Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 22, 2011 by Jeremy S.
I originally posted the following entry on my blog back in February: And going out to meet You, I found You coming toward me. -Yehuda Halevi (c. 1075-1141) It was my first shabbat in Jerusalem. After lunch I walked with a young aspiring rabbi to the Old City, in through the Jaffa Gate and down to Continue Reading »
Posted on May 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This week’s parsha, Parshat Bechukotai, has prompted me to return to the subject of Israel and explore my relationship and understandings of this place as a reality and an ideal. There is a bizarre word in the parsha, which funnily enough I’ve encountered countless times before reading the parsha this week, as it Continue Reading »
Posted on May 15, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This past Monday I visited Mount Herzl in Jerusalem with my classmates to commemorate Yom Hazikaron, Israel Remembrance Day. We visited the graves of young soldiers who had fallen recently and those of heroic figures like Hannah Senesh. Many questions raced through my mind as we walked among the graves: Where am I Continue Reading »
Posted on February 20, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, What a week of learning, both inside and outside the walls of Pardes! A particular highlight for me was picking oranges for an organization called Leket Israel, which provides for Israeli children who are hungry and/or do not received proper nutrition. This volunteering project was organized by Pardes students in loving memory of Continue Reading »
Posted on February 8, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parsha, aharon is instructed to kindle lamps inside the אהל מעוד, the tent of meeting, to burn from evening until morning. each night, he must light the lights and each morning, he must put out their flames as a law for all generations. aharon, as the lamplighter of the jewish people, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 13, 2011 by David Bogomolny
During Pardes ‘Recruitment Week’, we took a poll of Pardes students on their favorite ‘Belief Statements’. Each of 43 participants selected 5 ‘Belief Statements’ from a list of 45 that we drew from Creedia.com, as well as from online sources describing the ‘Belief Statements’ of various Jewish denominations. The poll is not statistically signficant at all, and Continue Reading »
Posted on January 12, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
In this week’s parsha, God finally makes good on His promise to the Jewish people and gets the Israelites out of Egypt in style. This is no shabby saving; The hand of God Himself causes the sea to swell and the waters to part. While the Israelites breeze through on dry land with walls of Continue Reading »
Posted on October 25, 2010 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I hope all is well with you and that your week has been a productive and uplifting one! Thank God, I can say that mine has been very busy — but with the best of things: Torah study, Torah study, more Torah study, spending time with family and friends and enjoying the beauty Continue Reading »
Posted on February 20, 2010 by David Bogomolny
Pardes is a very academic institution, which puts tremendous emphasis upon Jewish text study. Morning classes alternate between Talmud (or Mishnah) study & Chumash study, and the afternoon classes, which are subject-based, are also grounded in Jewish texts (Tanakh, Mishnah Berurah, Midrash, etc.). Unlike some other traditional Jewish learning institutions, Pardes does not aim to Continue Reading »
Posted on December 22, 2009 by David Bogomolny
R. Levi Cooper, my Chassidut (Chassidism) teacher, has consistently inspired me with his wisdom. I’ve heard some of my own thoughts echoed back to me in Levi’s particularly articulate and reasoned way, and other insights of his have seeded entirely new contemplations in my mind. In discussing the history of the Chassidut, RLC taught us Continue Reading »
