These and Those

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

Tag Archives: the future

[Guest Post] Why (not) Pardes?

Posted on April 28, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Melissa Gutierrez posted this at Redefining Rebbetzin… Next year, she’ll be a Fellow at Pardes, along with her husband Dustin! Pardes Logo – Post by Melissa Since moving to Israel nearly nine months ago, I cannot count the number of times I have had the following conversation with people I meet once it has been Continue Reading »

Pressure, Poetry, Potpourri

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

From my blog: I really need to write a blog post right now, but I must first overcome many obstacles. The above statement has two parts. I should know what they’re called because I was an English major, but thankfully, I managed to receive my degree without taking a single grammar class. So, there might Continue Reading »

Group 15, or why the Masa Israel Leadership worked out

Posted on March 31, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg

[x-posted to bensongoldberg.com] A couple of weeks ago, I snuck out of Pardes, and instead of learning Torah, I learnt community organizing, best practices, and how to laugh again. It was fun, it was a refresher, and I made some amazing friends. Here’s what I took away from it: “Honestly, you were just a bunch Continue Reading »

Dr. Micah Goodman: “What the Israeli elections teach us about Israeli society”

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Ruthi Wicks

Just a couple weeks ago, Dr. Micah Goodman of the Ein Prat Academy visited us at Pardes to address the student body at shiur clali. His insights into Israeli society were stimulating and refreshing. His analysis, based on the election results, that Israeli society is moving towards Jewish pluralism and openness was inspiring and very Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] On Pardes and Faith

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Aaron Voldman

I miss Pardes so much. As I shared with my classmates and teachers before departing, it was a dream to learn in Israel and my experience at Pardes turned out so much better than I ever anticipated! I feel very grateful to my classmates for sharing your insights in class, and for in havruta study Continue Reading »

[Alumni Guest Post] D’var Torah: Parashat Vayakel-Pikudei

Posted on March 8, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media

Daniel Shibley (Year ’11, Fellows ’12) blogs honestly and openly about his thoughts on being drafted into the Israeli Defense Forces after making Aliyah: Israel Flag (Photo credit: Felix_V) Sacrifice. Building of the Mishkan takes center stage in the parasha this week. Moshe asks the Israelites to give to the construction project, to sacrifice some Continue Reading »

The Big Fat “R”

Posted on March 6, 2013 by Naomi Bilmes

From my blog: I am presently having an odd experience of disconnect. The premise is this: Bad things keep happening to me. In the grand scheme of life, they are not terrible things: no death, no serious illness, no natural disasters. But sometimes the little things seem even more powerful, especially in a world of Continue Reading »

do not make your self afraid at all, the world is a very narrow bridge

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Shoshana Rosen

From my blog: The important thing to remember is to not make yourself afraid at all Somehow this song, always comes back to me. In times that i least expect it…. I first came across this song at Jewish sleep away camp, singing it on the top top of my little lungs Kol Ha’olam kuloGesher Continue Reading »

Song of Clarity

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Eric Feldman

From my blog: In this weeks parsha, Beshalach, one of the most famous events in all of the Tanakh occurs when God splits the Red Sea through the staff of Moses, allowing the Israelites to finally escape the centuries-long enslavement in Egypt and become a free people. The result of their freedom is that the Continue Reading »

Lost (and Found) in Jerusalem

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Ma'ayan Dyer

From my blog: After seven months in the States, living a solitary Jewish lifestyle (meaning, an incredibly hollow one, sans community), day after day of ten hour shifts of packing candy on assembly lines, sitting on my tuchus in a call center selling fruit baskets and truffles to rich elderly folks, and waitressing a few Continue Reading »