These and Those

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

Tag Archives: vulnerability

Guest Post: Tovah Leah Nachmani

Posted on December 28, 2011 by The Director of Digital Media

Many students have been lucky enough to study with Tovah Leah Nachmani – her ‘Personalizing Prayer’ class is a favorite for students seeking to connect to Jewish tradition in a meaningful, personal way, and we appreciate her for being such an incredibly deep listener. Below is a dvar Torah she recently wrote, with a bonus Continue Reading »

מקץ, mikkets

Posted on December 2, 2010 by Avi Strausberg

this week’s parsha, מקץ, finds not only egypt, but the whole world suffering from a severe scarcity of food.  joseph, after prophetically interpreting pharoah’s dreams of the forecoming famine, is put in charge of storing food in preparation for the ominous seven years ahead.  many dualities are contained in this parsha.  in pharoah’s first dream, Continue Reading »

[PEP Student] Dvar Torah: Guard Your Ears!

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Tamara Frankel

Dear Friends, Today, I am inspired to write by two of my dear friends and beloved chevrutot (learning partners): Merissa Nathan Gerson and Dana Adler. Thank you Merissa and Dana! Last week’s parsha, Vayishlach, is filled with a lot of difficult questions and interactions. To name a few: Yaakov wrestles with an angel and is Continue Reading »

חשך

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Jean

When God began to create… darkness was over the surface of the deep… God said ‘Let there be light…’ God separated light from darkness. (Genesis 1:1) Rav Meir suggested that water and darkness are realms of the Divine. They were contracted to make a place where humans could thrive. The darkness is “an entity to Continue Reading »

vayera, וירא

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Eryn

vayera, וירא Huge, life-changing events happen in this week’s parsha.  A city is annihilated, the smoke and ashes of its people filling the land,  an entire people are made barren and then healed by God and, the long-awaited child of Sarah and Avraham, Yitzhak, comes within in seconds of a young death, nearly sacrificed to Continue Reading »

On Imperfection

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Mosheh

I just want to say one thing: I love our tradition. The following is commentary, so buckle in. I love our tradition because of the way it normalizes and honors imperfection – the real, as opposed to idealized, experience of our lives. We will start with examples in Halakhah and then move on to our Continue Reading »