They are leading and creating organizations and businesses of all kinds, responding to humanitarian crises, writing novels, educating at all levels, creating works of art, and so much more! In celebration of Pardes’s 50th, we are highlighting 50 standout alumni whose accomplishments exemplify the rich texture of the Pardes community worldwide.
This week, we are celebrating a couple who met through Pardes, Rabbis Jenny and Eric Solomon!
Rabbi Dr. Jenny Solomon and Rabbi Eric Solomon, both currently serve as co-rabbis at Beth Meyer Synagogue. Jenny is also the founding director of Libi Eir Awakened Heart Community Mikveh in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she compassionately inspires her congregants as they navigate their Jewish journeys.
After Pardes, Jenny and Eric were ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Jenny also completed a doctorate in counseling from the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health, and is a board member of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
Together, they are the proud parents of Meirav, Adi and Natan.
CAN YOU SHARE A PARDES MEMORY?
Jenny: My favorite memories at Pardes include the infectious and heart-opening vibration of a loud beit midrash, tender moments when I asked my Pardes teachers for wisdom and advice, and meeting my beloved Eric as a result of his year at Pardes! This summer we celebrate 25 years of marriage and the Holy One brought us together through Pardes!
Eric: While learning Talmud from Rav Aryeh Stirkowsky z’’l, he started telling me stories about Rav Soloveitchik z’’l and how the Rav encouraged him to wrestle on YU’s wrestling team because “there is Torah in everything”.
I’ll also always remember how Rav Meir Schweiger taught me so much about davening through his own kavanah, but even more so how he answered very specific halakhic questions that I didn’t feel comfortable asking anyone else.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU DID FOR THE FIRST TIME AT PARDES?
Jenny: I studied Talmud seriously for the first time at Pardes. Leah Rosenthal opened my eyes to the wonder of our multi-vocal and endlessly rich inheritance through her deep love of the rabbis and their wisdom.
Eric: I lead all kinds of tefillot in a traditional manner, serving as the Shatz. My first Kiddush Levanah was gevaltik!
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS AT PARDES?
Jenny: There are so many favorites, but if I had to choose one, it would be Judy Klitsner’s Parshanut. She helped me cultivate the skills I would need to interpret Torah for the rest of my life. Her deep insight, vast knowledge, reverence for the sacred work of Torah study, and respect for the voice of every student continues to inform and inspire my love of learning and teaching Torah.
Eric: Parshanut with Judy Klitsner. She was perhaps the best teacher I ever had, then and since.
IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY SHABBAT GUEST, WHO WOULD IT BE?
Jenny: I would bring together all of my Pardes teachers and ask them to reflect on their lives teaching Torah for so many decades. What have they learned? How has their teaching helped them to grow? What has changed over the years and what hasn’t? What is their favorite piece of torah at this moment?
Eric: Barack Obama. Most American Jews live a life of multiple identities including, at a minimum, being both Jewish and American. Barack Obama as well is an extraordinary American with multiple identities. What are the lessons he has learned from straddling so many different worlds and what advice would he offer to Jewish-Americans with multi-faceted identities?
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR WORK?
Jenny: I am proud that I have found a way to lead my community with a leadership style, approach to Torah, and voice that is authentically my own. Thanks to my mentors, including teachers at Pardes, and my beloved rabbinic and life partner, Eric, I have found my own unique path. I am also proud that I founded and direct a community mikveh which honors Jewish tradition and change, so that all who enter our waters feel a sense of welcome and belonging.
Eric: Service. I have the privilege of doing Avodat Kodesh for a cause larger than myself, one that I stake my life on.
HOW DOES PARDES CONTINUE TO AFFECT YOU TODAY?
Jenny: Pardes impacts the way I teach Torah — always bringing people in conversation with the text, with one another, and in loving connection with me as their guide.
Eric: In every way. I could not learn a sugya of gemarra, or a piece of commentary from one of the classic mefarshim without my time in the beit midrash studying with my havrutot at Pardes. And I would have never had the time or dugma’ot to learn first-hand how to create a Jewishly-rich, spiritually-full set of personal Jewish practices without my Pardes mentors, teachers and friends.