News and Updates

Jewish Portland Review – Jennie Spector Receives Marla Bennett z”l Scholarship

Posted on November 12, 2020

Written by Deborah Moon – Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem named Portland native Jennie Spector, 27, the 2020-21 Marla Bennett, z”l, Scholar. “It’s an incredible honor to have the opportunity to study in Marla Bennett’s, z”l, memory,” says Jennie, the daughter of Marshal Spector and Sharon Pollin. In 2002, Marla was enrolled jointly Continue Reading »

shoshana gottlieb

Forward – Talmudic meme machine Shoshana Gottlieb is mixing parsha and pop culture on Instagram

Posted on November 3, 2020

Pardes student Shoshana Gottlieb (Summer ’19, PCJE ’20) wants you to know she’s not an artist. Sure, she spends her free time crafting original graphics to post online. Sure, her work captures Jewish culture and tradition with a sharp but loving eye. And sure, she has a devoted following who come to her for inspiration Continue Reading »

Four Pardes Alumni Awarded 2020 Pomegranate Prize from the Covenant Foundation

Posted on October 29, 2020

The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies wishes a warm felt mazal tov to Jessie Silverman Gindea (PCJE ’10-’12), Rabbi Rachel Isaacs (Year ’05-’06), Rabbi Jordan David Soffer (Year ’11-’12) and Laynie Soloman (Year ’12) for receiving the 2020 Pomegranate Prize from The Covenant Foundation.

Magda Dorosz

eJP – A Journey of Discovery

Posted on October 28, 2020

Written by Magda Dorosz (Hillel Summer Program ’16) – I have sent 314 young Polish Jews to Israel on Birthright Israel since 2011, because the trip is among the most important Jewish experiences for young adults in Poland that impacts their future engagement. Hillel in Poland is now the leading provider of that trip. Birthright Continue Reading »

JWeekly.com – Your political opponent is not an idol worshipper

Posted on September 30, 2020

Written by Rabbi Leon Morris (President of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies) and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield (Pardes Faculty) – Our ability to have civil conversations with the other side is deteriorating rapidly. The differences between the left and the right are an ever-widening gulf, and we are all deeply entrenched within communities that shield Continue Reading »

A Rosh Hashana Message from Rabbi Leon Morris, President

Posted on September 17, 2020

Dear Friends of Pardes, Today marks the end of the third week of classes here in Jerusalem, and the sense of miraculousness I felt as we first welcomed our students to Pardes on August 31st is still palpable. As the sounds of learning fill the beit midrash, dining room and the park next door, I Continue Reading »

eJP – Kids’ Mental Health Can’t be an Afterthought – Especially Not Now

Posted on September 14, 2020

Written by Carrie Bornstein (Year ’05-’06) – For months, teachers, parents, and administrators have been considering every element of the school day in preparation for reopening. The details are dizzying. Where will everyone sit on the school bus? Can we still use the water fountains? Who needs an iPad at home? How will our kids Continue Reading »

Times of Israel – How Rabbis of Yore Fought Plague with Temple Rite, Social Distancing

Posted on September 10, 2020

In this week’s Times of Israel podcast, we speak with Dr. Rabbi Levi Cooper about rabbinic responses to previous pandemics. From kabbalistic “front-line workers” to surprisingly sophisticated social distancing measures, ancient Jewish communities documented the steps they took to cope with pandemics over the centuries — and incredibly, many of the questions they had aren’t Continue Reading »

Benedict Roth profile

The Jewish Chronicle – In the eyes of the Torah, we are all the children of immigrants

Posted on September 8, 2020

Written by Benedict Roth (Year ’88-’89, Summer ’12, ’15) – The tension between narrower and more universal interpretation of the Torah is highlighted by a well-known verse in this week’s sidrah. Nowhere does the Jewish pendulum swing so rapidly from inclusiveness to xenophobia, from openness to suspicion, as it does at the start of this Continue Reading »

Alumni News – Alyssa Silva, a Houston Hillel Professional Expands Role

Posted on September 7, 2020

Alyssa Silva (PEEP ’18-’19, Communications Fellow ’19, WLI ’20) recently assumed a new role – assistant executive director at Houston Hillel. Silva arrived at Houston Hillel one year ago as director of Jewston, Houston Hillel’s community for Jewish twentysomethings (graduate students and young professionals). Silva will continue as Houston Hillel’s lead professional for Jewston, but Continue Reading »