Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 15, 2014 by Jenn Mager
Last Thursday, Michael Hattin provided an outstanding tour of the Archaeology Wing of the Israel Museum. I had visited the museum several times; the tour provided me with a much deeper understanding of the significance of the exhibit. It is the largest collection of biblical archaeology in the world. Walking through the Archaeology Wing is Continue Reading »
Posted on August 12, 2014 by Alana Bandos
All summer long (not the Kid Rock song), my peers, my parents’ peers, my aunt and uncle, my bosses and their neighbors, the random lady painting my nails, my SCUBA instructor, the guy from Verizon selling me a new phone, and just about everyone else has been asking me this one question: “Are you crazy?” Continue Reading »
Posted on April 6, 2014 by Alanna Kleinman
From my blog: A few nights ago I went to a music and light festival in the old city. Earlier that day, I signed a contract for my job next year- working with Jewish communities in the South, based in Jackson Mississippi. I’ve become aware of what little time I have left in Israel, and Continue Reading »
Posted on February 28, 2014 by Benjamin Friedman
“Without a profound simplification the world around us would be an infinite, undefined tangle that would defy our ability to orient ourselves and decide upon our actions…. We are compelled to reduce the knowable to a schema.” -Primo Levi The above quotation by Holocaust survivor Primo Levi says something profound yet simple about human nature Continue Reading »
Posted on February 24, 2014 by Ma'ayan Dyer
From Ma’ayan Dyer’s (Spring ’12, Spring ’13) blog: Even before the completion of my conversion three years ago, keeping kosher seemed relatively simple and came surprisingly easy. Sure, the BLT was my favorite sandwich once upon a time, and the spectrum of the many delicious treyf Italian meats were a goyish treat that I wouldn’t Continue Reading »
Posted on January 25, 2014 by Josh Pernick
Back in my host family’s home after an amazing day of teaching at the Ulus School, and with a few hours to spare before Shabbat, I decided to do a little exploring around my temporary neighborhood. After putting on my coat, hat (because you can’t wear a kippah outside in Turkey, but that’s a whole Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2014 by Jessica Baverman
From my blog: As a resident of a country whose primary language isn’t my own and where the health system is very different, I often have challenges when needing to get things done. Seeing a doctor that speaks English is so amazing, you have no idea. We completely take it for granted in the US Continue Reading »
Posted on January 22, 2014 by Jeremy Borovitz
The bus dropped Tamilla and I off in the middle of nowhere, a stop by the side of the road with fields of something green to the left and fields of something yellow to the right. It took another couple minutes for us to lug away the bags of stuff filled with clothes which I Continue Reading »
Posted on January 21, 2014 by David Bogomolny
oh no. My plane on the runway at Ben Gurion International Airport, I’d just realized that I’d forgotten my tefilin (phylacteries) in Jerusalem. calm down. you’ll deal with this. think about it — lots of people in the group will have their tefilin with them… My internal voice of reason was reassuring, but I felt Continue Reading »
Posted on December 28, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed the narratives of a Haredi woman, a settler, a kibbutznik and an Arab woman. Somehow, every experience that I have, Continue Reading »
