These and Those

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

Tag Archives: symbolism / analogy / metaphor

[Alumni/Staff Guest Post] My story of loss, hope and Tu B’Shevat

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Hirsch Fishman

Karen Feuer (Year ’99-’00 and current Pardes staff member) shares her thought about Tu B’Shvat. Seven years ago I underwent induced labor with twins at only 21-weeks into my pregnancy. The pregnancy was no longer safe for me, and this forced, early labor (that sounds nicer than “abortion”) was the result. It was a gut-wrenching Continue Reading »

Two Yerushalmi Poems

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Sarah Marx

This blogpost was originally published on the author’s personal blog, Ramblin’ Maidel. Inspired by Jerusalem, as always, and its characters, and its millennia of liturgical music. The Electrician’s Psalm Unhemmed Creator, spinner of the world, Today beneath Your power lines a man Crouched down, his battered palms burnished like leather, His skin limp with the Continue Reading »

Why Am I a Mohel?

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Hayim Leiter

This blog originally appeared on  Times of Israel One word: money. Well, in truth, that’s where the story began, but where it’s ended up is a different place altogether. When I was on the road to rabbinical school, someone mentioned to me that as a rabbi in the States you have a great deal of Continue Reading »

The Old Lady and the Cave

Posted on December 27, 2015 by Cathy Schechter

There was once a man who was successful in all things. He had a fine wife, a loving family, and a craft for which he was justly famous. But still he was not happy. “I want to know Truth,” he said to his wife. “Then you should seek her,” she replied. So the man put Continue Reading »

The 103 Worlds

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Sarah Marx

At Thursday’s Pardes open mic, I shared a version of the story (midrash? heresy?) below. Tonight, I wasn’t sure whether or not it would be appropriate to post it on the blog — after all, I can hear fireworks and gunshots in the distance, and I feel as though I should be writing about that Continue Reading »

Yom Kippur and Shabbat: Conflict and Compromise

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Binyamin Cohen

This year Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat: the two holiest days in the Jewish calendar at the same time. However, the ethos of Yom Kippur and the ethos of Shabbat are contradictory. How do we negotiate these differences, and how do we find compromise between them? Before we answer those questions, we must first address Continue Reading »

Return – A Poem

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Robbie Grabowitz

I want to return to the past In my mind I see a Golden Age When I was Pure Pristine Like Adam and Eve Before the Fall And in that age, I was blissful and young I could laugh Really laugh! of a light-hearted but deep and Full Belly Laughter.

(PCJE) Ha’azinu/Ten Days of Repentence: “When I find myself in times of trouble, Ha’azinu calls to me…”

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Binyamin Cohen

Night Seder Chevrutas Binyamin Cohen and David Wallach join together to reflect on this week’s parshah. דְּבָרִים לב:א “הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַאֲדַבֵּרָה;  וְתִשְׁמַע הָאָרֶץ, אִמְרֵי-פִי.” “Listen heaven, and I will speak! Earth, hear the words of my mouth.” Ha’azinu is an interesting parsha, both in structure and in language. The parsha is presented in the Torah Continue Reading »

(PCJE) .דע על מה אתה עומד

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Geo Poor

There was a wise man who wanted to deliver a speech, so he thought and he prepared himself and he stepped forward and built a Stage.

[PCJE] Nitzavim, or On Being #9

Posted on September 17, 2014 by Geo Poor

Parshat Nitzavim starts with the children of Israel nitzavim – standing – before God and community, ready to enter into covenant, a covenant with rights and responsibilities, in order to become established as a people. At first glance, this seemed to me like a perfectly logical entrance to a covenant, but then it occurred to Continue Reading »