These and Those

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

Tag Archives: Self / Soul & Text Track

Eating Meditation

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Annie Matan Gilbert

This was post for my Self, Soul and Text class about a practice of eating with awareness and intention (kavannah) Eating slowly with intention to feel every juicy tingle & salty crumb to scrape it across my tongue & lick drops & specks from my lips suck bite down exploding tart pomegranate seeds red, sweet-sour Continue Reading »

Tuesday!

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Eric Feldman

From my blog: After months of putting it off, I finally made it down to Ein Gedi last Friday. I went with some friends from college park, and we left at 4:30 am to drive down to the hike. As we were passing the dead sea on the drive down, I looked out the car Continue Reading »

How to Write a Blog Post*

Posted on October 16, 2012 by Derek Kwait

Last year was my blogging year. This year is the one where I step aside and help other people blog Pardes. This suits me just fine since this is also the year where I have no time to blog (almost). It occurred to me, however, that if I am to run this blog, then I Continue Reading »

Lost in the Rhythm

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Andrew Lustig

Originally posted on the Masa Blog:   I came to Israel – to the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies – 10 months ago, so that I could study and become familiar with Jewish text. I wanted very much to live a ‘Jewish life.’ I just didn’t know what that entailed or meant.   Judaism, for Continue Reading »

Week 36: From Silence to Song

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Derek Kwait

(Mostly X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) The weekend before last was the retreat Shabbaton for Self, Soul, and Text class at Kibbutz Hanaton, our teacher James’ home, in the Galil. The schedules Friday and Saturday were nearly identical, each day going like: 9-9:45: Sit. 9:45-10:30: Walk. 10:30-11:15: Sit. 11:15-12:30: Lunch. 12:30-1:15-Sit. It Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Mindful Eating II

Posted on May 3, 2012 by David Bogomolny

This is an additional thought I had about ‘mindful eating’. I’ve been running my tongue along whatever food items I’ve been using during my practices, pausing to enjoy their shapes and textures, and I’ve noticed that my mouth automatically reacts to food by filling with saliva and pushing the bits with my tongue against the Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Dancing as a Spiritual Exercise

Posted on April 30, 2012 by David Bogomolny

The dancing activity brought up some interesting issues for me, which I haven’t entirely sorted through. I was dancing alone in a corner for the duration of three dances, and I felt very free to move about as I wanted to. I had my eyes closed for much of the time, and I was focused Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Practice of Visualizing G-d

Posted on April 23, 2012 by David Bogomolny

The practice of visualizing Hashem is not very powerful for me; I strongly prefer to have no image of the Divine. When I focused upon visualizing a particular character trait, I saw an image of a woman that I have romantic feelings for. I believe this has something to do with being motivated to be Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Tahanun Practice

Posted on April 17, 2012 by David Bogomolny

The Tachanun practice that we learned in class has shaped my daily davening. It took my a few minutes in class to take the practice seriously – to really relate to the idea of being dead, rather than just playing dead – but after a while, I was able to see my mat as a Continue Reading »

[Self / Soul & Text] Desire Exercise

Posted on April 10, 2012 by David Bogomolny

The ‘desire’ exercise was, at first, relatively comfortable, illuminating and affirming for me. I came to the conclusion that my ‘deepest’ desire to be accepted as myself (both by myself and by others). Having thought about this further, I think this desire ties into a defining feeling I live with, which I call ‘existential loneliness’ Continue Reading »