These and Those

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

Tag Archives: personal growth / transformation

Rivka Glick: Take 5

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Rivka Glick

Hi–I’m Rivka from Chicago. Because I’m leaving Pardes in two weeks, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank my teachers, my fellow students, and the Pardes personnel, all who have been my teachers (Joanne taught me how to wrap my head). One of my friends in Chicago said, “education is relationship.” “Yeah,” I said. “A Continue Reading »

The Loneliness of Not Knowing

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Celeste Aronoff

This blog has been cross-posted from the blogs on The Times of Israel. The hardest part about making aliyah so far (and I know it can get a lot harder) is that I’m used to being a really, really competent adult. And suddenly, I’m not. All the cultural competency I’ve amassed, all the nuances and subtleties Continue Reading »

Germany 2016: Learning and Growing

Posted on February 21, 2016 by Erin Rose Wallach

During my first day of Midrash class this semester, I sat nervously after being presented with a source sheet written entirely in Hebrew. I had reservations about joining such a high level class that provided no sources translated into English, especially considering my perceived lack of knowledge and skills with the subject matter. Our teacher Continue Reading »

Searching for God Between Science and Faith

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Dan Pelberg

Over the past 18 months I have been living a more religiously Jewish life. At the same time, I have constantly confronted the question of whether or not I am going in the direction of a life that I believe to be true, and that will ultimately make me happy. There has yet to be Continue Reading »

Yom Iyun shel Chesed 2016: Adopt a Savta

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Nathaniel Jhirad

For my volunteering project at Pardes, I participate in the Adopt-a-Savta program. This means, that for several hours a week, I visit my adopted Israeli Savta (grandmother). A few weeks ago, Savta celebrated her 90th birthday. To paraphrase Savta, it was really others who wanted to celebrate her birthday. The celebrations included a few small Continue Reading »

The Old Lady and the Cave

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Cathy Schechter

There was once a man who was successful in all things. He had a fine wife, a loving family, and a craft for which he was justly famous. But still he was not happy. “I want to know Truth,” he said to his wife. “Then you should seek her,” she replied. So the man put Continue Reading »

Finding Our Voice in Times of Conflict

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Rachel Cohn

I wrote the following reflection after returning from my second trip with Encounter, an organization that brings Jewish leaders to meet with and hear from Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The goal of these trips is not to find political solutions or to dispute each other’s narratives, but rather to encounter voices Continue Reading »

Parshat Toldot

Posted on November 13, 2015 by David Wallach

Do you remember a moment that changed your entire life? I’m sure you remember the event, but do you remember the exact moment that everything changed? Our Parsha this week, Toldot, could very well be an episode of a soap opera. It has drama, deception, heartbreak, family – everything needed to pull you in so Continue Reading »

Start Somewhere: Parshat Bereishit 5776

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Hannah Joy

(Cross-posted from Hannah Elovitz’s blog Finding Joy in Jerusalem: http://joyinjlem.blogspot.co.il/2015/10/start-somewhere-parshat-bereishit-5776.html) Good Yuntiv. Just kidding. Good Shabbos. This time of year always feels like endless new beginnings to me. For those of us connected to the academic calendar in some way, it’s the start of a new school year. Perhaps for some of us the start Continue Reading »

Pardes Turkey 2015 Day 2: Making a Positive Impact

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Loren Berman

Today brought me back to my days as a Nitzanim (4th/5th grade) counselor at Camp Ramah in California. I am not the only one on our trip with youth group leadership experience, so I am sure others felt similarly. We did our best to bring lots of energy to the young Turkish students in order Continue Reading »