Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 11, 2013 by Leah Kahn
Here is my dvar Torah from the PCJE Graduation ceremony! Martha Graham was one of the sages, entrepreneurs and Rebbes of modern dance. Says Graham: “I believe that we learn by practice. It is the performance of a dedicated, precise set of acts, physical or intellectual, from which comes shape of achievement, a sense of Continue Reading »
Posted on June 10, 2013 by Stu Jacobs
The following is my PCJE Commencement dvar Torah from last week: 2002-2003: Pardes Year Program July 2008: Pardes Summer Session And now, 2011-2013: Pardes Educators Program I guess the only thing left to do is to talk to Robby about coming back, maybe in 2040, for the Executive Learning Seminar. But, in all seriousness, as Continue Reading »
Posted on June 7, 2013 by Aileen Heinberg
I presented this dvar torah at the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators commencement ceremony on Wednesday: Almost two whole years ago, as we were first settling in at Pardes, a classmate looked around the room at our PEP cohort and said, “Wow, we are a group of very different personalities.” And it’s true; we all Continue Reading »
Posted on June 6, 2013 by Ilan Weismark
Here is my Graduation Speech from yesterday: From Masechet Eruvin: אמר רבי אילעאי: בשלשה דברים אדם ניכר: בכוסו, ובכיסו, ובכעסו. ואמרי ליה: אף בשחקו. Using the translation from Steinsaltz…. R. Ilai said: By three things a person is recognized and it becomes known what his true character is: at a time of drinking; when he Continue Reading »
Posted on June 15, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Some of our recent PEP graduates posted their graduation speeches (divrei Torah) here on Th&Th… in no particular order: Joanne Loiben, Esther DuBow, Sam Blumberg, R. Julie Gordon, Jessie Gindea, Cheryl Stone, & Daniel Weinreb. Also, here is the video of Cohort 11’s graduation:
Posted on June 15, 2012 by Daniel Weinreb
By Daniel Weinreb, PEP ’12 “It’s so appropriate that we are in this week’s parsha…” Really? I’m skeptical. In fact, when I hear that phrase in a d’var Torah I fluff up the shoulder next to me and hit the snooze button. Why? Because I anticipate I am about to get a contrived connection between Continue Reading »
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Cheryl Stone
By Cheryl Stone, PEP ’12 June 4, 2012 When I began contemplating what I would write, I went in search of the perfect ‘teacher quote’ and found this: אם יהיו כל השמים יריעות וכל האילנות קולמוסין וכל המים דיו, אין כדי לכתוב את חכמתי שלמדתי מרבי: ולא אצלתי מחכמת חכמים אלא כשם שזבוב הזו הטובלת Continue Reading »
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Jessie Gindea
By Jessie Gindea, PEP ’12 What an evening this is. As I look around this Beit Midrash, surrounded by my brilliant teachers, my esteemed colleagues, and all of the people who have effected my experience in the last two years, it seems only natural to turn to psalms 133, verse 1: “Hiney mah tov umah Continue Reading »
Posted on June 13, 2012 by Rabbi Julie Gordon
By Rabbi Julie Gordon, PEP ’12 Soon we will leave the security of Pardes’ Beit Midrash where if we had a question or wanted to study a text, there was always a teacher or a student interested in helping, guiding and learning with us. We all know there is so much more to learn. When Continue Reading »
Posted on June 13, 2012 by Sam Blumberg
By Sam Blumberg, PEP ’12 Over the last three years at Pardes, I have learned a ton. I’ve learned Torah, Talmud, Mishna, pedagogy, philosophy– all things that I knew little about before my time in the Pardes Educators Program. But I didn’t come here to learn. I came here to teach. In the thirteenth chapter Continue Reading »