Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on June 9, 2014 by Heather Kantrowitz
My PCJE graduation speech: Chazak V’Ematz – Be strong and resolute. These are the words that Yehoshua spoke to Bnei Yisrael upon entering the land of Israel thousands of years ago. Today, I speak these words to my friends and peers as we prepare to enter new territory – the land of teaching. This fall, Continue Reading »
Posted on June 8, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
My PCJE graduation speech: My dvar Torah is based on “threes”…for example, As the third speaker, I have 3 minutes to sum up my three years at Pardes. So let’s not waste any time. Four years ago when I came to Pardes for the first time, I sat in on Tovah Leah’s Personalizing Prayer class. Continue Reading »
Posted on June 6, 2014 by AdAm Mayer
My PCJE graduation speech: Thank you to all of my most amazing and wonderful peers and colleagues. You all have inspired me and taught me so much! Thank you to Judy, Gail, and all the incredible and supportive faculty, mentors and teachers at Pardes! You are true enablers! And Thank you to my wife Chana Continue Reading »
Posted on June 1, 2014 by Sam Stern
From my blog: These past couple of weeks have been full of “reflection time.” Teachers want to meet to discuss how the year went, administration wants you filling out evaluation forms to express your feelings, and every single student seems to have stopped mid-sentence and screamed out, “In 2 weeks, I’ll be in America.” It’s Continue Reading »
Posted on May 29, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
Here are my parting words from the final community lunch of the year: I don’t know if you remember, but at the beginning of the year, we all had meetings with our morning class teachers. Three years ago, my meeting was with Rav Meir… I’m sure you could imagine. Him smiling, his arms crossed, leaning Continue Reading »
Posted on May 18, 2014 by Andrea Wiese
My dvar Torah from the Final 2013-14 Shabbaton: In Leviticus 26:42 (ויקרא כו:מב): וְזָכַרְתִּי, אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יַעֲקוֹב; וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי יִצְחָק וְאַף אֶת-בְּרִיתִי אַבְרָהָם I will remember the brit of Yakov, even the brit of Yitzchak, and even the brit of Avraham. What I want to focus on here is that the text doesn’t just say Avot… it Continue Reading »
Posted on April 28, 2014 by Rory Sullivan
It took me eight years to get back to Pardes. During a Birthright trip my freshman year of college, we sat in the Beit Midrash, the great big room filled with tables of four chairs each and books lining every wall. We studied a text that I don’t remember. What I do remember is liking Continue Reading »
Posted on April 9, 2014 by Carolyn Gerecht
A few weeks ago, an email came across my inbox (and probably yours, too) from David Levin-Kruss. “Ask me about this great opportunity to do Shabbat in Beer Sheva,” read the subject line. “City of Abraham, City of Opportunity.” I read it and figured, “Yeah, why not?” I had never been to Beer Sheva before, Continue Reading »
Posted on April 8, 2014 by Eli Freedman
On Passover night, we ask many questions. Here is one you may have never asked: why did the Egyptians want to subjugate the Israelites into slavery in the first place? What can we learn about ourselves by connecting Torah, the history of its interpretation, and Jewish conflict resolution theory? Welcome to the Pardes Center for Continue Reading »
Posted on April 5, 2014 by Naomi Bilmes
From my blog: (No, not cleaning the kitchen in my underwear. I’m not that much of an exhibitionist. And it wasn’t even my kitchen, so cleaning in my underwear might have been a wee bit inappropriate.) Thank goodness for Passover, the holiday without which most Jews would never clean their kitchens. But in preparation for the holiday that requires Continue Reading »
