Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on February 3, 2013 by David Bogomolny
I can’t speak highly enough of Ben Barer (Fellows ’12), and I am consistently appreciative of his blogging. His recent post on ‘Picking Our Battles’ gave me pause because Ben and I agree on many things, but we’ve chosen different sides of the “Orthodox Community” – he’s chosen to be outside of it, and I’ve Continue Reading »
Posted on January 24, 2013 by Ari Abelman
From my blog: This post has been edited based on final election results. I have crossed out incorrect statements rather than delete them, and put corrections in bold. It seems like the most interesting part of American elections happens before the voting, while the most interesting part of Israeli elections happens afterwards. In American elections, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 18, 2012 by Aliza Geller
Originally posted on my blog: I need to start by saying that I love Israel, I am a zionist and I also believe in egalitarian Judaism. I am still able to love Israel, even though there are a number of problems related to how much sway the religious right has with the Government of Israel Continue Reading »
Posted on December 17, 2012 by Adam L Masser
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, an Orthodox rabbi and the head of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva. The prominent Zionist Orthodox rabbi proposed re-evaluation of certain religious frameworks. He is particularly focused on issues where ultra orthodox halachic rulings determine civil law in Israel. In recent remarks, he said it is necessary “to re-examine the framework of Continue Reading »
Posted on December 13, 2012 by Shoshana Rosen
Originally posted on my blog: In 5th grade we read a book in class called The Search for Delicious… A couple of months after reading this book, we had to pick our favorite book and do a book report on it. But, because I HATED to read, I just picked The Search for Delicious, a Continue Reading »
Posted on December 9, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Maybe it’s because I grew up feeling like one, or maybe it’s just some genetic Jewish thing, but for whatever reason, I’ve always sympathized with the outsider. When I went on the Tale of Three Cities tiyyul the two weeks ago, I didn’t know what to expect, except that we were going to meet three Continue Reading »
Posted on November 27, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Evan was my first flatmate in Israel; he and I studied at Pardes together, and we had plenty of conversations about our shared Jewish heritage over the course of that year. He had fond childhood memories of his grandfather, a traditional, American shul-going Jew, and recalled the smell and texture of the tallit that he had worn at Continue Reading »
Posted on April 12, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Rob Murstein comes from a ‘very liturgical’ family; they attend Shabbat services every Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon until havdalah. Rob’s father is a regular Torah reader at shul, his brother studied chazzanut with their cantor, and Rob himself read Torah at shul for the first time when he was six years old; and then again at Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2012 by Jacob Siegel
The craziest job interview I’ve ever done happened in December of 2009. On a cold, sleepy morning on a farm in Northwestern Connecticut, I stood in the snow near the henhouse holding buckets. The man running the slaughter passed us chickens in the midst of their last muscle contractions. Later that morning, we plucked and Continue Reading »
Posted on March 13, 2012 by David Bogomolny
I spent last Shabbat at Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s moshav near the city of Modi’in, where my grandparents and other close family members live. This Shabbaton was particularly convenient for me because it allowed me to visit my family without worrying about rushing back to J’lem for Shabbat (especially during the winter). It was also quite Continue Reading »
