Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on October 25, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
(Read it on my blog) A Haredi, a kibbutznik, and a Muslim walk into a bar. (beat) Mashiach comes!! Well, I don’t know what would actually happen; I never actually saw the three of them in the same room at the same time. And now for some context: This Tuesday, I went on a tiyul with Continue Reading »
Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
From my blog: From Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev Kedushas Levi, Perushei Aggadot When you say the words of the living God in studying Torah, or engage in the holy work of prayer, you should intend to cleave to the blessed Creator. But you must consider the question, how can a person of flesh and blood cleave 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 October 3, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
I will be sharing this dvar Torah at the Pardes Shabbatonthis weekend – enjoy! Maybe everyone has read the parsha already, but if not, at the end there is a very short story of the Tower of Bavel. And they said: וַיֹּאמְרוּ הָבָה נִבְנֶה-לָּנוּ עִיר, וּמִגְדָּל וְרֹאשׁוֹ בַשָּׁמַיִם, וְנַעֲשֶׂה-לָּנוּ, שֵׁם: פֶּן-נָפוּץ, עַל-פְּנֵי כָל-הָאָרֶץ. ‘Come, let 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 12, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: Forty-eight hours ago, I was in a different country. And no, I did not drive across the border from Mexico to Texas. During the past few weeks, I’ve done a lot of personal journaling, because a lot of what’s happened is just that – very personal. Consequently, less has ended up on Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2013 by Yisrael Ben Avraham
I’ll be a Pardes alum in the next couple weeks and possibly a second year student. I thought I’d write a list of random things for new and returning students to make their lives in Israel easier and enjoyable. These are in no particular order, but I cannot emphasis enough how much Ulpan Morasha chews 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 16, 2013 by Tadea Klein
I first presented this on the Arava Tiyul,in a slightly different form. Around the middle of the first semester, someone said something like this: “I’m sorry, but I won’t pray in a place that doesn’t accept me all the time.” This person was not sorry at all. And whether or not I agree with their Continue Reading »
Posted on February 10, 2013 by Ma'ayan Dyer
From my blog: With the tenth of February just around the corner, it’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Israel for a month already. I have big plans for my time abroad, and while I’ve mostly been happily consumed with Jewish studies at Pardes, I feel like there’s still just so much for me Continue Reading »
