These and Those

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

Tag Archives: Haredi Judaism (Ultra-Orthodoxy)

A Shtender Bender

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Leah Stern

Most people have never even heard the word shtender. They think I am making up a pretend word, though to my knowledge it is Yiddish. I said it recently to an Israeli friend and the closest word I could use to explain it was the word מעמד, which means a stand, but that isn’t even Continue Reading »

Week 18: True Piety

Posted on January 8, 2012 by Derek Kwait

After getting over Hevron, the subject on everyone’s minds and lips all last week was the craziness in Beit Shemesh. I was going to write this blog post with a lot of complaints about how more people aren’t speaking out against this behavior, but since I could have attended the protest and did not, perhaps Continue Reading »

Hello to Israel—Notes from a First Time Visitor

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Suzi

Here’s something I wrote on my first day in Israel, standing at the Kotel, my hand pressed against the stones and clutching my steno pad.  I couldn’t seem to let go of the ancient wall.  I thought I’d publish this on These&Those, and challenge y’all to share your own first impressions of the country. On Sunday, June Continue Reading »

Uniforms

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Shibley

I would venture a guess that the majority of jobs throughout the world have some sort of uniform. Whether said uniform is mandated by the employer, it is simply practical, or it becomes a matter of identity, the fact is that such a uniform exists in most cases. Israel is no different in this regard; Continue Reading »

Tradition

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Barer

What value does tradition have? What is added to an action, ritual, or practice from it being something that has been done for 500 years as opposed to 50 years or 5 years, or compared to starting a new ‘tradition’ altogether? As anyone who has watched Fiddler on the Roof knows – and judging by Continue Reading »

Yom Iyun Shel Chesed

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Naomi Adland

“Today was a good day.” It’s not often that I find myself able to unequivocally utter these words.  But every once and a while, a day comes along that is so good that there is nothing left to say. Today was a good day because it was the second day of Rosh Chodesh Adar – Continue Reading »