Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 14, 2014 by Meira Cohen
The place: a little shtieble near my house in New York. The time: the holiday of Simchat Torah. I am accompanying my brother and his two children to hakafot, the joyous circle dancing celebrating our people’s connection to the Torah. As I walk into the women’s section past the sign delineating proper and modest dress Continue Reading »
Posted on December 25, 2013 by Alana Bandos
Together in Paris. That’s what Anastasia’s grandmother says to her before their family is torn apart in the hit animated feature film Anastasia (which is not actually a Disney movie). It’s on the necklace the young girl wears through to adulthood and it helps her reclaim her true identity as heir to the Russian throne. Continue Reading »
Posted on December 25, 2013 by Jessica Baverman
From my blog: Prayer is a topic that I feel constantly comes up at school, and I’m amazed at how many people say they truly struggle with it. I never thought that prayer was something religious people struggled with. You either do it and love it or don’t feel connected to it at all and Continue Reading »
Posted on November 17, 2013 by Ben Schneider
This past week, I had the privilege of being a member of the Masa delegation to the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly. The JFNA is the largest Jewish charity, and I believe the largest charity of its kind in the world, and its primary purpose is to raise money and distribute it in Continue Reading »
Posted on September 17, 2013 by Stefanie Groner
I shared these parting words at Community Lunch today at Pardes: In three weeks, I will start my first-ever, grown-up, real-life job as a consultant. From my understanding, a consultant comes in as an outsider to a space, gets to know the ins and outs and upside-downs of that place, and develops creative and effective Continue Reading »
Posted on April 28, 2013 by David Bogomolny
I shared the following words at Pardes, wishing my friend Yevgenia and her family chizuk (encouragement, support) and Hashem’s rachamim (mercy). She was born with a congenital heart defect, which has always impacted the quality of her life. Last Sunday, a week ago, I was not entirely surprised to learn that she had been hospitalized. Yevgenia inspires me Continue Reading »
Posted on April 1, 2013 by Falynn Schmidt
Originally posted to my blog yesterday, March 31: Today is my mother’s birthday. She would have been 68. What a strange thing to think. Sixty-eight, so young. Such a difficult life, surreal in ways I can’t imagine and in ways I know too well. My mother was an amazing woman, as you’ve either experienced first Continue Reading »
Posted on March 19, 2013 by David Bogomolny
“I assume that you’d consider yourself a ḥozer beteshuva, right?” As somebody who was raised by parents who self-identify as traditional, ḥiloni Jews, and chose himself to live a life committed to and guided by halakha, I’ve come to expect some form of this question from people in conversations about Jewish faith and practice. But this term Continue Reading »
Posted on February 4, 2013 by Stu Jacobs
The year after Ben and Marla were killed was a year of mourning for our whole community, even for those, like me, who never had the pleasure of meeting them. The first Yom Iyun shel Chesed enabled us to come together and celebrate the lives of two fellow students by creating something positive from the Continue Reading »
Posted on January 16, 2013 by David Bogomolny
One Aspect of Halakha that is Particularly Meaningful to Me “Anyone who identifies as Jewish today only need go back three or four generations to find observant Jews in their family. And from there an unbroken chain of Jewish living that goes back more than three thousand years. Not that everyone has always been observant. Continue Reading »
