Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 24, 2014 by Hirsch Fishman
Evan Wolkenstein (Year ’99, Fellows ’00, PEP ’00-’02) reflects upon the 2014 Pardes ‘Spring Forward’ Retreat for Judaics Teachers (from his blog) I had no business being outside without my arms covered. But Stu and I needed to run. Clearly. That’s what we’ve always done together. Stu packed smarter than I did. He brought a Continue Reading »
Posted on October 13, 2013 by Baruch Tauber
Dear Friends In January, I attended my first meditation retreat at Awakening the Divine. As a beginner to meditation practice, I definitely had my doubts. Sit for hours at a time?! Not talk to anyone?! Really?! Will I have a million emails when I get back? Will I die from boredom? What the hell will Continue Reading »
Posted on June 20, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Lisa Bodziner is currently the special programs and curriculum coordinator at the Pearlstone Center. She received a Bachelor’s degree in comparative religions from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She then lived in Israel for four years, receiving a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from the Pardes Institude and Hebrew College; working at an Ethiopian restaurant Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
From my blog: Thanks to The Velveteen Rabbi for alerting me that http://wordxwordfestival.com/ is having a 30 poems in 30 days contest. (I don’t think there are prizes but they do publish poems on their website, if you submit them.) I have subscribed to http://3030poetry.com/ for the daily prompts and have begun! I can’t guarantee I will write a poem a Continue Reading »
Posted on March 31, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
[x-posted to bensongoldberg.com] A couple of weeks ago, I snuck out of Pardes, and instead of learning Torah, I learnt community organizing, best practices, and how to laugh again. It was fun, it was a refresher, and I made some amazing friends. Here’s what I took away from it: “Honestly, you were just a bunch Continue Reading »
Posted on March 28, 2013 by Stuart Matan Lithwick
Hello! I spent the entirety of last week doing very little but learning so much! Annie and I went on the week-long Jewish meditation retreat, taught by Rabbi James Jacobson-Maisels (think Self, Soul, and Text), and Rabbi Jeff Roth, at Kibbutz Hannaton. Over the entire week, we could not talk to anyone except for participating Continue Reading »
Posted on March 28, 2013 by David Bogomolny
Emly Oren left Israel with her family at the age of four, but in many ways Israel never left her family. At school in Orange County, Emly was the only Israeli student; but her family continued to speak Hebrew at home, and they only watched Israeli television programs. The Orens would travel to Israel every Continue Reading »
Posted on March 25, 2013 by Eric Feldman
From my blog: Imagine spending seven days without your phone, television, or computer. Okay, now add on the incentive of no listening to music, reading, or writing. And now try doing that without speaking or communicating at all. Not just verbal communication; you can’t even look at anyone else. Oh, and one final, small thing Continue Reading »
Posted on January 12, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
By Mira B. Shore (Summer ’09, ’10; Year ’12) As a self-identified progressive, liberal, secular Jew growing up at Jewish Day School, I spent a lot of my time and energy speaking about why prayer and G-d were NOT a part of my life. I actively ran from prayer. Once I had my bat-mitzvah, there Continue Reading »
Posted on December 5, 2012 by Shoshana Rosen
By Shoshana Rosen How do I even begin to put into words, an experience that in its essence has no words? Just recently coming back from a silent meditation shabbaton, up north at Kibbutz Hannaton I realize only how much it impacted me by the stark reality of coming back home. Like many have said Continue Reading »
