Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 21, 2014 by Hannah Joy
From my blog: (I know, I know. I haven’t blogged in months. And my year here will be over in less than three weeks. Unreal.) This past Shabbat was the final Pardes shabbaton. Here are some thoughts I shared at the tisch Friday night. Parshat Bechukotai deals with blessings and curses. It opens with the Continue Reading »
Posted on May 1, 2014 by Elana Shilling
The omer is my least favourite time of year. Partly because of how all the clean-cut men in the world suddenly become scraggly and foreign looking and also partly because of the mournful tone of the month. Mostly however, the omer is a terrible time of year for me because of the sheer amount of Continue Reading »
Posted on May 17, 2013 by Tani Cohen-Fraade
In Rabbi Meir Schewiger’s Parashat ha-Shavuah (weekly Torah Portion) class, while learning Sefer Shemot (Book of Exodus), we spoke about the desert as a place where one goes to prepare for Torah study. When B’nei Yisrael (Children of Israel) leave Egypt, they flee through the desert and are on the run until they get to Yam Suf (Red Continue Reading »
Posted on May 12, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Sarah Margles (Year ’02, PEP ’04) reflects upon preparing for Shavuot… what does “readiness” mean? I remember when I first started at Pardes, I would spend much of Fridays getting ready for Shabbat – shopping, cooking, cleaning. When the siren went to light candles, my roommate would inevitably yell out, while running from the bathroom Continue Reading »
Posted on April 27, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
From my blog: i shaved this face and it was actually really difficult. electrical razor, you are not my friend. Thanks to MASA Israel, I’ve had the chance to confirm for myself, in excruciating and extensive detail that Israel is a pretty small country. Like, really small. Usually we mean that the landmass of Israel Continue Reading »
Posted on April 18, 2013 by Avi Spodek
Over these past few weeks I have been reading Steven R. Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People as part of my coursework in Jewish educational leadership. Covey’s message and delivery are inspiring, and I highly recommend to this book to anyone and everyone. Its main premise is that leaders are most effective when Continue Reading »
Posted on April 8, 2013 by Jeff Amshalem
From my blog: Excerpts from R. Ze’ev Wolf of Zhitomir’s teachings on Counting the Omer, from Or haMeir. וּסְפַרְתֶּם לָכֶם מִמָּחֳרַת הַשַּׁבָּת מִיּוֹם הֲבִיאֲכֶם אֶת עֹמֶר הַתְּנוּפָה שֶׁבַע שַׁבָּתוֹת Count for yourselves, from the morrow of the rest day from the day you bring the omer as a wave offering, seven weeks. Leviticus 23:16 The essence of Continue Reading »
Posted on April 27, 2012 by Soffer
Originally posted at my blog: What an exciting time it is in the Jewish calendar! In the span of just three weeks Jews throughout the globe have reaffirmed our freedom with the holiday of Pesah, we have celebrated renewal Rosh Hodesh Iyar, and we danced through the streets of Yerushalayim on Yom Haaztmaut, as we Continue Reading »
Posted on May 5, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, I’d like to start today’s dvar Torah with a bit of a provocative riddle: What do a prostitute, Shabbat and a nazir (religious ascetic or monk) have in common? [I knew that would get your attention that way….. Now follow along with me and I’ll help you solve the riddle.] This week we Continue Reading »
Posted on April 23, 2011 by Tamara Frankel
Dear Friends, Moadim l’simcha! (This is a special greeting for the interim days-chol hamoed-between the Yom Tov at the beginning and end of Pesach, or Sukkot.) I hope you are all doing well and enjoying the crunchy taste of matzah this Passover. I was fortunate to spend the Seder with my friends and my sister Continue Reading »
