Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 31, 2016 by Yaakov Feinberg
Even when there isn’t an ongoing garbage strike in Jerusalem, it often seems like the streets are strewn with litter. Having identified this problem, several Pardes students took the initiative to reverse the blight. Our philosophy was that since trash on the ground often encourages further littering, we needed to nip the problem in the 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 January 7, 2016 by Johanna Press
In my Pardes Social Justice class, we recently discussed the complicated status of non-Jews in our community. Texts throughout Jewish history – from Tanakh through modern responsa – present conflicting views regarding non-Jews; in one place, we are instructed to love the stranger and in another, the destruction of idolatrous non-Jews is enthusiastically called for. 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 December 25, 2015 by Tamar Benus
During this time of year, I always start to crave Chinese food, I have a list of holiday movies that I watch annually, and I start to reflect on my past year. I also strategically color coordinate my Chanukah candles, sing every single Chanukah song for the whole month and begin think about my Purim Continue Reading »
Posted on November 20, 2015 by Tamar Benus
The first thing I look up before I decide to travel anywhere is to check to see if: 1)there are kosher restaurants where I want to go 2) if there is a Chabad House Luckily, I have always found what I was looking for. In this week’s Parsha, Parshat Vayetzei, Yaakov is the one traveling, Continue Reading »
Posted on November 14, 2015 by Yaakov Feinberg
After my first month of the Pardes Year-Program, I was on a first-name basis with most of the teachers. Even if I didn’t attend a particular teacher’s shiur, I had either been invited to their house for Rosh Hashanah dinner, or spoken with them during a tiyul, or sat with them at community lunch, so Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2015 by Binyamin Cohen
This week’s parsha, Parshat Noach, is a parsha about building. It is flanked by the stories of the Flood and the Tower of Babel, two stories in which something substantial is built by human hands. However, the similarities end there. In one story, there is a boat that is built by a single man. It Continue Reading »
Posted on September 30, 2015 by Dan Pelberg
3:00 am Walking through Jerusalem’s Old City at this hour makes me marvel at how the place can get so loud and crazy during the day. The winding, dimly lit streets are empty enough to make me feel like a lone rat in a maze, trying to find any way I can to reach my Continue Reading »
Posted on February 6, 2015 by Daniella Adler
In this week’s parsha, פרשת יתרו, God tells Moshe ואתם תהיו–לי ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, “and you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). What does this statement mean?
