Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on January 6, 2013 by The Director of Digital Media
Zionism has become a touchy subject for many people in today’s post-modern culture, but here’s a beautiful, articulate piece that describes Pardes alum Alissa Thomas’ (Spring ’11) personal relationship to the concept of Zionism and the modern state of Israel: From alum Alissa Thomas’ Sh’ma Blog: As expected, everyone is thinking, talking, and praying about Continue Reading »
Posted on November 27, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Evan was my first flatmate in Israel; he and I studied at Pardes together, and we had plenty of conversations about our shared Jewish heritage over the course of that year. He had fond childhood memories of his grandfather, a traditional, American shul-going Jew, and recalled the smell and texture of the tallit that he had worn at Continue Reading »
Posted on November 8, 2012 by Derek Kwait
“Oh, so you’ve been here [almost a year/two years]! So are you planning on making aliyah?,” they say, bearing their teeth and gently lifting their eyebrows in anticipation of the upcoming hearty “Mazel tov!” they’re sure to owe me. “No.” “Oh,” this is less an expression than the sound a face makes as it falls. Continue Reading »
Posted on October 17, 2012 by David Bogomolny
Bruce Shaffer was raised in an assimilation-bent household in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Northwest Detroit, fairly typical of what he saw around him. His curiosity for Jewish learning and Jewish text was seeded at his Hebrew school. There was no core of professional Jewish faculty – Bruce’s teachers were mostly Yiddish-speaking European refugees, and Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2012 by Derek Kwait
Last year was my blogging year. This year is the one where I step aside and help other people blog Pardes. This suits me just fine since this is also the year where I have no time to blog (almost). It occurred to me, however, that if I am to run this blog, then I Continue Reading »
Posted on October 16, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
Posted on July 27, 2012 by The Director of Digital Media
This week, Rabbi David Levin-Kruss discusses Parashat Devarim. Click here to listen. Click here to download the accompanying source sheet [PDF]. Shabbat Shalom!
Posted on June 14, 2012 by Jessie Gindea
By Jessie Gindea, PEP ’12 What an evening this is. As I look around this Beit Midrash, surrounded by my brilliant teachers, my esteemed colleagues, and all of the people who have effected my experience in the last two years, it seems only natural to turn to psalms 133, verse 1: “Hiney mah tov umah Continue Reading »
Posted on June 7, 2012 by Barer
Tamar views her Jewish journey as a work in progress, or, as Zvi Hirschfield suggests, that of a Gemara sugiyah. As a child growing up in Los Angeles, she went to Hebrew school three days a week and was ‘that kid’ who loved it. Perhaps Jewish education’s emphasis on modern Hebrew at the time made Continue Reading »
Posted on May 14, 2012 by Derek Kwait
(Mostly X-posted from my home blog, Yinzer in Yerushalayim) The weekend before last was the retreat Shabbaton for Self, Soul, and Text class at Kibbutz Hanaton, our teacher James’ home, in the Galil. The schedules Friday and Saturday were nearly identical, each day going like: 9-9:45: Sit. 9:45-10:30: Walk. 10:30-11:15: Sit. 11:15-12:30: Lunch. 12:30-1:15-Sit. It Continue Reading »
