These and Those

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

Tag Archives: Pardes Center for Jewish Educators (PCJE)

[PCJE Dvar Torah] To Find Our Ways

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Carolyn Gerecht

Sitting in the Beit Midrash earlier this week, I casually flipped open a Tanakh to begin jotting down some thoughts for this blog post. What’s Parshat Naso all about, anyway? I opened up Bemidbar to find out. And then I realized I was about to write a Dvar Torah about the longest parsha ever. No, Continue Reading »

A Wonder-ful Question

Posted on May 29, 2014 by AdAm Mayer

Here are my parting words from the final community lunch of the year: גּל­ֵעינַי וְאִַבּיָטה­­  נְִפָלאוֹת, ִמתּוָֹר ֶתָך “Roll open my eyes that I might look at wonders from your Torah.” t’hilim 119:18 ­ (Psalms) ­ And aren’t they wonderful! The principle of ­בטל ב60 Imagine you are making a kosher meatloaf. If one small piece of non-kosher ground meat falls into your kosher meatloaf, as long as Continue Reading »

What’s Chumash?

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Andrea Wiese

Here are my parting words from the final community lunch of the year: I don’t know if you remember, but at the beginning of the year, we all had meetings with our morning class teachers. Three years ago, my meeting was with Rav Meir… I’m sure you could imagine. Him smiling, his arms crossed, leaning Continue Reading »

iGemara?

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Tani Cohen-Fraade

From my blog: A question that is a very hot topic right now in Jewish education is about what the role of technology should be in the Jewish classroom. It was once a given that Jewish learning was being done in physical books. Enter the Xerox machine. All of a sudden, we don’t need to Continue Reading »

Masa Hillel Fellowship: Building the Jewish Community’s Leaders

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Lisa Motenko

Originally posted on the Hillel Int’l Blog: This past summer I left Berkeley Hillel, where I was on staff for four amazing years, to head to Israel.  I didn’t grow up in Jewish day school, or have extensive experience in Israel – so my time had come to spend a year immersing myself in Jewish text Continue Reading »

Finding Self in Love & Torah

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Andrea Wiese

My dvar Torah from the Final 2013-14 Shabbaton: In Leviticus 26:42 (ויקרא כו:מב): וְזָכַרְתִּי, אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב; וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם I will remember the brit of Yakov, even the brit of Yitzchak, and even the brit of Avraham. What I want to focus on here is that the text doesn’t just say Avot… it Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] The Chosen Blessings

Posted on May 15, 2014 by Laura Marder

What do we have to do in order to get the beautiful blessings that are promised to us in this week’s parsha? Blessings that really take care of us – our whole selves, emotionally and physically. Blessings that have blossoming effects on our shared land and bring food and joy to our tables. It seems Continue Reading »

A Grey Kotel

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Andrea Wiese

I originally posted this on the Grey Zone Blog: I have felt to be in a Grey Zone before. There have been times that I felt that I didn’t fit in. But last Rosh Chodesh at the Kotel with Women of the Wall may have made me feel to be in the “greyest” zone of Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Now What? Transition Back to Normalcy

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Dita Ribner Cooper

It is no great secret that to be present in Israel during the week of Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut is one of the most emotional, saddening, joyous, and challenging experiences a Jew can have in the present day. In a span of 48 hours, the Jewish people collectively descend into a state of national Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Worst. Math Homework. Ever.

Posted on May 1, 2014 by Elana Shilling

The omer is my least favourite time of year. Partly because of how all the clean-cut men in the world suddenly become scraggly and foreign looking and also partly because of the mournful tone of the month. Mostly however, the omer is a terrible time of year for me because of the sheer amount of Continue Reading »