Why Pardes

In a world where most Jews are not strongly connected to their heritage, Pardes challenges Jews of all backgrounds to deepen their relationship with Judaism through Jewish text study, strengthen their connection to Israel through personal experience and build a sense of Jewish peoplehood by forging relationships with diverse peers.

Pardes inspires leaders, builds knowledge and transforms the Jewish world through an open, challenging and dynamic encounter with Jewish text and tradition in a diverse and supportive environment.

Our success depends on the financial support of people like you. Become a part of this important project by supporting Pardes today.

Four Reasons to Give to Pardes

Tradition

Pardes’s beit midrash (study hall) facilitates an open and rigorous engagement with classical Jewish texts, building fluency in Jewish tradition among Jews from all backgrounds, affiliations and levels of knowledge.

Pardes is known for its intellectual rigor and outstanding faculty. Pardes believes that Jewish knowledge is a critical basis for meaningful engagement in Jewish communities.

Diversity

Pardes consistently attracts and embraces a diverse community, setting the standard for effective models of respect, tolerance and understanding. Pardes students span the spectrum in terms of background, beliefs and education. We are not merely serving a small slice of the Jewish community; Pardes graduates are deeply impacting sectors across the Jewish world.

Innovation

Pardes’s creative approach makes classical text study exciting, relevant and meaningful for today’s young Jews. Offering multiple points of access and specialized tracks of study, Pardes recognizes that its students want to connect their deeply-held beliefs and interests to Judaism and integrate their multi-layered identities. Pardes embraces students’ needs for both theoretical and practical study. Pardes does not attempt to simply provide answers but instead facilitates open encounters with meaning through a deep engagement with Jewish learning and a diverse Jewish community. Pardes continues to evolve. Recent initiatives include, offering special study tracks, including social justice, conflict resolution, spirituality and the foundations of Judaism and creating new centers of study for Jewish Educators and for Judaism and Conflict Resolution.

Impact

Pardes meets the needs of individual Jews by providing deeply sought-after opportunities to learn about and experience Jewish life in a serious and open environment. Pardes meets the needs of the greater community by producing a cadre of dynamic and engaged leaders with proven abilities to create new organizations and revitalize existing institutions. Pardes alumni are transforming the Jewish world.