These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Tag Archives: dvar Torah

Start Somewhere: Parshat Bereishit 5776

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Hannah Joy

(Cross-posted from Hannah Elovitz’s blog Finding Joy in Jerusalem: http://joyinjlem.blogspot.co.il/2015/10/start-somewhere-parshat-bereishit-5776.html) Good Yuntiv. Just kidding. Good Shabbos. This time of year always feels like endless new beginnings to me. For those of us connected to the academic calendar in some way, it’s the start of a new school year. Perhaps for some of us the start Continue Reading »

D’ror and Disability (Behar Sinai)

Posted on May 6, 2015 by Jonah P.

Ever a hyper-literate people, even in grief and death, we customarily learn mishnayot in honor of a deceased parent on the anniversary of his or her death. To this end, I would like to share some mishna learning in honor of my biological father, who died 10 years ago today, a man who has had Continue Reading »

Hallel, A Journey Through the Wilderness of Emotions

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Geo Poor

My favorite service of the whole year is Hallel, a special service we add to certain holidays and to the seder. Hallel has a strange structure. It starts out by saying we are commanded to praise God. Why would be commanded to praise? Does praise really even count if it is not done by choice? Continue Reading »

And God said, let there be a Red Heifer and Radical Acceptance.

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Jacob Haas

  Below is a Dvar I wrote for Moishe House.   As Pardes and Moishe House have a new partnership I thought it would appropriate to share this with the Pardes community as well. “This is the decree (Hok) of the Torah, which God has commanded, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel, and they Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Panic Sets In

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Elana Shilling

As I write this D’var Torah, it is nearly noon on Wednesday January 7th. A storm is coming… Pardes and the rest of Jerusalem educational institutions are closed. The roads in and out of Jerusalem have been closed in anticipation of motorists getting stuck. Emergency vehicles are on standby as are 150 snowplows.

“You Never Need Nobody”

Posted on January 8, 2015 by Suzanne Hutt

This week’s parsha, Shemot, is the first in the Book of Exodus. It tells of the beginning of Moshe’s life and the story of Passover. In the beginning of the parsha, we hear of Pharoah’s evil decree, in which he commands the midwives to kill all of the male Hebrew babies. The midwives, however, do Continue Reading »

Culmination of Bereshit

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Sarah Pollack

As we culminate the book of Genesis, I looked back to see what we had learned. How the stories fit together. What the commonality between the past 50 chapters held. In the women’s commentary to the Torah, Tamara Cohn Eshkanezi writes that Genesis is accounting for the human condition with it’s possibilities and perils.

[PCJE Dvar Torah] A’cheinu, Kol Beit Yisrael

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Tamar Benus

When I was ready to enter nursery, my parents brought me into a school. First they were interviewed, and then I was. One of the first questions I was asked was, “do you have any brothers or sisters?” At the time, I had one younger brother. Rather than a yes or no to answer this Continue Reading »

[Alumni Post] Going Home.

Posted on November 30, 2014 by Andrea Wiese

לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ: בראשית יב:א “Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father’s house, to the land that I will show you.” Genesis 12:1. HaShem tells Avraham to leave his land, his birthplace, his father’s home and go to another land. HaShem continues Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Jacob’s Ladder as a Model for our Lives – Parshat Vayetze

Posted on November 28, 2014 by Geo Poor

ויחלום והנה סלם מצב ארצה וראשו מגיע השמימה והנה מלאכי אלהים עלים וירדים בו In Parshat Vayetze, Jacob has a dream about a ladder, some angels, and God. The common interpretation is that the angels are traveling up and down the ladder, but the Hebrew is actually rather vague. When it says “bo,” the direct Continue Reading »