We believe that the study of Torah engenders a commitment to assisting those in need. The Pardes Community Service program challenges our students with weekly opportunities to help in the areas of hunger, poverty and education, enabling students to see the need for, and the impact of, their efforts.
In addition to volunteering with organizations around Jerusalem, students plan initiatives on their own. Past programs have included recycling, visits and clothing drives for Darfur refugees, helping at soup kitchens, and a Purim carnival for recent young immigrants from Ethiopia.
"The opportunity to give my time and energy to people around Jerusalem has been amongst the most rewarding of my experiences this year. The Hunger Action Coalition has allowed me to help make a difference in people's lives, and apply the ideals I've learned at Pardes to the real world."
Aliza F.
Oregon
University of Judaism
Students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of optional activities, including the Pardes flag football team, different types of religious services, holiday celebrations, a trip to Poland, and visits to historical locations around Jerusalem. Outside of Pardes, students get together for shared social, cultural and political interests.
The Pardes community welcomes visitors. Students may arrange to have parents and friends spend time learning at Pardes, and they are encouraged to sign up for Pardes newsletters and become a fan of the Pardes Facebook page.
"There's nothing like Shabbat evening in Jerusalem - walking home from
shul past house after house of singing families, and arriving at our
own table, where we gather with Pardes friends to talk, sing and eat
late into the night." Alicia R. is from Maryland Barnard College, BA
"Our Rosh Chodesh group has been a fabulous way of bringing women together
outside of the classroom to engage in text study, crafts, discussion, song,
and celebration of the new moon." Rachel K. is from New York
Ithaca College, BA
"The opportunity to give my time and energy to people around Jerusalem has been amongst the most rewarding of my experiences this year. The Hunger Action Coalition has allowed me to help make a difference in people's lives, and apply the ideals I've learned at Pardes to the real world."
Aliza F. is from Oregon
University of Judaism, BA
"Pardes is the only school I know of that provides four different prayer
services - learner's, egalitarian, traditional and women's. The school is
committed to providing for the needs of all its students. It's the only
place I can be a liberal, Jewish woman and feel comfortable studying in a
traditional format."
Elana G.
"In my year at Pardes I have been able to seize the opportunity for
expression in order to help create a model for successful dialogue and
coexistence among diverse groups and ideas."
Rick B. is from New York
Yale University, BA
"As a graduate of an Orthodox yeshiva high school, I have found Pardes to
be a welcome and eye-opening experience. I have met committed Jews from all
movements and affiliations. Being able to discuss our beliefs and share our
experiences over texts, Shabbat meals and hikes through the desert, has been
a tribute to the endless possibilities for Jewish continuity and unity."
Elana L. is from New York
Cornell University
“The Pardes community is a microcosm of what the greater Jewish community ideally could be. All kinds of Jews learn together, share Shabbat meals, and travel the country together. I have experienced more varieties of Jewish life than I ever could have imagined.”
Elijah, Asheville, North Carolina, Fellows Program
"Pardes provides me with a beautiful example of what it is to be a community. The individuals who learn and work at Pardes are among the most caring, thoughtful people I have met. During my time at Pardes, I got engaged and married, and the entire Pardes community rejoiced with me straight up until the day of the wedding. I feel so priveledged and fortunate to be part of such a special place."
Ilana, Pardes Year Program
“Walking into the doors of Pardes is like walking into my own Jewish community. From asking for a recipe to discussing different approaches to issues facing the Jewish community to always having a place for a Shabbat or holiday meal, my fellow students were both a great source of friendship and possessed a mountain of knowledge in which to learn from.”
Aaron, Pardes Year Program
“The meeting of the minds at Pardes is truly exceptional. Jews of all backgrounds are able to learn from one another, sharing dialogue in a safe environment. I left with a new appreciation for the place that each one of us has in Judaism. I feel more certain than ever that everyone has something to contribute and from which to learn.”
Leslie, Pardes Year Program
“When I came to Pardes two years ago, I expected to find the learning stimulating and the teachers open, knowledgeable and passionate about Torah. What I didn't expect was to find classmates and Havrutas who were as dedicated and determined, excited, creative, sincere and "fired up" as I wanted to be. I can honestly say that years from now, I will remember not only what I learned at Pardes, but who I learned it with.”
Atar, Pardes Year Program
“First of all it was a great experience of studying with foreign students. I was really excited about the opportunity of sharing my views with American Jewish students and knowing more about their lives, views, problems etc. And of course Pardes was a great place for improving my Jewish skills as a Jewish educator. As a Russian student I would advise for all Russians to come to Pardes and to see what I have seen, because it is something unbelievable and unforgettable.”
Dmitry, Pardes Year Program
"I am not a community seeker. In fact, I came to Pardes for the learning.
Yet never before have I encountered a community so warm, so sharp and so
intellectually honest and real about its Jewishness. This year has been
deeply rewarding on innumerable levels, and I feel blessed and privileged to
have been a part of it."
David K
"When I came to Pardes, I expected a high level of learning, and this I
found. Indeed, I feel like I have caught up on the day school education I
never had. What I didn't expect was the overwhelming sense of community
which pervades this space. From shabbat meals at teachers homes to all
night learning sessions with new found friends, and from words of Torah on
the slopes of the Golan to intense debates during night seder every Monday
night. I have had the privilege to live in a Jewish community which has as
much to teach as the books which bind us together."
N. Bickhart
"Pardes finds the balance between objectivity and loving concern for Judaism and its texts. Pardes has given me skills, knowledge and community."
David R.
Community Service