Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 10, 2014 by Samantha Vinokor
Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement…get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible. – Abraham Joshua Heschel When Heschel described radical amazement, he could easily have been speaking about the initial euphoria that people experience Continue Reading »
Posted on November 26, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Photos from the Negev Tiyul
Posted on November 10, 2013 by Sam Stern
From my blog: Well, angelfish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself. It was 1:53PM Monday afternoon as I stood outside of Pardes dialing the Jewish Agency. When the call ended 4 minutes later, I felt so distant from this country Continue Reading »
Posted on September 24, 2013 by Jessica Baverman
From my blog: You shall dwell in Sukkot seven days. All citizens of Israel will stay in Sukkot, so that your generations may know that I caused the children of Israel to dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. (Leviticus 23:42-43) The Torah lets us know that Sukkot has Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: During Yom Kippur, we are commanded to “afflict ourselves.” “עינוי נפש” The gemara has a very lengthy discussion of what this could mean. Does it mean we don’t have sexual relations, does it mean we physically hurt ourselves? No, the gemara concludes, it means that we don’t eat or drink. But how Continue Reading »
Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tani Cohen-Fraade
In Rabbi Meir Schewiger’s Parashat ha-Shavuah (weekly Torah Portion) class, while learning Sefer Shemot (Book of Exodus), we spoke about the desert as a place where one goes to prepare for Torah study. When B’nei Yisrael (Children of Israel) leave Egypt, they flee through the desert and are on the run until they get to Yam Suf (Red Continue Reading »
Posted on May 16, 2013 by Laurie Franklin
One An outlander arrives in J-town. Not my first time and G!d-willing, not my last. In a newish role: student, not teacher! The book is open. Minus one Disequilibrium: distance from home and life partner, Jitters, does anyone understand who I am? Do I understand who I am In this novel circumstance?
Posted on April 8, 2013 by Laurie Franklin
I am the desert sand: Hot sand of mid-day, Cold sand of clear night. Feet press into me, And speak a language I understand. I feel the joy of dancing, the resolute march of armies, The fluttering of small children at play. Always, always footprints press Then blow away. Each grain of my sand seeds Continue Reading »
Posted on March 4, 2013 by Lauren Schuchart
From my blog: It’s been a while since my last post. Apparently, graduate school essays are a bit of a time-suck. In any case, here are some pictures from my school’s trip to the Arava in January. We went all the way to Eilat in the southern tip of Israel for a few days of Continue Reading »
Posted on January 24, 2013 by Eric Feldman
From my blog: In this weeks parsha, Beshalach, one of the most famous events in all of the Tanakh occurs when God splits the Red Sea through the staff of Moses, allowing the Israelites to finally escape the centuries-long enslavement in Egypt and become a free people. The result of their freedom is that the Continue Reading »
