These and Those

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

Tag Archives: faculty / Pardes teachers

Pardes Seminars . . . ‘ Pluralistic, genuine, immersive, non-denominational, spiritual and academic’

Posted on August 25, 2019 by Larry Brooks

This blog piece was written by Larry Brooks, alumnus of the Summer 2019 Pardes Executive Learning Seminar. Pluralistic, genuine, immersive, non-denominational, spiritual and academic? For years I’d heard others describe Pardes this way. Still, I began the 2019 ELS summer program with a healthy dose of New York skepticism. Would the teachers be truly engaging? Continue Reading »

Loving to Learn; Learning to Love

Posted on June 4, 2017 by Celeste Aronoff

This article was originally published in The Times of Israel. I planned to go to Israel for two months. I ended up staying for three years. Because Israel can do that to you so easily. She flirts with you a little, seduces you a little, and before you know it, you’re in love with Israel Continue Reading »

Savor the Questions

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Tara Zafft

This blog was originally posted on the author’s personal blog, at https://tarazafft.com/blog/ I came to Israel with a long list of goals. I wanted to be in Eretz Israel, a land I felt a deep connection to. I wanted to understand the nation, the culture, the politics. I wanted to learn Hebrew, Torah, and Talmud. I Continue Reading »

Dayenu

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 »

We Are All in This Together

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 »

Rabbi Meir Schweiger – An Inspiration to Families Worldwide and His FSU Adventures

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Miriam BenSander

Imagine my family – a Jewish family, a respected family in FSU Moscow in 1983 … When I was an adolescent my parents decided to return to our Jewish roots and begin to observe traditions again – in a time when that was dangerous. They studied for themselves and tried to teach us, their children – Continue Reading »

Shouting Down From the Women’s Balcony, a Latter-Day Yentl Discovers That Prayer is Protest

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Andrea Wiese

This article originally appeared on The Sisterhood blog on the Forward. I have always been adamant that my personal prayer was not a protest or a fight for something. Then a recent interaction with a rabbi — me on the women’s balcony, him down below in the men’s section — made me rethink my stance. Continue Reading »

The Magic of Torah

Posted on June 1, 2016 by Elana Weiner

If I were to be accused of avodah zarah, it would be to name among the mortal world a God of Audre Lorde. Since I first met her words, I have found meaning and comfort in them. One of my favorite quotes of hers aptly describes what I have learned here at Pardes: “Your silence will not protect 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 »

Tea With Sage

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Yaakov Feinberg

After my first month of the Pardes Year-Program, I was on a first-name basis with most of the teachers. Even if I didn’t attend a particular teacher’s shiur, I had either been invited to their house for Rosh Hashanah dinner, or spoken with them during a tiyul, or sat with them at community lunch, so Continue Reading »