The Pardes Ten
In 5815, ten unconnected Jews in disparate locations will have concurrent experiences of arriving at gan eden.
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Why This Religious Jew Wants a Non-Jewish Roommate
Around winter break, during the peak of Israel’s “Birthright season,” I received an invitation from the Columbia/Barnard Hillel to attend a meet-up in Jerusalem for gap-year students in Israel. It was the first time the thought of college had even crossed my mind – I had been doing a pretty good job of focusing on…
Mourning Far From Home: A Jew in the Motherland
My father (z”l) died quite suddenly last month. He was young, 57, and had appeared so happy and so healthy. During his final hours, I got the call to come home. I went back to the States for the funeral and shiva. It’s been tough. I was really close with my father – he was…
I Am Dedicated: What Should Orthodox Feminism Look Like?
Although it has been several months since the Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance (JOFA) Conference, the Orthodox blogosphere is still buzzing about Leah Sarna’s speech at the opening plenary. In her address, Sarna stated her belief that Orthodox women must begin to demonstrate increased dedication to Judaism by participating in activities traditionally earmarked as male, like…
Why Not to Drink Around Fire – or – Dying for Balance
Throughout the last few weekly readings, things have been going quite well for the Hebrew tribes—nothing bad has really happened and everyone is excited to have the Tabernacle up and running. This week in Parashat Shmini, still on the high of the last few weeks, we move to the last day of sacrifices, with the…
In Search of Something to Unite the Jews
In last week’s article, I talked about a need for klal yisrael—or Jewish unity—and how Jewish languages are ultimately not great means for fulfilling this goal. While I didn’t have anything else to say about this once I finished writing, I kept thinking about it afterward: is a Jewish unity really possible, or are we…
In Search of True Egalitarianism
Growing up in the early 2000’s means I watched copious amounts of Arthur, Cyberchase, Pokémon, and Yu-Gi-Oh!; I knew the dance to “Soulja Boy,” played on my Gameboy obsessively, and ate Go-gurts (or the kosher equivalents thereof) on the school bus ride home. Growing up in the 2000’s also meant that I saw men…
Eat the Food Without Drinking the Kool-Aid: How to Get the Most out of Orthodox Outreach Programs
When I first started to attend a local Orthodox shul, I approached with what could be considered a strong level of trepidation. I grew up mainly Conservative, and considered myself as falling somewhere between the lines of Conservative and Reform. When I thought of Orthodoxy, I thought of my Pop’s narrow-minded uncle who never struck…
New Years 2013 Was a Lifetime Ago
Well, by the Gregorian calendar, we have officially lived in the year 2014 for a week. For one thing, this means I will spend about three more weeks dating assignments “2013,” only to see autocorrect bluntly demonstrate the error of my ways. For another, this means that both the Jewish and secular seasonal winter holidays…
Reconstructing Reconstructionism, Part One
This is the first in a two-part feature on recent changes in the Reconstructionist movement. Stay tuned for part two, which will feature an interview with S. Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D., Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, on the future of rabbinic studies. While some have described it as the…
Labelship Down
As another Friday night set in, I pondered whether to schlep out of my warm house into the snow flying sideways to make the long trek (a seven-minute bus ride) down to Hillel, and after I coordinated with some friends at the University of Pittsburgh–whom I hadn’t seen all week–I decided that the schlep was worth…