review on an Orthodox site): http://reformjudaismmag.org/Articles/index.cfm?id=2854 Campus Life 201: Trying Out Frum by Emily Langowitz For the past week, my alarm has gone off every morning at seven—the click of the radio calling me to another day Continue Reading »
Posted on May 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This week’s parsha, Parshat Bechukotai, has prompted me to return to the subject of Israel and explore my relationship and understandings of this place as a reality and an ideal. There is a bizarre word in the parsha, which funnily enough I’ve encountered countless times before reading the parsha this week, as it Continue Reading »
