Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 15, 2013 by Candace Mittel
About Jerusalem Medley As a current resident of Jerusalem, I crave to understand the Whats and Whys and Hows behind the faces I pass by every day. What is life really like here? I mean, let’s get down to it. How do you coexist in one of the world’s most disputed and contested over cities? Continue Reading »
Posted on July 21, 2013 by Charlie Carnow
R. Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev said on Shabbat Parashat Hazon, the Shabbat before Tisha B’Av, every Jew is shown a vision of the third Beit HaMikdash from afar. A story is told about a visit of Rabbi Shlomo Carliner, the Rebbe of the Carlin-Stolin, to Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi on Tisha B’Av. Rabbi Shlomo Continue Reading »
Posted on May 27, 2013 by Joseph Shamash
On my second Encounter trip, as we listened to various Palestinian speakers share their personal stories in a conference room in a Bethlehem hotel, I decided to take a stretch in the back of the room. At that point in the day, we had already listened to a number of speakers and I remember thinking Continue Reading »
Posted on May 27, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
Relative to life, Hannah and I are new friends. Even though we knew each other before, we really met at the beginning of this year. I was lucky enough to room with her at the first Shabbaton of the year where I finally got the inside scoop on the engagement. (Eitan really couldn’t provide enough Continue Reading »
Posted on May 11, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: This is the story of a girl. Many girls, actually. This story was born long ago, but a recent confluence of events has compelled me to record it today. The events are as follows (some are more like situations than events): Event 1: I live with two boys. This is a situation. Continue Reading »
Posted on May 4, 2013 by Sam Kaye
I’m leaving for Israel and my father hands me two bags. “Take these with you. The furrier, Shlomo, your great grandmother’s brother-in-law, left them to me. Find out if it’s meaningful for you.” The first is black felt, light to the touch, with a golden Magen David embroidered in cord on its front. The Tallit Continue Reading »
Posted on April 20, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
From my blog: This week, in Israel, has been particularly focused on the costs of establishing an idealist state in a previously inhabited plot of land. I’m not trying to dig too deep into the politics of it; rather I’m interested in the idea of the prices we pay to live where we do. After Continue Reading »
Posted on April 14, 2013 by Tadea Klein
There is a little girl in a photograph A fair-haired, sweet-faced thing Her arms wrapped around the neck of a man with dark, calm eyes and the inquisitive sniffing nose of a true Jew I know that this girl in her red shirt and black velvet dress, whose earliest memory is the sound of shouting, Continue Reading »
Posted on April 13, 2013 by Annie Matan Gilbert
From my blog: The following snippets were written as part of a Storahtelling exercise to help us get to know the characters/voices with which we are teaching Torah. We are working with some verses from Parshat Vayera, Genesis Chapter 21, verses 8-10. In character, we were asked to answer the following questions: My biggest regret Continue Reading »
Posted on April 12, 2013 by Derek Kwait
Never underestimate the impact of one good deed, on the doer at least as much as on the recipient. I went on Birthright through Hillel in late December 2008. During one of our pre-Israel orientation sessions, they told us we would have the opportunity to pack suitcases filled with clothes, shoes, toys, etc.at the JCC Continue Reading »
