Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on February 6, 2014 by Deborah Renert
As I reflect on Rabbi Daniel Roth’s introduction to “Constructive Conflict ‘for the Sake of Heaven’…” I cannot help but also reflect on the Pew Study, and the Pew Survey program which took place here at Pardes this past December. The Pew Research Center published on October 1st 2013 findings that reflected that the intermarriage Continue Reading »
Posted on January 16, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Sara Brandes (Year ’01, Fellows ’02, Elul ’05) shares her Pardes reflections: I met my friend, teacher and fellow Pardes alumna Rabbi Shawn Fields-Meyer during the summer before I arrived at Pardes, as a participant in the Brandeis Collegiate Institute. Inspired by her teaching and hungry for more, I sought her out. When I told Continue Reading »
Posted on October 17, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Bruce Shaffer was raised in an assimilation-bent household in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Northwest Detroit, fairly typical of what he saw around him. His curiosity for Jewish learning and Jewish text was seeded at his Hebrew school. There was no core of professional Jewish faculty – Bruce’s teachers were mostly Yiddish-speaking European refugees, and Continue Reading »
Posted on May 28, 2012 by Nikki Fig
As many in the Pardes community know, my year at Pardes has been decidedly unique. I originally only intended to stay through Elul, but every month I decided I would stay “for one more month.” My unwillingness to leave led my family and friends in America to conclude that I must be being “brainwashed”. This Continue Reading »
Posted on January 5, 2012 by Barer
by Zach Margulies (Year Program 2010-11): One of the central tenets of liberal Judaism is that we make informed choices. The Reform movement’s mantra of “Choice through Knowledge,” even if often ignored in the Reform movement itself, is still a significant thread that runs through the liberal Jewish world, and which I strongly believe in. Even Continue Reading »
Posted on March 22, 2011 by The Director of Digital Media
Happening RIGHT NOW: Panel of rabbinical students currently studying at Pardes. From Right to Left: Louis Sachs, Conservative, American Jewish University Daniel Shibley, Modern Orthodox, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Scott Roland, Post-Denominational, Hebrew College Ruhi Rubenstein, Reconstructionist, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College Stefan Tiwy, Reform, Hebrew Union College Heena Reiter, Renewal, ALEPH
Posted on March 1, 2011 by David Bogomolny
Samahra (Spring ’11) first found the words to describe her passion for ‘bridging communities’ as a York University student upon receiving the annual ‘Partnership and Outreach’ award from UJA and Hillel of Greater Toronto for activism as Hillel ‘Tzedek’ Chair. After completing her B.A. Honors in theater and B.Ed. in education, Samahra continued to pursue cross-cultural education as the Education and Continue Reading »
Posted on November 25, 2010 by David Bogomolny
Although they both hail from Los Angeles, Kara and David only met in college at UC Santa Barbara. As a child, Kara attended Christian Science church every week with her mother, but she became skeptical about religion as a teenager, and came to identify herself as culturally Jewish. David was raised in the Conservative Jewish movement, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 22, 2009 by Naomi Adland
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the future. “But,” you say “it’s too soon to be thinking about life after Pardes. You have until the end of May.” Trust me. I know. After today, I have one hundred and sixty days left in Jerusalem. That’s plenty of time to figure out what I’m Continue Reading »
