Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 4, 2014 by Arlene Harel
by Arlene Harel (Year ’85), staff member since ’03 Most people think that on Purim we get dressed up in costumes. But it’s really not that way. All year long we wear masks. On Rosh Hodesh Adar, the Pardes “staff ladies” decided to take off their masks, and become “real”. What you are seeing here Continue Reading »
Posted on February 17, 2014 by Max Einsohn
Have you ever wondered what Moses would have said to Pharaoh, as he led the Israelite people out of Egypt? Last week, in our Chumash class, our teacher Rabbi Levi Cooper challenged us to reflect in writing on some of the “big picture” questions that arise from our Exodus story. During class, a few of Continue Reading »
Posted on January 28, 2014 by Hirsch Fishman
Aaron Voldman (Fall ’12, Elul ’13) is still taking classes at Pardes, as a Dorot Fellow. He recently wrote this poem- Over the din Of traffic A flute sounds Signaling the start of class To the melody of “Tov lhodot Lashem:” “It is good to praise Hashem To declare in the morning his kindness And Continue Reading »
Posted on January 9, 2014 by Max Einsohn
Two years ago I had the pleasure of learning Talmud in my hometown of Dallas, Texas (yes there are Jews in Texas) in the stale social hall of my childhood congregation Temple Emanu-El. Led by Rabbi David Stern, our weekly 7:30 am Talmud class met, eager to engage with this mystifying Jewish source. The pages Continue Reading »
Posted on November 25, 2013 by Max Einsohn
G0D by Max Jared November 2013 Many Jews today struggle with the concept of “God.” Some even squirm at the thought of approaching this subject in their life. That’s why, when I walked into my Self, Soul, and Text class during the first few weeks, I was taken aback by the comfort at which the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 5, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Matt Rissien (Year ’08) shares his new Hanukkah RAP:
Posted on October 10, 2013 by AdAm Mayer
So many of us are Searching – see ourselves somewhere along our Jewish Journey. This post-modern cultural phenomenon with which we are all too familiar, I would argue, is not a modern ‘phenomenon’, rather began in ~1948 (~1813 B.C.E.) with Avraham. Or to put it another way, Avraham was the first to successfully share his Continue Reading »
Posted on October 7, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
(From the Pardes Opening Shabbaton): When I was a junior in college, I had to take a semester off from school. The reason? Stomach problems. I felt sick all of the time, I was gradually losing weight, and had lost all hope that the symptoms would ever abate. For an over-achiever like me, the decision Continue Reading »
Posted on September 30, 2013 by Candace Mittel
About Jerusalem Medley Adam I want to be a creator. To do my own stuff. Write songs, write music. Ever since I was like fifteen years old I wanted to do this. I started listening to music that influenced to me in a different way, a more powerful way than before. Before, okay, music was something. Continue Reading »
Posted on September 23, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
This Shabbat we were at lunch in the sukkah of a friend, Shmulik, whose life story reads like Israel’s. Both his parents were survivors of Auschwitz. After two years in a DP camp they tried to come to Eretz Israel on the famous SS Exodus 1947. They were stopped by the British and sent back Continue Reading »