Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
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 March 31, 2014 by Sam Stern
From my blog: Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? It was 3:30 on a beautiful Friday afternoon when Judy and I started to embark on our big trip to Alon Shvut. The plan was simple: go tremping, make a left, find the green garbage cans, go down the stairs Continue Reading »
Posted on January 29, 2014 by Sam Stern
From my blog: No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it. What Being Jewish Means to Me By Sam Stern I think it’s safe to say that we’ve all written this essay before. It probably talks about receiving Hanukka presents, eating matza balls, playing with your friends at temple, and watching Continue Reading »
Posted on December 8, 2013 by Itay Zaidenberg
Living in Jerusalem, it’s easy to feel like Israel is abundantly observant. But when I get off the 480 at Tel Aviv’s Arlozorov bus station, I’m immediately reminded, it’s not. And if I didn’t take the 480 so many times that I now recognize several of the bus drivers, I don’t think I would have Continue Reading »
Posted on September 11, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
On Yom Kippur, the shul is full. The normally sparse rows are packed, white plastic pool chairs spill out and crowd the aisles. Why do people come. The people that never come, why do they come now, on this day. As a child, I wasn’t even sure why I came. No holiday made me question Continue Reading »
Posted on July 2, 2013 by Ben Macdonald
Two months ago, I decided to do a little experiment. For those who haven’t heard me talking about it, I decided to take 30 days and live shomer mitzvot. I started on Yom HaZikaron and ended on Shavuot and from the first day in I had a really difficult time. First off I needed to Continue Reading »
Posted on June 7, 2013 by Aileen Heinberg
I presented this dvar torah at the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators commencement ceremony on Wednesday: Almost two whole years ago, as we were first settling in at Pardes, a classmate looked around the room at our PEP cohort and said, “Wow, we are a group of very different personalities.” And it’s true; we all Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
Among the many blessings I have experienced this year is the Ayeka course facilitated by David Bogomolny. I share here some of my favourite take-aways from the course (handily preserved in my writing exercises and reflections.) This module was about bringing God back to the conversation. I felt like it gave me a place to Continue Reading »
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Lauren Schuchart
In this week’s Torah portion, we move from the exciting and relatable narrative in the books of Bereshit (Genesis) and Shmot (Exodus), into the legalistic and methodical book of Vayikra (Leviticus). In the first Torah portion, God tells Moses how the Children of Israel should go about establishing a holy community, a “kingdom of priests.” Continue Reading »
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Rachel Rosenbluth
Hello Pardes Friends! I’m writing to you guys in preparation for the Passover Seder, to present an opportunity for doing a really special mitzvah, and to share a unique Pesach experience that I had in East Africa. Two years ago, I had a far-from-trypical pesach seder. It took place far away, in a remote and Continue Reading »
