Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on July 30, 2019 by Tamy Jacobs
Imagine sitting in the shade on a Saturday morning. There’s a bit of a breeze. We just finished davvening (praying) and had a snack. It’s our final Pardes Shabbaton. We are in Tavor Alon at a retreat center. Everyone is relaxed and happy. We’ve broken into small groups to reflect back on the past year. Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2019 by Alex Griffel
Over the last few weeks, a palpable depression seems to have set in the 3rd floor of 29 Pierre Koenig. Maybe depression is too strong of a word; melancholy might be better. Perhaps that’s just me, but everyone I talk to about it concurs that things have felt different. The year is ending, and Continue Reading »
Posted on November 20, 2016 by Jamie Bornstein
This blog was originally posted on Times of Israel. I’m staring intently at one of the 40 flat screen TV’s in a standing-room only sports bar in Skokie, IL, and I stand out like a sore thumb. In the mob surrounding me, every soul, patron and server, is laden with Cubs gear. I, on the other Continue Reading »
Posted on August 30, 2016 by Abigail Emerson
My grandmother, Beatrice Gould Emerson, died the first time I left the United States alone. My trip was in part for her sake. I was traveling for a summer in Russia, the first of our family to return to that part of the world since our great-grandparents left. I had been there a week when my dad sent Continue Reading »
Posted on August 14, 2016 by Pessy Baskin
This post was delivered at our farewell community lunch for the August 2016 summer students. As many of you already know, I came to Pardes to learn Torah in honor of the anniversary of my father’s passing. I want to thank all my chavrutot, who so graciously agreed to learn as an aliyah for his neshama. One Continue Reading »
Posted on August 10, 2016 by Lucas Espinosa Menendez
I don’t need for now to go and see the other side of the wall. Not of this wall that we hold sacred, both as a holy place and as a memorial, that is full of grass, bushes and roots sprouting freely, where birds nest and sing. I am talking about that “other wall,” the Continue Reading »
Posted on August 9, 2016 by Estella Gabay
Before I got on the plane to Israel, I had many doubts. It wasn’t my first time in Israel, but my purpose was different from my previous visits. I was hesitant this time, overwhelmed. I am from Istanbul. I am Jewish, living in a Muslim community. Am I living a Jewish life? I ask that question to Continue Reading »
Posted on August 7, 2016 by George Altshuler
My father is Jewish, but my mother isn’t. A literal reading of halakha, or Jewish law, would suggest that I’m not Jewish. But my mother and father made a decision before I was born to raise my sister and I as Jews. I had a bris and a bar mitzvah, attended Hebrew School and confirmation classes, Continue Reading »
Posted on August 1, 2016 by Miriam BenSander
Imagine my family – a Jewish family, a respected family in FSU Moscow in 1983 … When I was an adolescent my parents decided to return to our Jewish roots and begin to observe traditions again – in a time when that was dangerous. They studied for themselves and tried to teach us, their children – Continue Reading »
Posted on July 20, 2016 by Dave Benger
I’ve found that every student at Pardes has a unique backstory, and layer upon layer of reasons for what brought them to this place at this time, each story more intriguing than the last. For me, this summer at Pardes could not have come at a better time. This past year brought some radical transformation Continue Reading »