These and Those

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

Tag Archives: love

the layers come off

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Shoshana Rosen

From my blog: The layers come off Did that grab your attention? Well don’t get too excited, sorry to disappoint. I was bracing my self for that cold shock on my face, but I got off the bus, and the sun hit my face. Oh hello sun! I walked to a coffee shop (duh) and Continue Reading »

a new struggle i didn’t see coming

Posted on January 12, 2013 by Andrea Wiese

From my blog: “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. I know this sounds naive, Continue Reading »

I found my heart calling to the Jerusalem stone

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Shoshana Rosen

From my blog (10/30/13): I shall follow the truths i do know to find direction to the big questions that I do not know the answers to. So here I am, Heneni, I have Been living in Jerusalem for 4 months now. The last month and a half, I have hoped to put those questions Continue Reading »

the moment i knew i would be ok

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Shoshana Rosen

From my blog: the moment i knew i would be ok I walked across the street leaving the bench where I sat to give my feet a rest from my blisters I feel you again, that constant “what the !! are you doing next year?” as we brought the new year an hour prior, it Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Alissa Thomas: ‘It’s More Than a Feeling’: A Reflection on Zionism

Posted on January 6, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Zionism has become a touchy subject for many people in today’s post-modern culture, but here’s a beautiful, articulate piece that describes Pardes alum Alissa Thomas’ (Spring ’11) personal relationship to the concept of Zionism and the modern state of Israel: From alum Alissa Thomas’ Sh’ma Blog: As expected, everyone is thinking, talking, and praying about Continue Reading »

Three Words

Posted on January 6, 2013 by Mary Brett Koplen

A story from my Cowbird: On the sidewalk H squints at the passing buses, trying to read their destinations as they motion quickly towards the places they will go. I pretend to help, but the combination of foreign characters and moving vehicles spins my head. “You’ll learn the language soon,” H says to me smiling. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem: Pulled to a Place

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Shanee Michaelson

During the summer of 2011, I was a recovering attorney who had just completed a year teaching in Jewish early childhood education. I felt a calling towards deepening my own formal Jewish education and learned at Pardes for 3 weeks. I was exposed to the tip of an iceberg of knowledge of every imaginable sort. Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Stu Jacobs — A Special Connection

Posted on December 21, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

Parshat VaYigash has for a long time been a parsha that I have a special connection with. Not only is it my bar mitzvah parsha (20 years ago this year), but it was also the parsha the week following my wedding.  After our wedding in Los Angeles, Aviva and I, who had met in Jerusalem Continue Reading »

My holy tongue

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

Walking around Jerusalem by myself fumbling my tongue into the shapes of an ancient language taught me how to live in the modern age.  [cross-posted from my blog] I’ve had a hard time telling this. Explaining why I left the United States in the beginning of this spring–just as I started to make headway (are Continue Reading »

Not a Hypothetical Situation

Posted on December 14, 2012 by David Bogomolny

We spent last Shabbat with a friend and his partner. He is a Jewish convert who is currently not halakhically observant, but his Jewish identity is very important to him, and his attitude towards Jewish tradition and halakha is very respectful. His partner is a woman whose father is halakhically Jewish, but she is not halakhically Jewish herself. Therefore, she must go through Continue Reading »