Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on December 27, 2012 by Jenna King Brill
I gave over this dvar at night seder this week: This week’s parasha is Vayechi, in which, among other things, Jacob dies and we see a scene of apparent reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers. At first, this seems to be an intimate moment in which everyone comes to understand each other, and by the Continue Reading »
Posted on December 18, 2012 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
Walking around Jerusalem by myself fumbling my tongue into the shapes of an ancient language taught me how to live in the modern age. [cross-posted from my blog] I’ve had a hard time telling this. Explaining why I left the United States in the beginning of this spring–just as I started to make headway (are Continue Reading »
Posted on November 26, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
This dvar Torah was written by James Jacobson-Maisels (Pardes Kollel ’01-’03). Today, we know and love James as one of our amazing Pardes faculty, teaching classes such as ‘Self, Soul & Text’, and running our Pardes Spirituality Retreats! One of the great mitzvot, modeled in our recent parshiot by Avraham Avinu, is hakhnasat orchim, the Continue Reading »
Posted on November 22, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Benny Levy (PEP ’07-’09) originally wrote this dvar Torah for the Pardes Educators Alumni Support Project: We celebrated Simchat Torah not long ago. One of the customs of the holiday is to call all children under Bnai Mitzvah age to the Torah in order to include them in the happiness of ending the cycle of Continue Reading »
Posted on November 19, 2012 by Shira Bee
Crossposted from my blog: Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. ~ Rumi But what does it mean to be the soul of a place like Jerusalem? A place where so many people feel most closely connected to their own inner strength and beliefs, and yet stand in direct conflict with one another? One of Continue Reading »
Posted on May 22, 2012 by Barer
I just had the immense privilege of watching Footnote (הערת שוליים) with some fellow Pardesniks followed by a discussion with faculty who have intimate personal knowledge of the culture being described in the film. First, I highly recommend watching the trailer and, if you are even remotely interested, watching the movie before reading what I Continue Reading »
Posted on March 20, 2012 by David Bogomolny
My mother tells me that when I was a child, I would stand on the perimeter of the playground, mouth agape, watching the children play with one another. She’d have to nudge me towards them before I’d move. In retrospect, I think I went through my childhood feeling overwhelmed by sensory and emotional inputs. Every Continue Reading »
Posted on February 21, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Dear G-d, I’m going to write to You now to review our shared experience of the last hour. I preceded my hitbodidut discussion with a quiet meditation in the yard by my apartment. I meditated for twenty five minutes or so, and I was very pleased to find that my alarm signaled the end of Continue Reading »
Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jackie F.
I wrote the below after our tour with Beit Orot. ”Traveling endlessly To see To know To understand Feeling farther from facts Forever dizzy holding multiple narratives presented as truths Forever frustrated without solutions at hand Forever hopeless of finding a win-win Standing on Har HaZatim Sounds of Muslim Call to Prayer Sounds of Christian Continue Reading »
Posted on August 5, 2011 by Barer
From my blog This week we begin the final book of the Torah, Dvarim, which consists mostly of Moshe’s final speech to the Israelites. In this week’s parsha Moshe recounts the sin of the spies. Curiously, though, it has a number of inconsistencies with the original telling: Moshe says this week that the people approached Continue Reading »
