Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 1, 2014 by Elana Shilling
The omer is my least favourite time of year. Partly because of how all the clean-cut men in the world suddenly become scraggly and foreign looking and also partly because of the mournful tone of the month. Mostly however, the omer is a terrible time of year for me because of the sheer amount of Continue Reading »
Posted on April 28, 2014 by Gabby Goodman
Written by Gabby Goodman (Year ’13) As I got ready to lead the Seder for the first time for my family in New York City this year, I remembered last year when I was at Pardes, when I wondered at the fact that I would be sitting at a Seder table in Jerusalem and saying Continue Reading »
Posted on April 13, 2014 by Naomi Zaslow
Over the last week, I and most of my fellow PEPers, have been traveling around the States, doing model lessons for schools in hopes of gainful employment. One of my favorite model lessons that I’ve done focused on the Passover Seder and the way that we tell our story of leaving Egypt year after year. Continue Reading »
Posted on April 8, 2014 by Eli Freedman
On Passover night, we ask many questions. Here is one you may have never asked: why did the Egyptians want to subjugate the Israelites into slavery in the first place? What can we learn about ourselves by connecting Torah, the history of its interpretation, and Jewish conflict resolution theory? Welcome to the Pardes Center for Continue Reading »
Posted on March 13, 2014 by Hirsch Fishman
by Ilana Lipman (PEP ’07, Assistant Director of the Pardes Educators Alumni Support Project) Storytime season is upon us. When I think of the Purim/Pesach season, I see vivid characters from far away countries, heroes of our people, crowns and jewels and riches and royalty, evil people and good people, dark fears and startling redemptions. What rich stories Continue Reading »
Posted on February 22, 2014 by Carolyn Gerecht
This year, studying in the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators’ Program for Experiential Jewish Education (PEEP) and Yeshiva University’s Certificate in Experiential Jewish Education, I’ve been fortunate to have had many, many opportunities to answer the question, “What exactly is Experiential Jewish Education?” Typically, I respond in a couple of short sentences. “Most people think Continue Reading »
Posted on February 9, 2014 by Aaron Rabinowitz
These photographs featuring Pardesniks Sam Stern (Year ’14) and Max Einsohn (MAPP ’14) aim to show how we are constricted by the lashon hara that we speak. I was trying to show that if we break the bonds of speaking lashon hara (or in this case peel off the gags of lashon hara), then we Continue Reading »
Posted on February 9, 2014 by Aliza Geller
Imagine that you are at summer camp. You are a rising 5th grader, and share a communal bathhouse with rising 6th and 7th graders. It so happens that whenever you go to wait in line to brush your teeth there is a 7th grader who pushes her way to the front of the line. What Continue Reading »
Posted on February 6, 2014 by AdAm Mayer
Getting dressed in the morning is a necessary part of my day. It prepares me physically to go out into the world – If I did not have clothes, I would not be able to leave my room. It prepares me mentally and emotionally as well. I think, feel and behave differently when I dress Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2014 by Sarah Pollack
From my blog: Deuteronomy 20: 19. When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, Continue Reading »
