Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on April 6, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
R. Joshua Ratner (Pardes Year ’98-’99) is the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in Cheshire, CT. Ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in May 2012, Rabbi Ratner was a Joseph Neubauer Fellow and also earned a Master’s Degree in Midrash and a Certificate in Pastoral Care. He also worked as an attorney for five years Continue Reading »
Posted on April 5, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Whitney Fisch (Year 2008-09) shares a personal challenge of hers, regarding the role of women in Judaism: Whitney Fisch grew up within the Reform movement in Marietta, GA. She started her career in Jewish communal work at the University of Georgia Hillel as the Jewish Student Life Coordinator, which led her to other positions in Continue Reading »
Posted on February 14, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Starting Tuesday, my fellow Pardes Educators will enter a variety of Jewish day school classrooms across the US as part of their student teaching experience. With an eye toward this opportunity, here are a few lessons/ideas from this week’s Torah portion, Parshat Terumah, regarding pedagogy: The parsha opens with an appeal for donations of the Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2013 by Laura Marder
In Parshat Bo we are given the first Mitzvah from G-d. The mitzvah of being aware and sanctifying time with Rosh Chodesh. “This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year”. Bo 11:2 While reading BO I tried to Continue Reading »
Posted on January 7, 2013 by Laurie Franklin
From my blog: It’s been a long, dry spell in this blog, its onset corresponding somewhat ironically with the start of Jerusalem’s rainy season. The rainy season began with a clap of thunder and a few minutes of soft rain. I heard the thunder and didn’t quite believe it. Ran out to the merpeset (balcony) Continue Reading »
Posted on December 5, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Fixed prayer is a salient element of halakha (Jewish law). Jews committed to halakha pray 3x every day (morning, afternoon, evening), and for many it is challenging to find meaning in the mandated, daily recitation of standardized liturgy. A couple of years ago, I took a class that explored various spiritual practices in Hasidic and Continue Reading »
Posted on September 19, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Shabbat shalom. My dvar hangs on the verses from the Parsha, “Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with those that stand here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day,” which means us, and “All Continue Reading »
Posted on September 16, 2012 by Shanee Michaelson
“Atem Nitzavim Hayom Kulchem.” You stand this day, all of you. All of us are standing together today in Jerusalem. From small towns, larger cities, from North America and from Europe. Having grown up in different Jewish denominations, or unaffiliated, whether Ashkenazic or Sephardic, Reform or Orthodox,We have come here together, to this unique country Continue Reading »
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 »
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 »
