These and Those

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

Tag Archives: Parsha / Parasha

Sarah does Chayei Sarah

Posted on November 11, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: Newsflash, last week was not the week that we read Chayei Sarah. However, it doesn’t mean that I can’t write about it this week! A few weeks ago, Pardes took students on two tiyulim, trips. One tiyul, which I went on, I already wrote about. The other tiyul was to Hebron, a city about an hour Continue Reading »

Just a bunch of stones

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Sam Stern

From my blog: Well, angelfish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself. It was 1:53PM Monday afternoon as I stood outside of Pardes dialing the Jewish Agency. When the call ended 4 minutes later, I felt so distant from this country Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Girl Fight

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Elana Shilling

I don’t really know what happens when two men fight, having never been a man and thus never had a man fight. But alas! After painstaking research via observation of the male species, surveying video clips on the popular site YouTube, and absorbing pop culture, I have managed to create what I believe to be Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Answer to Their Prayers

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Heather Kantrowitz

“Yitzhak pleaded with the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren.” The Torah doesn’t tell us what his prayer consisted of, only that God answered his pleas and Rivka conceived. This led me to wonder what it entailed, especially because his requests were accepted by God. One of the reasons I think Continue Reading »

Hebron: Chayei Sarah Dvar Torah

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Ben Schneider

Based on a Dvar Torah I delivered this Friday night. I was surprised that I was able to connect with prayer at the Cave of Machpelah. By the time we reached the cave on Tuesday, we had been in Hebron for about five hours. We had toured the city, met with the spokesman of the Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] What Would Avraham Say About the Pew Survey?

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Josh Pernick

Yes, that Avraham. The Jewish world has been afire in recent weeks with responses to the new Pew survey on American Jewish life which shows an increasing rate of secularism, intermarriage and the like within the Jewish community. In one of the more inflammatory responses, Gabriel Roth of Slate.com advises American Jews to “embrace your Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Did Abraham Fail his Test?

Posted on October 18, 2013 by Anna Pomson

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son” Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on” God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?” God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but The next time you see me comin’ you better run” Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God Continue Reading »

Social Justice Track|Dvrei Tzedek

Posted on October 15, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

From my blog: You can’t really know me at this point and not know that I spent a summer in Uganda working for the American Jewish World Service or AJWS. If that’s the case, we should talk some more! AJWS is a non-profit organization supported mostly by American Jewry that works to realize human rights and Continue Reading »

And the LORD appeared to whom?

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem

From my blog: From Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev Kedushas Levi, Perushei Aggadot When you say the words of the living God in studying Torah, or engage in the holy work of prayer, you should intend to cleave to the blessed Creator. But you must consider the question, how can a person of flesh and blood cleave Continue Reading »

Go For Yourself

Posted on October 13, 2013 by Hannah Joy

From my blog: This past week’s Torah portion, Lech Lecha, made me think of my own decision to take a year to study in Israel. The first verse reads as follows: וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, לֶךְ-לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ. Vayomer Hashem el-Avram Lech Lecha me’artzecha umimoladetecha umibeit avicha el-ha’aretz asher ar’eka. “And Continue Reading »