Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 15, 2013 by Derek Kwait
Hannah Grossman is an explorer. Her Jewish journey has taken her from the farthest ends of the earth to the deepest corners of her psyche. Yet the further she has traveled from her native New Jersey, the closer she has come to finally finding her Jewish home. Hannah grew up in West Orange, NJ to Continue Reading »
Posted on February 11, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: We went to the Kotel (Western Wall) to pray this morning for Rosh Hodesh Adar. It started last night organizing taxis for everyone from Pardes who wanted to go. This morning, I woke up at 5:30…I made the decision to wrap my arm tefillin and wear my coat over it. I wrapped Continue Reading »
Posted on February 8, 2013 by Derek Kwait
The University of Pittsburgh’s Chabad House, run by two of my heroes, R. Shmuel and Sara Weinstein, is one of my favorite places on earth and one that has had an inestimable impact on my identity as a Jew. Once, when in late January 2011 they took a very rare Shabbat away, we students decided Continue Reading »
Posted on February 3, 2013 by David Bogomolny
I can’t speak highly enough of Ben Barer (Fellows ’12), and I am consistently appreciative of his blogging. His recent post on ‘Picking Our Battles’ gave me pause because Ben and I agree on many things, but we’ve chosen different sides of the “Orthodox Community” – he’s chosen to be outside of it, and I’ve Continue Reading »
Posted on January 21, 2013 by David Bogomolny
Sydni Adler (Year ’13) and Ben Gurin (Year ’13) met during the Summer of ’10 in Washington DC, as participants on the Mechon Kaplan program of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Together with their cohort, they took classes on Social Justice and Judaism, and each interned for an NGO; Sydni worked on campaign Continue Reading »
Posted on January 17, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
This week, Rabbi David Levin-Kruss discusses Parashat Bo in Pesach and the First Seder. Bo 5773 Shabbat shalom!
Posted on January 14, 2013 by Derek Kwait
On the Sunday of Chanukah, I went with the Social Justice class to Sderot. You really can’t appreciate what it’s like there until you experience it for yourself. For those who have only heard of Gaza, Sderot is a small working-class city in southern Israel in view of Gaza made up of mostly immigrants. For Continue Reading »
Posted on January 12, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. I know this sounds naive, Continue Reading »
Posted on December 22, 2012 by Adam L Masser
The Torah presents an idealized world in Eretz Yisrael. It describes an agricultural society with certain egalitarian features and a strong ethic of taking care of each other. Everyone has an inherited plot of land, sufficient to support a family. The Israelites are even told by G-d to trust that there will be enough food Continue Reading »
Posted on September 3, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
by Pardes Summer Program 2012 Alumn Jason Kravitz L’takken olam b’malkhut shaddai. Three times a day in our repetition of the Aleinu, we are reminded of the need and responsibility to repair the world. Each of us has our own special memories of the lives we have touched. Six years ago, I was granted one Continue Reading »