These and Those

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

Tag Archives: prayer / tefillah / davening

Prayer for Comfort

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert

Thanks to Joseph Shamash for leading an inspiring Creative Shacharit this morning! We spent time practicing the Desire meditation from James Jacobson-Maisels’ Self, Soul and Text class, then were given paper and pens and markers to express what came up for us in the form of a drawing or a prayer, etc. Here is what Continue Reading »

What is a prayer? [pt. 2 in a series]

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) At Pardes, it is easy to look at our faculty and see inhumanly perfect beings. This is an unfair assessment. Don’t tell Rabbi Eliezer I said this, but sometimes kavod rabbeinu (respect for our teachers) can go too far in making it impossible to see something of ourselves in Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Through the Silence

Posted on December 24, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

Daniel Shibley (Fellows ’12) writes about his recent Motza”Sh musings: Moments after the departure of Shabbat this week, I walked slowly, even delicately, in the direction of my yeshiva dorm almost as if I did not want to make any noise that would shatter the lingering quiet of Shabbat. Having just said ma’ariv (evening service), I knew Continue Reading »

What is a prayer? [pt. 1 in a series]

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) Pardes was rocked by a shiur clalli (public class) about prayer in the Jewish world, particularly as experienced by three of our teachers: Rahel Berkovits, James Jacobson-Maisels, and Meir Schweiger. It was certainly an honor to see these teachers of ours open themselves up and expose the real humans inside! Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] Fire over T’Fillah

Posted on December 14, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

Daniel Shibley (Year ’11, Fellows ’12) started a new blog! Here’s one of his posts, from Dec. 11: Although we are now a few weeks removed from the tense days of war that came to define the month of November, the exact moment of the first siren has remained with me, a quasi-trauma, a frozen Continue Reading »

Kavuah T’filah

Posted on December 5, 2012 by David Bogomolny

Fixed prayer is a salient element of halakha (Jewish law). Jews committed to halakha pray 3x every day (morning, afternoon, evening), and for many it is challenging to find meaning in the mandated, daily recitation of standardized liturgy. A couple of years ago, I took a class that explored various spiritual practices in Hasidic and Continue Reading »

Gaza, the Negev, and…Australia?

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Eric Feldman

Originally posted on my blog: Hey, I’ve certainly been keeping busy over the past few weeks but I’ll hone in on this most recent week since a lot has been going on recently. The first thing I’d like to say is that, although from the media explosion through internet and TV it may seem like Continue Reading »

Narrow Bridge

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Lauren Schuchart

Originally posted on my blog: “You’re worried? You don’t need to be worried. The rockets can’t reach Jerusalem,” they said. “You don’t feel safe in Tel-Aviv? Come stay with us for Shabbat,” we said. “No, Mom, I’m fine. Jerusalem is out of the range of the rockets. Don’t worry,” I said. Yesterday was Friday. I Continue Reading »

[PCJE Dvar Torah] Lauren Schuchart — Chayei Sarah: The Power of Prayer

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Lauren Schuchart

This week’s Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, is chock-full of fascinating narrative. We’ve got the death (and life?) of Sarah, the purchase of the burial plot in Hevron, Rebekah by the well in what is the first shidduch (matchmaker) arrangement in the Torah, and of course, the burial of Abraham by his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. With all Continue Reading »

Setting My Goals For The Year

Posted on October 27, 2012 by Aliza Geller

Originally posted on http://pomegranatesandpapercranes.blogspot.co.il/: During orientation for the program I am in at Pardes (part of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators), we were challenged to set goals for ourselves for the year. I was a bit apprehensive about doing this at first, and put it off until now for the following reasons. The first Continue Reading »