The following article is from the 5783/2022 Edition of Havruta Magazine.
Mili Leitner Cohen recently sat down with Pardes’s Dean Emeritus, Dr. David I. Bernstein, to discuss his tenure at Pardes. The conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
TELL ME ABOUT YOUR JEWISH UPBRINGING.
My parents came to the U.S. after the war, having lost their families in the Shoah. They knew six languages—Yiddish, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, German, and Hebrew—but not a word of English. They learned “yes” and “no” on the boat while crossing the Atlantic. My upbringing was Jewishly minded if not religious, but my parents’ decisions to send me to day school and summer camp helped me to become Jewishly literate.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A JEWISH EDUCATOR?
Education has been part of my entire adult life. I’ve always loved the idea of having an impact on young people and helping them grow as people and as Jews. When you teach people regularly, share a building with them every day for years, watch them grow, and develop a relationship with them, you have a real impact on their lives. Nothing beats that feeling.
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO PARDES IN 1998
I loved my previous position as Director of Midreshet Lindenbaum, but after eleven years I felt that the great crusade of Orthodox women’s learning had been won. Studying Talmud in a Beit Midrash was no longer controversial in mainstream Orthodox worlds. I wanted a new challenge.
I came to Pardes to dedicate myself to increasing Jewish literacy, which is Pardes’s raison d’etre. Most people fear environments where they lack literacy because it’s vulnerable, uncomfortable, and challenging work. Jews are disproportionately represented in higher education, yet so many are unaware of their heritage and unable to engage Jewish texts. Pardes students—from beginners to Kollel students—proactively put themselves in an environment where they lack knowledge, which I deeply admire.
I was also attracted to Pardes’s agenda of Klal Yisrael, of recognizing that every Jew has the same right to the Torah. At Pardes, we don’t need dialogue groups because we are constantly practicing mutual respect. Here, one is very likely to have a havruta partner who practices Judaism differently, classmates who attend very different shuls, Shabbat guests who hold different beliefs. That open, self-selecting environment that places Torah at our core, drew me to Pardes.
HOW HAS PARDES EVOLVED DURING YOUR TENURE
I’ve been at Pardes for almost half of its 50-year history. I’ve noticed the need to balance, on the one hand, staying true to our mission and core values, and on the other hand, knowing when to adapt. That is the secret to the longevity of anything, including Judaism. But, two areas of change stand out in particular.
Pardes has always been inclusive, groundbreaking, and excellent at welcoming students as individuals. Something we’ve improved is our ability to recognize groups. When I arrived, the egalitarian minyan was unofficial, student-led, didn’t have a faculty advisor or faculty participants, and wasn’t allowed to daven in the Beit Midrash. All of that has changed. It was important to me to meet mainstream groups and bring them to the center of Pardes life. That desire for greater inclusivity has extended to faculty too. I have tried to foster an appreciative atmosphere where faculty are encouraged to carry out initiatives.
Pardes is bigger now, in terms of both students and offerings. In my first year, we had 30 students and we had the Year Program. Now we have dozens of programs and hundreds of students. Pardes has become a wonderfully complex institution to run and manage.
WHAT CLASSES DO YOU ENJOY TEACHING?
Most of my Pardes teaching has focused on modern Jewish history, which is a long-time passion. My parents never read bedtime stories. Instead, they told me about their lives in Poland before the war and their narrow escapes during the Shoah. I was imbued as a child with an appreciation for the story of the Jewish people in the modern era with all of its inspiring, challenging, remarkable, and difficult moments. Studying history reminds us not only to be rooted in the present and the transitory, but to notice patterns that recur, and to learn from them for the future.
WHAT LED YOU TO LEAD TOURS IN EUROPE?
Teaching Jewish history in the place where things happened is the ideal teaching environment! The history of these places is fascinating and an important part of how the Jewish people developed over time. We experience the richness and variety of Jewish life in the past and the present. In Poland, for example, seeing the community’s revival post-communism tells a remarkable story of Jewish resilience, vibrancy, and growth.
IS THERE A PARDES MOMENT THAT STANDS OUT?
In my first week, my colleague Joanne received an email. We only had one email address back then so she had to print it out and hand it to me physically. It was from an alumna letting us know she had just become engaged. Being new, her name was unfamiliar, so I showed it to Meir Schweiger and Aryeh Ben-David and they responded, “She’s a terrific person. You have to meet her!” When I asked what she does, they told me that she’s a Reform rabbi. Meir and Aryeh are, from the outside, on the right of the Pardes denominational spectrum. Often, when people learn that an acquaintance has chosen a different denominational path, they are quick to say, “wonderful person, too bad.” Right then, I realized that Pardes’s culture genuinely celebrates one another’s victories without competition or judgment.
WHAT CHALLENGES LIE AHEAD FOR PARDES?
A personal failure is not successfully bringing in more Israelis. It’s a loss for Israelis and for our students from overseas and we are starting to address it seriously. Between language limitations and a lack of social relationships with Israelis, many students miss out on Israel’s flourishing culture; on truly understanding Israeli society. The challenge ahead is maintaining our incredibly tight-knit community, and the deep relationships created here, while also encouraging students to develop ties to Israel and Israelis beyond the walls of Pardes.
Pardes is in good hands. We have exceptionally strong leadership in Israel and North America, so we will continue to impact people’s lives, and we will keep being the place where wonderful lifelong relationships are formed, for faculty and students alike. We have faced huge challenges during my tenure, including the tragic loss of Ben Blutstein z”l and Marla Bennett z”l in the 2002 bombing at Hebrew University, and the Covid-19 pandemic, but we emerged from those challenges stronger. I feel confident that Pardes will continue to rise to whatever challenges it may face in the future.
HOW HAS PARDES AFFECTED YOU?
Pardes rubs off on you. It has made me a more open and inclusive person. I still have a long way to go, but it has certainly changed me for the better.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE?
I’m planning to spend plenty of time with my family while continuing here as Dean Emeritus and leading tours of Jewish Europe. I also have some exciting new projects that I’m not quite ready to share—watch this space!
Mili Leitner Cohen is a Pardes alumna living in Jerusalem. She earned her PhD in Ethnomusicology from the University of Chicago and was the first woman appointed to an Orthodox rabbinical position in Australia.
Read more articles from the 5783/2022 Edition of Havruta Magazine here.
