Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Derek Kwait
Hannah Grossman is an explorer. Her Jewish journey has taken her from the farthest ends of the earth to the deepest corners of her psyche. Yet the further she has traveled from her native New Jersey, the closer she has come to finally finding her Jewish home. Hannah grew up in West Orange, NJ to Continue Reading »
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Lauren Schuchart
In this week’s Torah portion, we move from the exciting and relatable narrative in the books of Bereshit (Genesis) and Shmot (Exodus), into the legalistic and methodical book of Vayikra (Leviticus). In the first Torah portion, God tells Moses how the Children of Israel should go about establishing a holy community, a “kingdom of priests.” Continue Reading »
Posted on March 14, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
I presented this in Fred Worms’ (z”l) memory at today’s Pardes community lunch When I first started learning about Mr. Worms I felt an instant connection because of his love of sports. I love sports and playing sports, as well. In a speech that Mr. Worms gave when he stepped down from being the Honorary Continue Reading »
Posted on March 6, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
Our double Parsha – Vayakhel-Pekudei is focused on building the Mishkan or Tabernacle. And as we know, God calls on Betzelel to build it. There are two contradicting Midrashim around Betzelel and the order in which he builds the Tabernacle (Mishkan משכן), the Ark (Aron ארון), and the vessels (כלים the keilim). In Shemot Rabba Continue Reading »
Posted on March 4, 2013 by Laura Marder
How do I explain how student teaching has been so far? I can offer some emotions that I have been feeling.. excited, nervous, overwhelmed, accomplished, confused, frustrated, proud, awe, happy, tired, welcomed… I supposed this just makes you all picture me a crazy roller coaster of emotions! I will try to be a bit more Continue Reading »
Posted on March 4, 2013 by Lauren Schuchart
From my blog: It’s been a while since my last post. Apparently, graduate school essays are a bit of a time-suck. In any case, here are some pictures from my school’s trip to the Arava in January. We went all the way to Eilat in the southern tip of Israel for a few days of Continue Reading »
Posted on February 28, 2013 by Heather Kantrowitz
Parshat Ki Tissa contains a myriad of events, most notably, the incident of the Golden Calf. When Moses descends Mount Sinai after 40 days and nights in preparation for receiving the 10 Commandments, he discovers the people dancing around this molten calf. He then “hurled the tablets from his hand and shattered them at the Continue Reading »
Posted on February 26, 2013 by Laura Marder
It has been a little over a month since my stem cell donation with Gift of Life. During my donation and this past month I have had a really hard time showing and even personally feeling my emotions. It is like I put up a block. Some of you have seen me those few times Continue Reading »
Posted on February 23, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Stef (Year ’07, PEP ’07-’09) and Matt (Year ’07) celebrate Purim in Haifa! Purim is here! Which means lots of dressing up in costumes. In many cultures there seems to be at least one calendar day dedicated to dressing up in costumes: Holloween, Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, Carnival in Brazil, and Purim here Continue Reading »
Posted on February 22, 2013 by Aliza Geller
This weekend, Parashat Tetzaveh, Shabbat Zachor is my Bat Mitzvah portion. When I was 12 years old, I wrote a dvar Torah about the maftir and haftarah. The reason this made sense, is that Shabbat Zachor is one of four Shabbatot where the maftir aliyah is from a different place in the Torah. In this Continue Reading »
