Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Rachel Rosenbluth
Hello Pardes Friends! I’m writing to you guys in preparation for the Passover Seder, to present an opportunity for doing a really special mitzvah, and to share a unique Pesach experience that I had in East Africa. Two years ago, I had a far-from-trypical pesach seder. It took place far away, in a remote and Continue Reading »
Posted on February 26, 2013 by Laura Marder
It has been a little over a month since my stem cell donation with Gift of Life. During my donation and this past month I have had a really hard time showing and even personally feeling my emotions. It is like I put up a block. Some of you have seen me those few times Continue Reading »
Posted on February 23, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog, written before Shabbat: A Dusky Holiness before Shabbat… Stories from the week… …still on air from serendipity. It was on a Thursday, on which we presumably do organized chesed projects, but on one specific Thursday, I chose to simply organize myself: carrots, sweet potatoes, scallions, cumin, coriander, cumin, whirr whirr whirr in Continue Reading »
Posted on December 29, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Laura Marder has constantly been in our community’s thoughts since she left us recently for America; and her recent post reminded us of Mary-Brett‘s post from her Pardes Summer ’11 program… M-B also spoke about the Gift of Life at Pardes this Fall, and many more Pardesniks got swabbed when the Gift of Life representative Continue Reading »
Posted on December 14, 2012 by David Bogomolny
We spent last Shabbat with a friend and his partner. He is a Jewish convert who is currently not halakhically observant, but his Jewish identity is very important to him, and his attitude towards Jewish tradition and halakha is very respectful. His partner is a woman whose father is halakhically Jewish, but she is not halakhically Jewish herself. Therefore, she must go through Continue Reading »
Posted on December 3, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Posted by Aryeh Ben David (Year ’80) On the Ayeka Blog: (These thoughts were influenced by Parker Palmer’s A Life Unidvided) Holding the space for souls to reveal. Soul evoking soul. If I had to summarize Judaism in a sentence it might be: souls evoking souls. Sympathetic vibrations of our souls. First – I pluck Continue Reading »
Posted on November 29, 2012 by Shanee Michaelson
From issues like homelessness to workers’ rights, social justice has been an interest of mine for several years. A few years ago, I wrote a song which addresses related issues as well as the idea that one country could be a place where “social justice for all” was a reality. Currently I study in the 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 November 19, 2012 by Shira Bee
Crossposted from my blog: Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. ~ Rumi But what does it mean to be the soul of a place like Jerusalem? A place where so many people feel most closely connected to their own inner strength and beliefs, and yet stand in direct conflict with one another? One of Continue Reading »
Posted on November 16, 2012 by Adam L Masser
Ein Gedi, freshwater spring of legend, sanctuary of David. In the scorching desert, the Negev. In the mountains above Yam HaMelach, the Dead Sea, the burning sea of salt. Sam, falling down while climbing out of a gorge carved in a high, rocky outcropping, its steep chutes formed by the rains of a geologic epoch. Continue Reading »
