Jewish Education: Why We Should Care
Posted on August 2, 2022
The field of Jewish education in North America boasts a wealth of talented and dedicated professionals. These are educators, administrators, scholars, board members, and funders who commit their days, and often their careers, to this work. We brought three of them together for a conversation about the current state of Jewish education and about where Continue Reading »
Combining Torah and the Arts at Pardes
Posted on June 22, 2022
This article was originally published in the December 2021 edition of Pardes’s Havruta magazine. To learn more about the Pardes Arts and Culture Fellowship, visit www.pardes.org.il/pardes-arts-culture-fellowship or email Ilana HaCohen at ilana@pardes.org.il.
The emerging rabbinic pulpit
Posted on June 10, 2022
Pardes Board member and alum Faith Leener (Year ’10-’11, Summer ’17) is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the growing Base Movement (check them out: www.basemovement.org).
25 Pardes Alumni Ordained This Spring Across Denominations
Posted on June 9, 2022
Pardes is excited to announce that 25 alumni were ordained as rabbis this spring! Pardes has always proudly welcomed Jews of all Jewish backgrounds, beliefs, and denominational affiliations to our programs. It is often said that the cross-pollination that takes place in our Beit Midrash is the secret sauce that makes the Pardes experience so Continue Reading »
Remembering Arie Strikovsky z”l: 1st Orthodox rabbi to publicly ordain a woman – me!
Posted on June 8, 2022
Pardes Center for Jewish Educators Graduation!
Posted on June 2, 2022
Of the five Pardes Day School Educators Program graduates, three received awards at the Hebrew College commencement ceremony for their accomplishments in the MA of Jewish Education program. Three students receiving awards is unprecedented – in the past, only one student per year has been honored. The award winners are: LEO & SADIE FLAX FUND Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post: The Belzer Rebbetzin’s Blessings on Conceiving Children
Posted on May 23, 2022
Written by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – In 1965, Surah’le Hager (b. 1946) married Yissachar Dov Rokach (b. 1948). Surah’le was the granddaughter of the Vizhnitzer rebbe, Rabbi Hayim Meir Hager (1887-1972). Yissachar Dov was the leader-in-waiting of the Belz Hassidim, a position he would officially assume in 1966. The Belzer Rebbe and Rebbetzin did Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post – The License to Reinterpret
Posted on April 25, 2022
Written by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – Is there a license to reinterpret the Torah through pronunciation? The license to reinterpret the biblical text by transposing the vowels is a potent, perhaps even dangerous tool. The sages explained that both Moses and David did apprenticeships as shepherds. Since they looked after their sheep with care Continue Reading »
JewishPress – Thou Shalt Not Slap Thy Neighbor
Posted on April 3, 2022
Written by Rabbi Alex Israel (Pardes Faculty) – An incident during the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday has lit up social media recently like few other events. Actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock after he made a hurtful joke at Smith’s wife’s expense. Since everyone is weighing in about “the slap,” I’ll share three Continue Reading »
The National Library of Isael: The Last Will and Testament of Rabbi David Friesenhausen
Posted on March 22, 2022
Written by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – In Vienna 1820, Rabbi David HaKohen Friesenhausen (ca. 1756-1828) published a work in Hebrew entitled Mosdot Tevel (Foundations of the Universe). Friesenhausen procured rabbinic letters of recommendation which he printed in Mosdot Tevel, including such a letter from the illustrious Rabbi Moshe Sofer (known as the “Ḥatam Sofer”, 1762-1839), Continue Reading »