Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 15, 2020 by Debra Weiner-Solomont
This post was written by Debra Weiner-Solomont, MSW, Coordinator, Pardes Community Education Program. To learn more about the program please visit https://www.pardes.org.il/ce The last portion of the Torah – זאת הברכה has the verse which we recite each morning, as part of the morning brachot. It is also the first verse we teach our children Continue Reading »
Posted on July 31, 2018 by Aviva Turner
“But why are we here? And why can’t we be kinder and more tolerant of each other, other Jews, but also non-Jews?” Those were the questions my favorite havruta (study partner) kept asking through our three weeks together. I can’t say I had any answers, but the opportunity to pose these questions and others like Continue Reading »
Posted on August 14, 2016 by Pessy Baskin
This post was delivered at our farewell community lunch for the August 2016 summer students. As many of you already know, I came to Pardes to learn Torah in honor of the anniversary of my father’s passing. I want to thank all my chavrutot, who so graciously agreed to learn as an aliyah for his neshama. One Continue Reading »
Posted on August 11, 2016 by Erika Davis
This was originally posted on the author’s blog, Black, Gay and Jewish: A gay black woman’s discovery of her Jewish self. I’m not sure if it’s purposeful, but after two weeks of study it’s nice to see ways in which the classes that I’m taking overlap with one another. Scribal Arts, a sort of elective, Continue Reading »
Posted on August 10, 2016 by Lucas Espinosa Menendez
I don’t need for now to go and see the other side of the wall. Not of this wall that we hold sacred, both as a holy place and as a memorial, that is full of grass, bushes and roots sprouting freely, where birds nest and sing. I am talking about that “other wall,” the Continue Reading »
Posted on August 9, 2016 by Estella Gabay
Before I got on the plane to Israel, I had many doubts. It wasn’t my first time in Israel, but my purpose was different from my previous visits. I was hesitant this time, overwhelmed. I am from Istanbul. I am Jewish, living in a Muslim community. Am I living a Jewish life? I ask that question to Continue Reading »
Posted on August 7, 2016 by George Altshuler
My father is Jewish, but my mother isn’t. A literal reading of halakha, or Jewish law, would suggest that I’m not Jewish. But my mother and father made a decision before I was born to raise my sister and I as Jews. I had a bris and a bar mitzvah, attended Hebrew School and confirmation classes, Continue Reading »
Posted on August 7, 2016 by Yuliya Mazur
This blog has been cross-posted from this link. Here at Pardes I like all of my teachers. Otherwise I wouldn’t have taken their classes, right? But a person whose class and relationship with I treasure the most, is definitely Yaffa Epstein. Yaffa is the reason I am coming to Pardes for the second year and Continue Reading »
Posted on July 20, 2016 by Dave Benger
I’ve found that every student at Pardes has a unique backstory, and layer upon layer of reasons for what brought them to this place at this time, each story more intriguing than the last. For me, this summer at Pardes could not have come at a better time. This past year brought some radical transformation Continue Reading »
Posted on November 4, 2015 by Melinda Jones
If I told you I was going to study in a Yeshiva or a Seminary – or even that I was going to study Talmud – you would immediately make assumptions about the learning environment. First, it would be divided upon strict gender lines. Then there would be a dress code – at least the women would be Continue Reading »
