Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on August 24, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Derek Kwait never spent longer than five consecutive weeks outside of his native Pittsburgh area prior to fulfilling his dream of studying at Pardes last year. After attending one year of film school at Point Park University in 2007-8, he transferred to the University of Pittsburgh in fall 2008. He graduated in 2011 with a Continue Reading »
Posted on June 17, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
As some of you may know, Th&Th loves Pardes alumni blogs! And when we find them, we like linking to them from the side menu of our blog… and sometimes we even get nosy enough to interview our alumni, and spotlight them here in a Th&Th blog post. So it turns out that the soferet Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2012 by Nikki Fig
As many in the Pardes community know, my year at Pardes has been decidedly unique. I originally only intended to stay through Elul, but every month I decided I would stay “for one more month.” My unwillingness to leave led my family and friends in America to conclude that I must be being “brainwashed”. This Continue Reading »
Posted on May 22, 2012 by Barer
I just had the immense privilege of watching Footnote (הערת שוליים) with some fellow Pardesniks followed by a discussion with faculty who have intimate personal knowledge of the culture being described in the film. First, I highly recommend watching the trailer and, if you are even remotely interested, watching the movie before reading what I Continue Reading »
Posted on May 18, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha closes out the middle book of the Torah, ויקרא, Leviticus, with a number of further details relating to the priesthood. One specific word caught my eye though: “These are the statutes and the laws and the Torot that Hashem has given between Him and the children of Israel at mount Sinai by Continue Reading »
Posted on May 15, 2012 by David Bogomolny
“Too often bipartisanship is equated with centrism or deal cutting. Bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle. One can be very conservative or very liberal and still have a bipartisan mindset. Such a mindset acknowledges that the other party is also patriotic and may have some good ideas. It acknowledges that national unity is important, Continue Reading »
Posted on May 11, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha is one of the shortest in the Torah, only including 57 psukim (verses). One of the main themes discussed in the parsha is that of yovel, the Jubilee Year. Every fiftieth year, all land would return to its original owner. This included slaves, and the rabbis of the Talmud were eager to Continue Reading »
Posted on May 4, 2012 by Barer
In this week’s parsha, all the holidays are described in order (starting with Pesach). Immediately afterwards, the text details the rituals associated with the objects within the קודש, the Holy on the Mishkan and later the Temple. Mussaf Rashi, a compilation of scattered commentary attributed to Rashi, notes that this is a hint to the Continue Reading »
Posted on May 3, 2012 by Barer
Last week, I attended MASA’s Yom HaZikaron ceremony (טקס) with some other Pardesniks. It had been six years since I had commemorated Israel’s two Memorial Days — for fallen soldiers and victims of terror since the founding of Israel and Holocaust Remembrance Day — in Israel, when I was a participant on March of the Continue Reading »
Posted on May 3, 2012 by David Bogomolny
This is an additional thought I had about ‘mindful eating’. I’ve been running my tongue along whatever food items I’ve been using during my practices, pausing to enjoy their shapes and textures, and I’ve noticed that my mouth automatically reacts to food by filling with saliva and pushing the bits with my tongue against the Continue Reading »