These and Those

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

Tag Archives: ethics / morals / values

Judeo-Veganism: Imagine a New World

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Bookie

Cross-posted from PresenTense: Imagine a world without hunger. Imagine a world full of clean air and lush forests. Imagine a world where the words “water shortage” don’t have a ring of truth to them. All of this is possible through changes in lifestyle which are echoed by some of the Jewish values we hold dear. Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] The Torah

Posted on August 6, 2011 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, I am writing to you this week from my home in Toronto. It’s hard to believe that July has come and gone and the summer is starting to come to a close. I know none of us want to hear that, but it’s the truth. If you think July flew by, August will Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] What’s in a Name?

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, As some of you may know, I’m still in Jerusalem and about to complete my final project at Pardes. Although it is a bit bizarre to learn in the Pardes building with many of my friends, colleagues and teachers missing, I have enjoyed studying Torah lishma (for its own/Heaven’s sake) and participating in Continue Reading »

[Take 5] Helena Fantl: Au Revoir!

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Joel D.

The Burden of Submission

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Joel D.

A great Rabbi once spoke of his relationship with the Jewish people and its Law. Of the People he spoke of love, but of Law he spoke of submission. This I found to be gravely unappetizing. For to speak of submission is to speak of burden, not of loving embrace. To recognize Jewish Law as Continue Reading »

Thoughts on T’Shuva

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Pious Antic

What is t’shuvah? The word is often translated as repentance, but that doesn’t quite capture it. T’shuvah comes from a root meaning to return, and it connotes the idea of turning away from sin and returning to one’s true values, to the best version of oneself, as well as the idea of figuratively returning to Continue Reading »

מצרע, metsora

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Avi Strausberg

in this week’s parshat metsora, we continue to delve in-depth into the procedure of ridding a leprous person of his eruptive affections.  after reading pages and pages of how to determine whether a person is unclean and therefore off-limits to society, i was bewildered when i arrived to the conundrum of how to detect a Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] Yom Iyun Shel Chesed 2011

Posted on February 20, 2011 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, What a week of learning, both inside and outside the walls of Pardes! A particular highlight for me was picking oranges for an organization called Leket Israel, which provides for Israeli children who are hungry and/or do not received proper nutrition. This volunteering project was organized by Pardes students in loving memory of Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] Parshat Shmot

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, It’s hard to believe how the winter months are passing and in particular, that the ‘holiday season’ is upon us. In Israel, you don’t really feel that it’s almost Christmas — there are no colourfully decorated trees in front yards, no “Jingle Bells” playing in the mall. Being in a dominantly Jewish society Continue Reading »

[New Voices] A Renaissance Man of Religions

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Barer


This week at Pardes we looked at issues of separatism in Judaism, from the extremely current issue of the letter banning rental of apartments to Arabs to the more theoretical ‘how should Judaism treat those outside of its (exclusive) community?’ We also had a guest speaker talk about how Jews have viewed other religions in previous time periods, specifically how Rabbi Jacob Emden (1697-1776) views Christians in relation to the Jewish community.

The key takeaway from our discussion of the story that took over much of the news during the end of Chanukah was not just that the halachik basis on which the rabbis who signed the letter based their arguments was spurious. More importantly, we must remember that no one has the right to make a claim on behalf of Judaism as a whole. The tradition is too complex, too multifaceted and containing too many values that can be put into tension with each other for there to be a single voice on almost any topic that represents all of Judaism.

Looking more theoretically at the same set of issues, it is clear to me that there is a serious ‘conflict of interests’ for many young North American Jews today being exposed to texts that purport that Jews are somehow special and deserving of recognition for that uniqueness, either by themselves or even by the wider communities in which they live. I have commented previously about my views on Jews being “a light unto the nations.” How one relates to that question says a lot about how one will think that Jews ought to treat non-Jewish populations, both locally and abroad. An more positive way to look at spreading wisdom is that Jews should try their best to improve the world, which hopefully would encourage others to do the same, rather than implying that others do not have as much to offer. The fact is that, for most of us, we will always be part of many overlapping and sometimes contradicting exclusive communities, and that is simply part of the struggle of living in the modern world yet maintaining deep ties to the Jewish community.

Finally, I learned a little bit about the work of Rabbi Jacob Emden for the first time, and was struck by two things. First, the concept of a renaissance man seems like a forgotten ideal for the most part – or just simply impractical given the depth of knowledge that would be required to become an expert in more than one discipline – but I think that it should be reinvigorated when it comes to religion. We lack today religious leaders who are truly well read in religions other than their own. Second, I was intrigued that I, nor anyone else who attended the lecture, had never heard of Rabbi Emden. The Jewish tradition has so many gems, even just talking on a textual basis, which are rarely discussed or studied. But I couldn’t help but wonder if his views on Christians – that they should be respected and thanked for helping to spread ‘morality’ much more effectively than Judaism ever did – have played a role in his not being included in the traditional Jewish ‘canon’ of rabbis and thinkers that the mainstream of Jewish students are exposed to.

Special thanks to Meesh, Rabbi Wayne Allen, and David Bookbinder, for teaching me (and others) about all the topics mentioned in this post.