Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 22, 2011 by Andrea Wiese
Yesterday we had our second PEP field trip. This one focused on the First Temple Period. The tour guide was great! I was really paying attention the whole time. We first stopped at The City of David and he gave of a lot of wonderful information. We ate lunch in the Jewish Quarter (everyone enjoyed Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog for “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim, 9 September 2011) Sunday was orientation at Pardes. The getting-to-know-you introductions at the beginning made one thing clear straight-away—this is a place of diversity. The students at Pardes range from future Open Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform rabbis, to a dude who’s Continue Reading »
Posted on September 13, 2011 by Derek Kwait
(First published on my blog with “The Jewish Chronicle” of Pittsburgh, Yinzer in Yerushalayim 4 September 2011.) Thank God, everything arrived on time. From getting the Mega Bus in Pittsburgh ($1.50 ticket!) to the planes at JFK and Kiev, I had no problems. By far the best part of the trip though was getting to Continue Reading »
Posted on June 16, 2011 by Zach
I know a lot of my posts have been about how holidays are celebrated in Israel, but I hope you’ll bear with me through one more. I promise, no more! Last week we celebrated Shavu’ot – the “Festival of Weeks” and the forerunner to Christian Pentecost. Like most Jewish holidays, it was originally an agricultural Continue Reading »
Posted on June 6, 2011 by Zach
Earlier this week, I was talking with a friend who works for an American company, and she mentioned that she had a day off. I was confused for a minute, since she works all the time. Then she reminded me that it was Memorial Day in the US. Having just recently witnessed the the big Continue Reading »
Posted on June 4, 2011 by Pious Antic
Yom Yerushalayim, which was observed this week, celebrates the reunification of the old city of Jerusalem under Jewish control in 1967, after 19 years in which the city was divided between Jewish and Arab control. Unsurprisingly, given the historical, political and moral complexity of the events it commemorates, Yom Yerushalayim is not a universally beloved Continue Reading »
Posted on April 2, 2011 by Shibley
Over a week ago, Jerusalem was struck with the blight of terrorism once again. I am not going to spend time or words rehashing the events, as they are no doubt well known by now. However, in the 10 days since the most recent act of terror perpetrated against Israel, we have continued to live Continue Reading »
Posted on December 27, 2010 by Shibley
I along with what I imagine must be many Americans, Jewish and non, have at some point contemplated what Christmas in Israel looks like. Having just experienced it, I can tell you that for the most part it looks like any other day. Since Shabbat and Christmas coincided this year, I can really only say Continue Reading »
Posted on December 15, 2010 by Zach
After the overview of my Chanukkah break, I wanted to go into a bit more depth about one of my day excursions. A good friend of mine, Zak, a Palestinian Christian who owns a shop in the old city, and I were talking, and I mentioned that I wanted to see some of the West Continue Reading »
Posted on December 5, 2010 by Shibley
Cross-posted from my blog: On Friday afternoon, as I was preparing for Shabbat, I found myself in front of a pan of hot oil. No, I was not making latkes or sufganiyot. I was instead whipping up a batch of shnitzel for Shabbat lunch. With the cooking completed, and grease splatters on my shirt ( Continue Reading »