Pardes Learning Seminar

A Thoughtful Encounter with Jewish Text, Ideas, and Community

The Pardes Learning Seminar (PLS) invites you to explore classic Jewish texts and enduring ideas in a setting of depth, reflection, and connection. Guided by Pardes’s renowned faculty, you’ll engage in havruta study, dynamic conversation, and shared inspiration.

You’ll join a community of thoughtful professionals, retirees, communal leaders, and seekers—who share your love of ideas and your belief in Pardes’s mission to keep open, accessible Jewish learning thriving. You come to learn, reflect, and connect, but also to stand with Pardes as a partner in sustaining a Beit Midrash that welcomes every voice and nurtures vibrant Jewish life.

Experience how Pardes transforms text study into an encounter with purpose and possibility.

Winter Pardes Learning Seminar

January 18–20, 2026 | Online
Tuition: Sponsorship Level: $500 | Standard Registration: $360 | Young/Community Professional: $250 | Student: $150

Step into the rhythm of Jewish time through Sacred Seasons: A Journey Through the Jewish Year. Join Pardes faculty and fellow learners worldwide for three days of engaging havruta study, rich discussion, and personal reflection. Accessible, inspiring, and entirely online, the Winter Seminar offers a deep learning experience from the comfort of home. Each holiday calls us to pause—to step beyond the rush of daily life—and to encounter holiness in moments both timeless and immediate. Together, we will journey through the sacred rhythms of the Jewish year—Shabbat, festivals, and fast days—discovering how each invites renewal, reflection, and connection. Along the way, we’ll see how the turning of the seasons mirrors the unfolding of our own lives, with their cycles of birth and growth, commitment and loss, resilience and joy.

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Summer Pardes Learning Seminar

July 5–9, 2026 | In Jerusalem
Tuition: Sponsorship Level: $2,500 | Standard: $1,800 | Early bird 10% discount until February 15th

Spend five immersive days in the heart of Jerusalem exploring Bible vs. Talmud: A Friendly Competition in Text and Tradition. Discover how the Written and Oral Torah have shaped Jewish imagination and life through guided learning, havruta, and interactive workshops and educational trips with Pardes faculty. Designed for learners who value depth, connection, and discovery in an intimate setting.

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Why the Pardes Learning Seminar?

For over two decades, the Pardes Learning Seminar has offered adults from around the world a window into the Beit Midrash—where classic Jewish texts meet modern questions in a spirit of openness and inquiry. Each seminar reflects Pardes’s signature approach: rigorous learning, havruta study, and deep conversation in a warm, thoughtful community.

Whether online or in Jerusalem, participants experience the intellectual vitality and spiritual depth that have made Pardes a home for meaningful Jewish learning for more than 50 years.

Meet the Director of PLS:  Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash

Nechama made aliyah from Philadelphia over 20 years ago after graduating from Stern College. She has studied at the Matan Institute’s Advanced Talmud and halakha programs, Bar-Ilan University and Nishmat’s Yoetzet Halacha program. Nechama is a certified bridal teacher and a sex educator through Yahel and the Eden Center.

Nechama teaches contemporary halakha and Talmud at Matan and Pardes, as well as Talmud and women and halakha in Torah V’Avodah (TVA). She is an active member of Beit Hillel and participates in interfaith dialogue through Roots, based in Gush Etzion, close to where she lives with her family.

Meet the Director of PLS: Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash

Nechama made aliyah from Philadelphia over 20 years ago after graduating from Stern College. She has studied at the Matan Institute’s Advanced Talmud and halakha programs, Bar-Ilan University and Nishmat’s Yoetzet Halacha program. Nechama is a certified bridal teacher and a sex educator through Yahel and the Eden Center.

Nechama teaches contemporary halakha and Talmud at Matan and Pardes, as well as Talmud and women and halakha in Torah V’Avodah (TVA). She is an active member of Beit Hillel and participates in interfaith dialogue through Roots, based in Gush Etzion, close to where she lives with her family.

I am thrilled I participated in PLS Summer Program. The seminar ignited my mind, my heart and also my soul. It's a must for anyone seeking wisdom and community!
Yosef FragaSummer '24
The Winter PLS is a unique opportunity to learn Jewish texts with terrific teachers, feeling as if you are in the Beit Midrash in Jerusalem from the comfort of your own home in the States
Mark CohenWinter '25
If you want to engage and struggle with Torah, learn from world class faculty and from people with different perspectives, and feel the power of being together, there is no better place to do that than with Pardes at the Learning Seminar in Jerusalem. The summer Learning Seminar provide these opportunities as well as to breathe in the cadence of living in Jerusalem (even for a short while).
Jeff HurokSummer '24
…it is a luxury to learn in an atmosphere that empowers participants to seek knowledge and information that will enable them to make their own decisions about their spiritual and religious lives.
Dr. Stephen DonshikPLS

Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and Activation

Start date: ASAP

We are seeking a charismatic, creative, and action-oriented Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement and Activation to lead this initiative. This individual will play a key role in bridging the gap between the immersive Jerusalem-based Pardes experience and the ongoing life-long learning opportunities we offer in North America.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Implement and Iterate Alumni Engagement Strategies:
    • Enhance the current “menu” of opportunities for Pardes alumni to both “give” to
      and “receive” from, Pardes.
      • Give: Empower alumni to take action, create initiatives, and leverage
        Pardes as a platform for leadership and innovation.
      • Receive: Encourage alumni to engage in continued learning through
        classes, retreats, Shabbatonim, cohorts, and other programs.
    •  Ongoing internal evaluation of efficacy of strategies and implementing iterative
      updates to enhance outcomes.
  • Program Development and Management:
    • In collaboration with the wider team, develop and implement ideas for online and in person classes, including holiday programs, one-off shiurim, and limited series.
    • Oversee the execution of programs including but not limited to: email
      correspondence and registration, coordinating with marketing, Zoom production,
      and post-program evaluation.
    • Ensuring cross-departmental collaboration specifically with the engagement and
      development teams
    •  Serve as the project manager for select alumni cohort learning programs,
      ensuring smooth operations and successful outcomes.
  • Community Building and Leadership:
    • Foster strong, relational connections with alumni, encouraging their active
      involvement in the Pardes community.
    • Identify and cultivate connections with key alumni leaders. Lead efforts to inspire alumni to take on leadership roles within their communities, promoting Pardes’ values and educational mission.
    • Cultivate and steward and existing external partnerships with organizations and
      initiatives as it relates to our Pardesnik engagement and activation work
  • Alumni Coaching and Mentorship:
    • Provide coaching and mentorship to alumni interested in developing initiatives, such as micro-grants or local events, and support them in realizing their ideas. This may include group coaching within cohorts.
  • Targeted Recruitment and Outreach:
    • Engage in focused recruitment and outreach efforts to involve specific alumni in relevant Pardes offerings.
    • Collaborate with the wider team to manage recruitment for various programs,
      including necessary follow-up and evaluation.

Qualifications:

  •  Proven experience in alumni relations, community engagement, or a related field.
  • Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with a talent for building and maintaining relationships.
  • Creativity and initiative in developing new programs and strategies to engage alumni.
  • Passion for Jewish learning and a deep connection to the mission of Pardes.
  • Ability to work independently and as part of a collaborative team.
  • Willingness to travel as needed to engage with alumni across North America.

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Pardes alumna
  • Experience working in Jewish education or community leadership.
  • Familiarity with the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and its programs.
  • Based in New York City

Benefits:

  • Competitive salary commensurate with experience: $70,000-$85,000
    100% health insurance coverage for the employee (dependent coverage available)
  • 403b retirement plan with Nationwide with up to 5% contribution by employer
  • Paid time off & Paid holidays (Jewish and secular)
  • FSA
  • Group Life and Personal Accident Insurance
  • Parental leave
  • Remote and hybrid working option and flexible hours
  • Opportunities to travel domestically and to Israel to collaborate across the team
  • Opportunity to contribute to a dynamic and growing organization with a meaningful mission.

How to Apply:
Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their qualifications and passion for this role. All applications should be sent to Assistant Director of Programs at Monica at monica@pardes.org.

Cover letters should answer the following questions

  • What makes you passionate about this role and work?
  • What concrete professional or personal experiences have prepared you best for this role?
  • What is one project, strategy or initiative that this job description stimulates in you?
  • How do you ensure great teamwork and successful collaboration?
    PLEASE NOTE:

Applications are due by October 8th and interviews will be the week of October 28th. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.

Pardes North America provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants in all organizational facilities without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, pregnancy, childbirth, (or related medical conditions, including, but not limited to lactation), physical disability, mental and/or intellectual disability, age, military status or status as a Vietnam-era or special disabled veteran, marital status, registered domestic partner or civil union status, gender (including sex stereotyping and gender identity or expression), medical condition (including, but not limited to, cancer-related or HIV/AIDS-related), genetic information, or sexual orientation in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws.

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