Text learning now available for 2, 3 and 5-week programs offering Bible, Talmud and Jewish Thought in Jerusalem.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFpardes 224(photo credit: Courtesy)"My summer at Pardes introduced me to life-long friends"
I first came to Pardes for a summer session after graduating college. I began to delve into studying the laws of Shabbat, women and mitzvot, Bible and Mishna, which uncovered a yearning inside of me to learn more about my Jewish heritage and traditional
practice.
I left Jerusalem that summer knowing not when I would return to Pardes or to my newfound skills of learning traditional texts, but I always held my experiences deep within my heart. My one summer at Pardes introduced me to life-long friends, one who, within a few months of returning to Boston,
introduced me to my husband over a Shabbat meal. But more importantly, my one summer at Pardes awakened in me the desire to learn more.
Pardes Dean David Bernstein told a room overflowing with new faces to look around the room at all of the books in the Beit Midrash. He told us that these books were our heritage, our traditions and regardless of our denomination, our level of observance or our upbringing, these books, these codes, belonged to each and every Jew.
It is that moment that I carried with me every day when I entered the door at Pardes, my little non-coercive environment in the holiest city in the world. Whenever I was overwhelmed with Hebrew grammar or frustrated, when I did not understand the complex commentaries of Rashi, I reached inside my pocket and pulled out my Get Out of Jail Free Card and remembered to give myself the time and patience to begin anew. I am simply a Jew, walking humbly inside the walls of this sacred school, retracing the footsteps of my people and once again I have come home.
- JL, Boston, Massachusetts
"There are questions I might never be able to answer, but that's OK"
After my summer session at Pardes, I feel comfortable in my Jewish skin, something I didn't feel before.
Pardes was really the greatest gift I could have: a forum for asking questions, discussing answers, agreeing and disagreeing, as a sign of commitment to Jewish tradition and religion. Suddenly it was not only OK, but something we all did. Hurray! and of course, the best part: my own faith got so much stronger.
I now feel at peace with myself, the revelation of accepting that there are questions I might never be able to answer and there are answers I'll never
like, but that's OK - and plenty of other people feel the same way. So, it is truly amazing to be able to relax now (not afraid that unanswered
problems will knock me over) and just keep learning and growing in my own way!
- KH, Copenhagen, Denmark
Join us us for one or more Summer Learning sessions of intensive text study. Find out more!
The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in JerusalemThe Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, www.pardes.org.il, offers
men and women of all backgrounds the authentic study of classic Jewish texts in the rigorous, challenging and open environment of dynamic Beit Midrash Havruta partner learning. Pardes, founded in 1972, offers a Year Program for university graduates as well as Educators, Summer and Advanced Scholars learning programs.
This is a sponsored article. The article should not be considered as advice.
