Blessed for 13 Days
I shared these parting words at Community Lunch today at Pardes: In three weeks, I will start my first-ever, grown-up, real-life job as a consultant. From my understanding, a consultant comes in as an...
View ArticleHebron: Blessing the Bad
It was difficult to go to pray this morning after visiting Hebron yesterday. I’ll write more later about our meeting with the spokesman of the Hebron Jewish community, but suffice to say that I...
View ArticleThree Women of Jerusalem
(Read it on my blog) A Haredi, a kibbutznik, and a Muslim walk into a bar. (beat) Mashiach comes!! Well, I don’t know what would actually happen; I never actually saw the three of them in the same room...
View ArticleHebron: Chayei Sarah Dvar Torah
Based on a Dvar Torah I delivered this Friday night. I was surprised that I was able to connect with prayer at the Cave of Machpelah. By the time we reached the cave on Tuesday, we had been in Hebron …...
View ArticleFour Faces of Israel
From my blog: Every week is full of learning, davening and communicating in a variety of forms. Field trips are taken, books are read, conversations are heard, davening is done with a mechitza, without...
View ArticleJust a bunch of stones
From my blog: Well, angelfish, the solution to your problem is simple. The only way to get what you want is to become a human yourself. It was 1:53PM Monday afternoon as I stood outside of Pardes...
View ArticleSarah does Chayei Sarah
From my blog: Newsflash, last week was not the week that we read Chayei Sarah. However, it doesn’t mean that I can’t write about it this week! A few weeks ago, Pardes took students on two tiyulim,...
View ArticleThe Patriarch’s Plea, or: Abraham’s Moment of Doubt and Pain
Performed on the Negev tiyulduring the Talent Show: I sat in fire with my faith I smashed the idols of my race I left the land of father’s rules To wander far and play the fool Against great doubts I …...
View ArticleA Piece of the Greater Whole
From my blog: A video produced by The Sderot Media Center. If you watched the video, you will see that it has been edited and the events don’t occur exactly in that sequence. However, from what I...
View ArticleMASA Security and Diplomacy Shabbaton 11/22-11/23
The following are a few notes about my experience at the MASA Security and Diplomacy Shabbaton, which took place in Jerusalem from November 22-23. I attended with several other students from the Pardes...
View ArticleOn the road again – Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
From my blog: With Chanukkah break quickly approaching, I searched for the perfect thing to do. Combine a limited budget with a week to fill and I arrived at hiking in the North – the Yam L’Yam trail...
View Article[Staff Guest Post] Recipe for a good time:
by Arlene Harel (Year '85), staff member since '03 Take 5 Pardes faculty, add in 6 staff members, mix with 4 spouses, sprinkle in 11 kids, stir well and dump them all near the Dead Sea at Nachal Og....
View ArticleYam L’Yam Day 3 | Can’t Rain On Our Parade
From my blog: Day 3 | 14 km: “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene Recap. Where did we leave off? We were sleeping at Beit …...
View ArticleMore Than Four Faces of Israel | Part 1
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed...
View ArticleMore Than Four Faces of Israel | Part 2
From my blog: A few weeks ago, an actress came to Pardes to do a kind of skit, stereotyping Four Faces of Israel, or four different people that one will inevitably encounter in Israel. She portrayed...
View ArticleDay 4: Envelope Structure
From my blog: Day 4: We awoke pretty early to hit the trail and get to the finish line with enough time to make some decisions about what we wanted to do for Shabbat. At this point, the hike continues...
View ArticleTo Turkey with Love
Tonight, I am sharing this dvar with the communityof Istanbul tonight on Shabbat: When I think about Turkey, and specifically visiting Turkey, I think about hospitality. I have lived in a lot of places...
View ArticleThink about the cycles…
I presented this on our '14 trip to Turkey: The first commandment Bnei Israel was given as a people was: שמות יב:ב הַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה לָכֶם, רֹאשׁ חֳדָשִׁים: רִאשׁוֹן הוּא לָכֶם, לְחָדְשֵׁי הַשָּׁנָה....
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