Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 31, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
This week’s parsha, Yitro, mentions Moses’ father-in-law (known by seven names in Tanakh.) In Yitro, he swoops in, Jean-Luc Picard style, to teach Moses how to delegate and manage his community more efficiently and then swoops out again. This midrash was written at Pardes in 2009-2010 and tells the story of their meeting and how their Continue Reading »
Posted on January 21, 2013 by Leah Kahn
This recipe has some middle eastern flair but is also a good recipe for spring because it has some detoxifying ingredients, especially in the greens. There is also a great deal of fiber in the beans and red rice, and if you are sick of tahini, this recipe offers a new spin on the middle Continue Reading »
Posted on January 5, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
From my blog: This past week, I taught my first Peer Teaching lesson at Pardes. It was a chanting workshop on the personal experience of Yetziat Mitzrayim. Often, when I lead chanting workshops, I offer kavannot once the group is lost in the chant. Words of yearning or blessing that float about the sounds of Continue Reading »
Posted on January 5, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
From my blog: It seems silly to me now, but I have resisted writing a blog because I couldn’t fathom writing prose with enough frequency to make it viable and I doubted I had anything of use to say. And then… In the past couple of weeks, I wrote some poems. And posted them. And Continue Reading »
Posted on January 2, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
When I was applying for rabbinical school in 2011, I was inspired to write this poem: I’m on a lifelong quest for wholeness. Understanding, of course, that wholeness has broken edges, that every circle is a shard of light that every soul is a piece of God that every shadow is a trick of the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 21, 2012 by Annie Matan Gilbert
This was post for my Self, Soul and Text class about a practice of eating with awareness and intention (kavannah) Eating slowly with intention to feel every juicy tingle & salty crumb to scrape it across my tongue & lick drops & specks from my lips suck bite down exploding tart pomegranate seeds red, sweet-sour Continue Reading »
Posted on October 21, 2012 by Leah Kahn
When I read Relics for the Present, I am quickly enamored with the ancient wisdom of our tradition. Levi Cooper intricately and intelligently interlaces the p’shat of the text together with the interpretations of a variety of commentators, which results in meaningful interpretations that the Talmidei Chachamim may have actually wished to convey to future Continue Reading »
Posted on September 12, 2012 by Annie Matan Gilbert
I am a returning student this year. I was in the Year Program in 2009-2010. My goal that year was to attain the skills I needed to be accepted into rabbinical school. It was an incredible, eye and heart-opening year that changed my life. When I returned to Toronto, I found my besherte and indeed Continue Reading »
Posted on September 8, 2012 by Leah Kahn
In looking back at our Poland Heritage Trip in January, it’s quite difficult to fathom just how much we witnessed in 5 short days. We began with the colorful tapestry of Jewish life that existed in Warsaw and Lublin, which was hardly a foreshadowing of what was to come. We tapped into the spirituality of Continue Reading »
