Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 6, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
this week’s parshat re’eh teaches a bit of the old mixed with some of the new. the old: don’t worship other gods. this is something pretty fundamental to our covenant with God that we’ve covered several times over in other places of the Torah. however, the bit of the new: don’t worship אלוהים אחרים אשר Continue Reading »
Posted on September 1, 2011 by Barer
This week’s parsha, Shoftim, contains the famous passage extolling justice. “Justice, justice you shall pursue, so that you shall live and inherit the land that Hashem your god has given you.” (16:20, emphasis mine). While this verse is so often quoted as if it contained only the first five words, it is important to note Continue Reading »
Posted on August 20, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Thank God I made it through my first full week in Chicago! Busy with staff training, learning the neighbourhood and tying up loose ends, I’m happy to report that things are starting to fall into place. I’m grateful for all the support in and outside Chicago – you know who you are! This week, Continue Reading »
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
there’s not so much new here in parshat ekev. moshe continues to reiteritate the people’s indebtedness to God and the importance of upholding “ומצותיו ,משפטיו ,חוקותיו: His commandments, laws, and rules” (devarim 8:11). but buried within moshe’s retelling of חטא העגל (sin of the golden calf), an interesting discrepancy arises. here’s the scene: moshe’s just Continue Reading »
Posted on August 18, 2011 by Barer
This week’s parsha continues with a lot of the same themes as the preceding two, including the second paragraph of the Shma which talks about the agricultural importance of keeping the commandments, as if the Israelites fail to do so, the land that they have come to rely on (which is explicitly differentiated from Egypt Continue Reading »
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, This week I was flabbergasted by how much the parsha spoke to my own life. This week I began to trek out to start my new job and life in Chicago. I was anxious about the border control- you know how they can be sometimes…red tape, and all. As I approached the control Continue Reading »
Posted on August 14, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parshat va’etchanan, moshe attempts to perform the greatest magic trick of all time: to convince an entire nation, to truly make them believe, that they were all somewhere where they were not. the ideas of forgetting and remembering dominate this parsha in which once again moshe details all the laws and decrees Continue Reading »
Posted on August 6, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I am writing to you this week from my home in Toronto. It’s hard to believe that July has come and gone and the summer is starting to come to a close. I know none of us want to hear that, but it’s the truth. If you think July flew by, August will Continue Reading »
Posted on August 5, 2011 by Barer
From my blog This week we begin the final book of the Torah, Dvarim, which consists mostly of Moshe’s final speech to the Israelites. In this week’s parsha Moshe recounts the sin of the spies. Curiously, though, it has a number of inconsistencies with the original telling: Moshe says this week that the people approached Continue Reading »
Posted on August 4, 2011 by Avi Strausberg
in this week’s parshat devarim, moshe becomes a master of words. his new-found verbosity is notable given how lacking he was in the words department forty years back. but, a lot has changed both with the jewish people and with moshe. and now, as the people are finally about to enter the promised land, moshe Continue Reading »