Pardes from Jerusalem

In Yitro, we see Moses learn that it takes more to be a public religious leader than simply being a person of faith. How does Moses learn to be a person who has experienced faith on a personal level bring it out and share it with others? Join Brent and Ziva as they explore the deeper values and ideas of this week's Torah portion. Credits: Rabbi Brent Spodek and Professor Ziva R. Hassenfeld - Parde...

In this week's parsha podcast, Rabbis Amirit Rosen and Elisha Anscelovitz discuss Shirat Hayam, the Song of the Sea, and the importance of taking pauses in life. Credits: Rabbi Amirit Rosen and Rabbi Elisha Anscelovits - Pardes Faculty

Alex Israel and Sefi Kraut discuss the concept of the New Moon and the notion of time: the freedom to take control of our own time, the calendar as a nation-building tool, the challenge of procrastination, and the gift of spiritual renewal. Credits: Rabbi Alex Israel and Sefi Kraut - Pardes Faculty  

The parsha opens with the names of God, and that sets the stage for the revelation which comes through the plagues. This podcast touches how this dynamic expresses a deeper layer in the whole relationship between Creator and creation as it asks - what's in a name? Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty  

Join Rabbi Brent Spodek and Professor Ziva Hassenfeld as they discuss the first parsha of Shemot and explore the topic of Miriam the Prophetess as a young girl. Credits: Professor Ziva R. Hassenfeld and Rabbi Brent Spodek

Meesh Hammer-Kossoy and Nechama Goldman Barash talk about contrasts in the parsha, control or lack thereof in our lives, and the power of a blessing. Credits: Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy and Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash - Pardes Faculty

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 8 - One Candle, Then Another, Then Another Featuring Rabbi Brent Spodek Transitioning into a new month and praying for renewal and growth, bright as a fully lit Hanukiah. Music...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 7* - Deborah and Judith: How Our Heroines Harmonize Across a Millennium Featuring Aviva Lauer Who was Judith and what does she have to do with Hanukah? And if we listen closely,...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 6 - "More is More" vs. "Less is More" Featuring Rabbi Jonathan Leener This d’var Torah explores the different methods of dealing with evil in the world through the teachings of...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 5 - The Window or the Table: Spreading Light to Eradicate Hate Featuring Rabba Shani Gross Learn how the Talmudic sages wrestle with the question of how to balance the deep year...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 4 - The Light of Hanukah: Let's Light Up the Streets! Featuring Rabba Yaffa Epstein, Senior Scholar and Educator in Residence at the Jewish Education Project Learn how an obscur...

How do we connect the story of Yosef to Hanukah? Join Yiscah Smith and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield in an exploration of Yosef's journey from a dreamer to an interpreter. In a parsha where we see Yosef hiding himself, what can we learn about bringing our own light out into the world? Credits: Yiscah Smith and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield - Pardes Faculty  

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 3 - "More is More" vs. "Less is More" Featuring Rabbi Leon Morris The Rabbis debated the precise way of performing the mitzvah of Hanukkah candles in ways that leave a treasure...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 2 - Rediscovering the Minimalism of Hanukah Featuring Professor Ziva R. Hassenfeld Learning how to reclaim the simplicity of the mitzvah of lighting the Hanukkah candles.   Musi...

During a holiday where there is both darkness and light, where we retreat indoors and shine brightly from the windowsill, go on a journey with Pardes North America to find meaning in the discord within our tradition. Night 1 - Forgetfulness that Leads to Blessed Discord Featuring Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy Rav Hutner suggests that the Greek campaign to make us forget Torah succeeded, and that w...

In this week's parsha, we learn the story of Yosef and Potiphar's wife, and the events leading up to Yoseph's imprisonment. Just what happened between Yosef and Potiphar's wife? Did Yosef desire her, and if so, did he actually give in to that temptation? Credits: Rabbi Brent Spodek and Professor Ziva Hassenfeld - Pardes North America Faculty  

Yaakov returns from Lavan's house to meet Esav, and he is petrified. Esav is coming with 400 men. Is he seething with hatred and violence, or has he possibly missed his brother and is instead coming to welcome him. The parsha is filled with ambiguity. Aviva and Alex discuss the nuances of the biblical and rabbinic personalities of Yaakov and Esav as they apply these paradigms to the topic of antis...

How can we understand the setting of this week's parsha? What is this place that Ya'akov comes to, and why at nighttime? Rabbi Leon Morris and Rabbi Daniel Reifman discuss the journey the journeys and travails of Ya'akov in this week's parsha podcast. Credits: Rabbi Leon Morris, Pardes President, and Rabbi Daniel Reifman, Pardes Faculty.  

Credits: Judy Klitsner and Rabbi Elchanan Miller – Pardes Faculty  

Parashat Chayei Sarah and Preparing for Thanksgiving.   Credits: Tovah Leah Nachmani and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield – Pardes Faculty  

Are we blinded by our reading of the text? When we read about characters that are often portrayed negatively, such as Ishmael, are we truly giving them a chance? And what about our heroes? Are we allowing figures, such as Abraham, to be fully complex figures, both positive and negative? Credits: Rabbi Brent Spodek and Professor Ziva Hassenfeld – Pardes North America Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 4: Electoral Dysfunction Part III Here is the final installment in the series detailing the evolution of Israel’s electoral system. It brings us almost all the way to the present, touching on topics like the Oslo Accord, electoral reform and Israel’s Supreme Court along the way. If you want to have a better understanding of our current electoral dysfunction, then...

In this week's Torah portion, we examine a story that many today would consider jarring. How do we take the afflictions placed upon the Egyptians for Sarah's kidnapping? Was Sarah a victim of Pharoah and patriarchy, or were the Egyptians victims of deception? Credits: Rabba Nechama Goldman Barash and Rabbi Elhanan Miller – Pardes Faculty  

Rabbis Meesh Hammer-Kossoy and Elisha Ancselovits bring poetry, midrash, Talmud and a Nobel Prize winning economist into dialogue about how Noah and the 7 Noahide laws are relevant to our current climate crisis. Credits: Rabbi Dr. Meesh Hammer-Kossoy and Rabbi Dr. Elisha Ancselovits– Pardes Faculty  

Bereishit takes us from Creation to God's decision to destroy the world. From "Tov" - a world filled with good - to "Ra" - a world in which evil prevails. How do we get there? In this podcast, Alex Israel and Zvi Hirschfield discuss the process of sin, and the tricks our minds play with us in succumbing to our desires. They discuss choices, human autonomy, and the human potential for great good, a...