Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on September 9, 2014 by Sarah Marx
For a place so much associated with desert and stone and sun, Jerusalem is full of blue. My morning walk to school is painted blue, in both broad and slender strokes: the giant turquoise sky, or the thin stripes of the Israeli flag, or the joyful cerulean paint on someone’s shutters or garden fence. Even Continue Reading »
Posted on January 23, 2014 by Emet Ozar
From our blog: How many times have I been asked “ben o bat?” (boy or girl) in Israel? How many times have I been stopped trying to enter the women’s side of the Kotel? Maybe I should explain first off that I’m genderqueer. I have a female body, but don’t identify with femininity at all. Continue Reading »
Posted on June 13, 2013 by Andrea Wiese
From my blog: The sunset this evening brought an end to my thirty days of wearing tzitzit. Like any Jewish ritual/mitzvah that I have taken on, I started out by “trying it out.” So I thought this was a good approach to wearing tzitzit also. Thirty days, why not? They say that is how long Continue Reading »
Posted on June 2, 2013 by David Bogomolny
Here is the reflection I shared at Community Lunch last week- One of the many things that I tell people when discussing Pardes is that I wanted to study here before I ever knew that Pardes existed. As a college student I started wearing a kippah publicly before I had any idea what halakha was Continue Reading »
Posted on May 30, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
This week, Rav Meir Schweiger discusses Parashat Shlach in “The Sin of the Spies, the Sin of Adam and Eve.” shlach ’73 Shabbat shalom!
Posted on May 30, 2013 by Stu Jacobs
All the way back in December, I shared some insights on Parshat Vayigash, a parsha I mentioned as near and dear to my heart, as it is my bar mitzvah parsha. This week’s parsha, Parshat Sh’lach, is also very dear to me, as it is the parsha of our daughter, Elinoa’s, birth. I’d like to Continue Reading »
Posted on May 27, 2013 by David Bogomolny
I shared this dvar in honor of the Robbin Landes Family @ a 7 Brachot meal for Hannah Robbin Landes & Eitan Gavson: Dear Sheryl, Rav Landes, Isaac, Hannah and Eitan, I am so touched to have the opportunity to address the five of you directly in celebration of Hannah’s & Eitan’s marriage. Thank you. Continue Reading »
Posted on May 4, 2013 by Sam Kaye
I’m leaving for Israel and my father hands me two bags. “Take these with you. The furrier, Shlomo, your great grandmother’s brother-in-law, left them to me. Find out if it’s meaningful for you.” The first is black felt, light to the touch, with a golden Magen David embroidered in cord on its front. The Tallit Continue Reading »
Posted on April 23, 2013 by Avi Benson-Goldberg
From my blog: The thing is, the apparatus of “traditional prayer” are sort of kinky. The thing is, we’re ten men tying ourselves up in leather straps too early in the morning. And we’re enshrouded in these huge sheets, and some people cover their heads and faces and it’s very anonymous even when I know Continue Reading »
Posted on February 11, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Here are two videos made for last year’s Pardes Purim Shpiel. As you can see, the bar has been set pretty high. Can this years class top this? We’ll soon find out…