These and Those

Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem

Tag Archives: learning

My Dvar Torah from PEP Graduation Ceremony

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Joanne Loiben

By Joanne Loiben, PEP ’12 Writer’s block. How can I sum up these past 3 years into a neat little 3 minute Dvar Torah? The memories, the moments, the worlds that once existed on this 3rd floor hidden paradise. The teachers, the knowledge, the learning, the constant flow of engaging conversations. Who I was 3 Continue Reading »

Week of Majesty

Posted on May 29, 2012 by AdAm Mayer

Originally posted to my blog last week before Shavuot: This week was the week of Joyceee It was also the week of Majesty I barbequed, I went to different natural springs, and I danced! I was at a baby naming 🙂 and now we will always be reminded how much of a Blessing Jerusalem is! We Continue Reading »

Shavuot: An Inspiration For Converts

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Ma'ayan Dyer

(x-posted from my blog Lost in Jerusalem: http://lostjlem.blogspot.com/) Now that Shavuot has come to an end (well, for those of us in Israel, anyway), the complete cycle of my first year as a Jew has also drawn to a close. I have been fortunate enough to have my first experiences as a Jew with every one Continue Reading »

Week 35: Other Things I’ve Learned in Israel

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Derek Kwait

(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) I came to Israel wanting to learn Torah, and I have. Thank God, I’ve learned tons of Torah here and am privileged to learn more each day. But now that it’s May and I’m entering into the home stretch of my first year in Israel, I’ve gotten Continue Reading »

Rodef Shalom course

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Dr. J. Golden

I first learned about this wonderful program through the Pardes newsletter.  I was in Brazil at the time and had already missed the first class, but I immediately wrote to see if it would still be possible for me to join the course.  I also invited my M.A. student, Joshua Barer, to enroll in the Continue Reading »

2012 Poland Trip: A Journal Entry from January 16, 2012

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Laura H.

Today we went to Majdanek. I walked around the camp thinking a lot about why I came back to Poland. I had a hard time focusing on what was around me and found myself intellectualizing, rather than feeling things. I pictured much of the imagery from Survival in Auschwitz to try to visualize camp life. Continue Reading »

[Student Profile] Rob Murstein

Posted on April 12, 2012 by David Bogomolny

Rob Murstein comes from a ‘very liturgical’ family; they attend Shabbat services every Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon until havdalah. Rob’s father is a regular Torah reader at shul, his brother studied chazzanut with their cantor, and Rob himself read Torah at shul for the first time when he was six years old; and then again at Continue Reading »

Bible Raps at Pardes

Posted on April 8, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

Before Purim, alum Matt Bar (Year ’07-’08, Fellow ’08-’09) of BIBLE RAPS fame visited us at Pardes (and he stayed for the Purim spiel)! We videotaped him rapping for us during community lunch: We also got to talk with him about why he tries to visit Pardes regularly, and got him to share some thoughts Continue Reading »

Training for Slaughter

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Jacob Siegel

The craziest job interview I’ve ever done happened in December of 2009. On a cold, sleepy morning on a farm in Northwestern Connecticut, I stood in the snow near the henhouse holding buckets. The man running the slaughter passed us chickens in the midst of their last muscle contractions. Later that morning, we plucked and Continue Reading »

[Alumni Post] Meaningful Discovery

Posted on March 14, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

We were browsing through the MASA Israel Blog, and found… At the end of last year (2010-11), alum Carla Farson wrote this: In the spring of 2010 I received a Masa grant to study in the Year Program at Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. By the grace of Masa, I was given the Continue Reading »