Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on July 15, 2020 by Beryl Levinger
This was written by Beryl Levinger who studied at Pardes in the summer of 2008 before joining this summer’s PLS. I love that Judaism is a religion of doing. In practical terms, this means that Jewish learning should help us to grow both spiritually and behaviorally. Unpacking the multiple meanings of a text in beit Continue Reading »
Posted on July 15, 2020 by Michael Conway
This was written by Michael Conway, a participant in the 2020 Summer online Pardes Learning Seminar. Michael lives in Miami Beach, FL. In the fragmented, post-modern world in which most of us live – busily bouncing between responsibilities of jobs and families – Pardes Learning Seminars (PLS) provide a refreshing and renewed connection between ourselves, Continue Reading »
Posted on January 9, 2020 by Rhoda Weisman
This was written by Rhoda Weisman, alumna of the Winter 2019 Pardes Learning Seminar. I love the Oxford English dictionary’s definition of transformation: “a complete change in someone or something.” I am that someone who’s been transformed and the wonderful catalyst was this year’s Pardes Winter Learning Seminar. For those of you reading this post Continue Reading »
Posted on January 8, 2020 by Rabbi Joshua Katzan
This blog was written by Rabbi Joshua Katzan of Los Angeles, alumnus of the Winter 2019 Pardes Learning Seminar and Pardes Year Programs ’90-’92. “Illuminating. Challenging. Grounding. Provocative. The essence of the Pardes Learning Seminar is to practice the art of seeing ideas and Jewish text from various points of view, and to feel more Continue Reading »
Posted on August 25, 2019 by Larry Brooks
This blog piece was written by Larry Brooks, alumnus of the Summer 2019 Pardes Executive Learning Seminar. Pluralistic, genuine, immersive, non-denominational, spiritual and academic? For years I’d heard others describe Pardes this way. Still, I began the 2019 ELS summer program with a healthy dose of New York skepticism. Would the teachers be truly engaging? Continue Reading »
Posted on July 30, 2019 by Devra C. Aarons
This blog piece was written by Devra Aarons, alumna of the Summer 2019 Pardes Executive Learning Seminar. I have vivid childhood memories of sitting in my family’s synagogue on Shabbat, just listening to everyone’s voices coming together during the prayers. Somehow the tune to “Vishamru” always felt big – like a symphony and a call Continue Reading »
Posted on July 15, 2019 by Carole Daman
This blog piece was written by Carole Daman (Year ’73-’74, Spirituality Retreat ’13, ’14, ’15, ’17, ’18, WLS ’08, ’09, ELS ’12, ’13, ’14, ’15, ’16 ’17, ’18, ’19) Every year for the past eight years coming to Jerusalem to learn at the summer Pardes Executive Learning Seminar has been a major highlight and focus Continue Reading »
Posted on January 9, 2019 by Hayim Herring
This post was originally published in the Times of Israel on January 2, 2019. Beginnings often provoke questions about where we find ourselves in life. Even if you attach no spiritual significance to a new secular calendar year, you may still feel a tremor of time shifting as you cross over from the past year, say Continue Reading »
Posted on October 9, 2018 by David Greenspoon
“What is Pardes’s Executive Learning Seminar? For me it is a chance to engage in serious study with amazing learners and teachers, concerned with an application of Jewish wisdom to our larger world, in a setting dedicated with a radical commitment to real pluralism. For me, Pardes is not just The Orchard. It is Gan Continue Reading »
Posted on February 23, 2017 by Linda Adler Hurwitz
by Linda Adler Hurwitz, Baltimore, MD In July 2016, I took five days out of my life to go back to school. I took an intensive dive back into Jewish texts, at Pardes’s Executive Learning Seminar, in anticipation of beginning an important communal leadership role. I felt the need to prepare myself both mentally and Continue Reading »
