These and Those

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

Tag Archives: Rosh Hodesh / Chodesh

[Alumni Guest Post] D’var Torah: Bereishit

Posted on October 15, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media

Naomi Adland (Yr. Prog. ’09-’10, & former Ass’t Dir. of Recruitment) postedthis: This is the d’var torah I gave last Friday night at Shir HaMa’alot, a minyan here in Brooklyn. If you’ve read other things I’ve written, you might think that some of this sounds familiar – and you would be right, because I completely, unashamedly Continue Reading »

A poem from before

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Annie Matan Gilbert

I am a returning student this year.  I was in the Year Program in 2009-2010.  My goal that year was to attain the skills I needed to be accepted into rabbinical school.  It was an incredible, eye and heart-opening year that changed my life.  When I returned to Toronto, I found my besherte and indeed Continue Reading »

Week 38: Jerusalem in a Week

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Derek Kwait

(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) This week really started last Shabbat afternoon as I sat in a corner of the Tayelet (promenade overlooking the Old City and East Jerusalem) reading the opening chapters of James Carroll’s Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Carroll begins the book by discussing the tension between the two Jerusalems, the earthly Continue Reading »

Experiencing the Omer

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Soffer

Originally posted at my blog: What an exciting time it is in the Jewish calendar! In the span of just three weeks Jews throughout the globe have reaffirmed our freedom with the holiday of Pesah, we have celebrated renewal Rosh Hodesh Iyar, and we danced through the streets of Yerushalayim on Yom Haaztmaut, as we Continue Reading »

Week 25: Topsy-Turvy

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Derek Kwait

(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) There is a Jewish saying that when the month of Adar enters, joy increases, and another that when Adar comes, the world stands on its head. Officially, Rosh Chodesh Adar was Thursday, but the preceding week gave it a running start.   The first day of Women Continue Reading »

Week 13: Something New and Different

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Derek Kwait

(X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) Americans living in Israel typically celebrate Thanksgiving on Friday night for Shabbat dinner, as the old joke goes, there is second day of Yom Tov in the Diaspora. Since the tiyyul made celebrating on Thursday impossible for most of us, my friend Michael (pronounced מיכאל, “Mee-kha-el”) treated Continue Reading »

The Kotel

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Laura H.

My relationship with the Kotel is in constant flux. To be honest, I struggle with connecting to the Kotel a lot, and have done so ever since I first came to Israel when I was 13 years old. Despite this struggle, every time I come to Israel, I make a point of visiting the Kotel. Continue Reading »

Psalm 27: A Personal Reflection II

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Shibley

With the onset of Rosh Hodesh Elul, we will begin the twice daily recitation of Psalm 27, along with the daily blasts of the shofar. Sephardic communities begin the recitation of slichot (liturgical poems for forgiveness), and the gradual ascension from Tisha b’Av to Rosha Hashana increases its gradient. As such, I thought it would Continue Reading »

Women and Walls

Posted on July 10, 2011 by Mary Brett Koplen

Mary Brett Koplen, Pardes Summer learner, shares her Rosh Chodesh experience with Women of the Wall. For more of Mary Brett’s writing or to see her original post, visit her website: Where the Gnome Goes (A Traveling Blog). At 6:15am, I am showered and partially coffeed. I stand on a Jerusalem street corner with my Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] “Root Down and Rise Up”

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, As I sit to write a dvar Torah this week, I find myself overwhelmed with ideas to share. Thank God, I had the privilege of preparing and learning a lot of Torah from my peers this past week, as we (in the Pardes Educators Program) planned a day of text-study and hands-on learning Continue Reading »