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.
M. Evan Wolkenstein is the Director of Experiential Education at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay Area and the author of Turtle Boy. He has had one foot in the experiential world and the other in the Jewish academic world since year one of his career. In the classroom, he teaches Comparative Religion and elective classes that look at Tanach through psychological, literary and sociological lenses — putting everything he learned from Judy Klitsner to work! His third foot is in writing – where he is currently working on a sequel to Turtle Boy.
Information about his Jewish Middle Grade Novel, Turtle Boy, and a free curriculum created in partnership with Pardes Center for Jewish Education, is available at www.EvanWolkenstein.com.
CAN YOU SHARE A SPECIAL PARDES MEMORY?
I was sitting in my illegal makom kavuah – a table I had annexed simply through leaving a mess there for enough days in a row – and noticed that the description of Moshe’s Teiva is not only reminiscent of Noach’s – but also that his sons’ names are hidden within 4 words, nearly all in a row. My heart started pounding and I leapt up and called Judy over and she was impressed at my little discovery (allowing that I do the same thing literally every day in the classroom).
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CLASS AT PARDES?
In case it isn’t clear, I’m a total Judy groupie – but Yosef Leibowitz’s Jewish Philosophy class is the one that set the record straight for me – that this stuff is DEEP and RELEVANT for my life. I was also a big Aryeh Ben David fan, and he was both an inspiration and someone I could confide in.
WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU DID FOR THE FIRST TIME AT PARDES?
I learned to write Sofrut Stam with Ariel Lester. I went on to write my wife and my Ketubah, using the STAM script.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR WORK?
Having the knowledge and skills to be able to code switch, walk between worlds, and translate for kids ideas from all around the Jewish (and general) world.
WHAT DOES THE JEWISH WORLD NEED MOST RIGHT NOW?
More than anything, Jewish leaders need to see each other as friends and brothers and sisters. The world is too dangerous and precarious a place for infighting — and the next generation needs to see role models of the essential mindsets for Human Survival.
HOW DOES PARDES CONTINUE TO AFFECT YOU TODAY?
I do a lot of out-of-the box educator stuff; the courses I teach, managing seniors’ keystone projects, and a daily discussion group. Pardes makes it so no matter what I’m doing, I have a deep well of Torah under me, inspiring, anchoring, rooting, winging — giving me a sense that whatever I do, it’s linking the Past to the Future.
WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE?
Without Pardes, where I spent the most powerful 4 years of my life – I’d still be who I am. But because of Pardes, I am so very much more me.