A Purim Message from Rabbi Leon Morris, President
Posted on March 16, 2022
Living with uncertainty has been a leitmotif of the past two years as we have navigated our way through the Covid-19 pandemic. For many of us, uncertainty plays a central role in our religious lives. It keeps us humble. It recognizes our limits. It reminds us of what we cannot know. We reflect upon God’s Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post – How Did Chabad Go From Hassidic Subgroup to Global Jewish Phenomenon?
Posted on March 13, 2022
Written by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper, also known as the Maggid of Melbourne (Pardes Faculty) – How did Chabad go from hassidic subgroup to global Jewish phenomenon? Ramash was truly following in the footsteps of his predecessors. Almost anywhere you go in the world, you find Lubavitch. How did a hassidic subgroup that did not Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post – Parashat Pekudei: Partnering with the Divine
Posted on March 6, 2022
Written by Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash (Pardes Faculty) – I have always found much of the end of Exodus tedious, centered as it is on the endless details of instruction for building the Tabernacle and weaving the priests’ garments. This Shabbat we finish reading the Book of Exodus. It tells the story of a people Continue Reading »
Lookstein.org – Experientializing the Text: An Invitation to Join
Posted on March 3, 2022
Written by Aviva Lauer (Director of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators) – Those of us reading this journal are a pretty self-selected group. We love studying Jewish text. We find meaning and value and personal relevance in the word of God, in the divinely inspired writings of our ancient leaders, and in the holy Continue Reading »
In-Person PCJE Student Teaching Resumes!
Posted on March 2, 2022
JERUSALEM – The Pardes Center for Jewish Educators is pleased to announce the in-person resumption of the month-long student teaching component of the Pardes Day School Educators Program (PEP), which has been on hold due to Covid-19. “The opportunity to student teach in well-established day schools around the United States and Canada is one of Continue Reading »
Times of Israel – Carry That Weight
Posted on March 2, 2022
Written by Rabbi Brent Spodek (PNA Faculty, Year ’00-’01) – The first and only time I tried to impress a girl by singing was when I was 15 years old. I had gone to the closing dance of my summer program with Franchesca, even though I really had a crush on Stacey. However, when the Continue Reading »
New York Times – Opinion | In the Jewish Tradition, the Words We Choose Matter
Posted on February 20, 2022
Written by Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt (Year ’99-’00) – Rabbi Holtzblatt is a co-senior rabbi at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C. The Torah begins with the world being created by words. “Let there be” is the recurring refrain. God names each item — Light. Day. Night. Darkness. Earth. Sea. Heaven. From this emerges the concept Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post – This is How Jews Can Be a Light Unto the Nations
Posted on February 17, 2022
Written by Sherwin Pomerantz – The immediate past Chair of the Israel board, Sherwin discusses the recent public remarks made about race in America and what alternatives we have to improve the situation. What does that mean to us in today’s society? How can we Jews fulfill the mandate to be a light unto the nations Continue Reading »
Jerusalem Post – The Mystical Importance of Location in Judaism
Posted on February 6, 2022
Written by Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper – The mystical importance of location in Judaism: Just as righteous people leave behind permanent marks of holiness, so, too, sinners leave behind tainted marks. “And Jacob departed from Beersheba and went to Haran” (Genesis 28:10). The sages asked why the verse needs to detail that Jacob departed from Continue Reading »
Pardes Alumna Miriam Lorie Makes History with Rabbinical Appointment at UK Orthodox Community
Posted on February 6, 2022
Written by Simon Rocker of the Jewish Chronicle – Miriam Lorie (PCJE ’16-’17) makes history with rabbinical appointment at UK Orthodox community. She hopes her role as ‘rabbi in training’ at Borehamwood partnership minyan will have ‘positive ripples on the Jewish world’. An Orthodox community in Hertfordshire is making history as the first in the Continue Reading »