Hannah Shorr Schaeffer

“My learning has gained so much joyful momentum since the first time I walked into the Beit Midrash. I started at Pardes with little experience formally learning, and even fewer expectations about what learning would feel like. I’ve discovered that it simply feels like magic (divine?) when something I learn in one class connects snugly to a theme in another class, which then gets held closely to my heart as a wisdom I never want to lose hold of. Thanks to articulate, thoughtful teachers, challenging chevruta, and the deep, complicated and beautiful Jewish tradition, I feel potential for so much more learning and connecting at my fingertips. I hope to bring that sense of curiosity and desire for study with me wherever I go from here!”

I am so grateful to be soaking up my days at Pardes, delving into classic Jewish texts in the Beit Midrash, and so often finding joy and spirituality along the way. Before moving to Jerusalem, I worked on Jewish leadership programming at the Schusterman Foundation in Washington DC, and before that I graduated from the George Washington University with a degree in Nonprofit Management.