Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 27, 2015 by Tmima Shupack
Today at 4:55am I was ushered into my day by the Muslim call to prayer from the bed of my home stay in Istanbul. This was the perfect beginning to my day, as I and the whole of our group needed to be ready at 5:30am to board the bus that would take us to Continue Reading »
Posted on November 4, 2014 by Celeste Aronoff
I came to Pardes this year because I needed to be in Jerusalem. I was supposed to start rabbinical school in the spring, but I decided to come to Jerusalem instead for the summer to study Hebrew and deepen my Jewish experience and identity before then embarking on my rabbinical journey in August. But a Continue Reading »
Posted on September 15, 2014 by Jenn Mager
Last Thursday, Michael Hattin provided an outstanding tour of the Archaeology Wing of the Israel Museum. I had visited the museum several times; the tour provided me with a much deeper understanding of the significance of the exhibit. It is the largest collection of biblical archaeology in the world. Walking through the Archaeology Wing is Continue Reading »
Posted on July 26, 2014 by Dara Rosenblatt
From my blog, written before Shabbat: As I enter my last Shabbat in Jerusalem before returning back to the United States on Monday, I find myself thinking and reflecting on the past two months in my life. It was with great intention that I chose to come to Israel this summer, for personal, spiritual, and Continue Reading »
Posted on February 1, 2014 by David Bogomolny
Aryeh Ben David once asked me, “What does it mean to be Jewish?” Reflecting upon this, I had some vague ideas, but had never much considered it. “The word Jew (יהודי) is derived from the name Judah (יהודה),” he answered himself, “which comes from the root ‘to thank’. So, for me, the essence of being a Continue Reading »
Posted on December 28, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed the narratives of a Haredi woman, a settler, a kibbutznik and an Arab woman. Somehow, every experience that I have, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 14, 2013 by Dorielle Parker
Discovering the art of Sofrut at Pardes I have always felt enchanted by shape. The coffee mug shaped perfectly for my hand. The shoes fit perfectly for my feet. The canvas built perfectly for paint. Letters curved perfectly for words. Words shaped perfectly for Creation. It is told that every Hebrew letter has a specific Continue Reading »
Posted on October 8, 2013 by Candace Mittel
About Jerusalem Medley Omar We’ve been here in this same location three hundred eighty five years. We came from Jerusalem, we owned a house seven hundred years ago, we still own it, we live upstairs. I was born and raised upstairs. The store was closed for eight days during the Six Day War. In 1967, Continue Reading »
Posted on June 16, 2013 by Ben Weiss
So this blog post rises out of a series of conversations I’ve had with Pardes students and faculty. There is a (mis)conception that Pardes is a bubble. It is perhaps one of the pitfalls of living in an expatriate environment. It is very easy to stick close to one’s institutional community and let things end Continue Reading »
Posted on June 2, 2013 by David Bogomolny
Here is the reflection I shared at Community Lunch last week- One of the many things that I tell people when discussing Pardes is that I wanted to study here before I ever knew that Pardes existed. As a college student I started wearing a kippah publicly before I had any idea what halakha was Continue Reading »