Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
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 »
Posted on January 1, 2013 by Derek Kwait
When it came to picking out a college and a major, Mike knew he wanted to work with numbers and that he wanted to do something practical. So he searched and weighed the available data: He looked into economics but found it boring. He looked into physics, but thought it just wasn’t for him, then Continue Reading »
Posted on December 17, 2012 by Adam L Masser
Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, an Orthodox rabbi and the head of the Petah Tikva hesder yeshiva. The prominent Zionist Orthodox rabbi proposed re-evaluation of certain religious frameworks. He is particularly focused on issues where ultra orthodox halachic rulings determine civil law in Israel. In recent remarks, he said it is necessary “to re-examine the framework of Continue Reading »
Posted on November 6, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Cross-posted from Ben Barer‘s (Fall ’10, Fellows ’11-’12) blog: Last year, I posted a short reflection on why I wear a kippah, but there is another major aspect of publicly identifying as Jewish that I would like to fill in now. I believe that, in addition to the freedoms and decrease in antisemitism that have Continue Reading »
Posted on October 17, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
by Ben Barer (Fall 2010, Fellows 2011-12) Cross-posted from his blog. “All Jews are friends” I came across this article recently, and the tenor of the article greatly disturbed me. My friend and fellow Pardes alum did a wonderful job setting the record straight, but I see the underlying problem as requiring more thought as Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Last year was my blogging year. This year is the one where I step aside and help other people blog Pardes. This suits me just fine since this is also the year where I have no time to blog (almost). It occurred to me, however, that if I am to run this blog, then I Continue Reading »
Posted on September 27, 2012 by Kayla Higgins
This essay is cross-posted from The Jewish Daily Forward‘s April 13, 2012 issue. The article including this personal essay in The Forward was a collection of “It Gets Better” posts requested from young queer-identified Jews involved with Nehirim, a national community of LGBT Jews founded in 2004: “Jewish Enough” Kayla Higgins, 22 ‘It gets better” Continue Reading »
Posted on August 3, 2012 by Vicki Raun
Pardes Summer Program students Annabelle Jaffe, almost 91, and Jacqueline Cohen, almost 19, are decades apart in age and live in different parts of the globe. But they both brought to Pardes lifelong involvement with their local Jewish communities and will leave Pardes with renewed commitments to Jewish life in their hometowns. Annabelle Jaffe is Continue Reading »
Posted on May 7, 2012 by Andrea Wiese
At Pardes, all my teachers are orthodox, which means they don’t touch people of the opposite gender. This doesn’t really seem to be an issue, except, I love my teachers! And sometimes, I really want to give them a hug. They are the best!! I can’t explain to you how wonderful they are as people, Continue Reading »
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 »
