Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 3, 2017 by Mira Niculescu
Charlottesville was much more than Charlottesville. And what we can get out of it is much more than tears. A couple of weeks ago, I saw with consternation these men – these women too, blond and bold, walking martially, torches in hand, closed jaws, empty eyes, shouting the chants that too often in history have Continue Reading »
Posted on September 22, 2014 by Sarah Marx
In the last week, hovering on the edge of Rosh Hashanah, I’ve heard and sung songs that shook me to my core. In the coming weeks, I’ll be faced with many more – liturgy for the High Holidays, its passion and fear barely contained by the melodies’ majesty, or zemirot sung around the Shabbat table. 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 November 29, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
From my blog: A short teaching from R. Uziel Meizlish, Tiferes Uziel, Parshat Miketz ויהי מקץ שנתים ימים ופרעה חולם והנה עומד על היאור וגו’. פרעה אמר בסיפור חלומו שעומד על שפת היאור. וקשה הא בחלום עצמו כתיב שעומד על היאור ולא על שפת. ואפשר שזה הרשע שינה במכוון כי היאור היה אלהיו כידוע מאמרם ז”ל שהרשעים Continue Reading »
Posted on November 21, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Laurie Franklin (Year ’13) sent us these words of wisdom for Thanksgivukkah: Laurie Franklin is the spiritual leader and rabbinic intern at Har Shalom. She can be reached at laurief AT har-shalom DOT org. More than candles While we celebrate the once-in-a-lifetime convergence of the first day of Hanukkah and our beloved American Thanksgiving on Continue Reading »
Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
From my blog: From Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev Kedushas Levi, Perushei Aggadot When you say the words of the living God in studying Torah, or engage in the holy work of prayer, you should intend to cleave to the blessed Creator. But you must consider the question, how can a person of flesh and blood cleave Continue Reading »
Posted on October 14, 2013 by Deborah Renert
There is a high supernal spiritual level to which various exalted Jewish spiritual personalities subscribe, such as Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav. The crux of the idea i think is–is that if all comes from G-d and emanates from His Oneness, then all must necessarily be good irregardless whether we experience joy or we experience pain. Continue Reading »
Posted on October 7, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
From my blog: RELATIONSHIPS. Relationships with just anyone and relationships with Hashem. I’m hoping that if I sit down at the end of the day to try and process all of my thoughts and create a semi-coherent train of thought, it will help me to sort the things that I’ve learned and retain the information better. Continue Reading »
Posted on September 24, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
Here’s a teaching of R. Aharon of Karlin (1802-1872) based on teachings his grandfather, Aharon the Great of Karlin (1736-1772), one of the earliest Hasidic rebbes, gave at Simhat Torah. Before we start, it’s worth taking a look at the midrash that will be the lynchpin of the teaching, from Bereishit Rabbah 8:1. Said Rabbi Jeremiah ben Continue Reading »
Posted on September 3, 2013 by Stefanie Groner
From my blog: I had more class hours today than I attended in an average week of college. This post is a ‘typical day’ post, but you might notice this is not a ‘typical’ school in any way. Here’s what I studied: 8:30-11:15 am: In our intro to Mishneh class (early biblical commentary), we studied Continue Reading »
