Pardes From Jerusalem

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 – … Read the rest The post Hanukah 5783: Rediscovering the Minimalism of Hanukah first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Hanukah 5783: Rediscovering the Minimalism of Hanukah at Elmad Online Learning.

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 – … Read the rest The post Hanukah 5783: Forgetfulness that Leads to Blessed Discord first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Hanukah 5783: Forgetfulness that Leads to Blessed Discord at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Vayeshev 5783: Temptation and Desire first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Vayeshev 5783: Temptation and Desire at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Vayishlah 5783: Confronting Hate first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Vayishlah 5783: Confronting Hate at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Parashat Vayetze 5783: Our Heads and Our Hearts first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Vayetze 5783: Our Heads and Our Hearts at Elmad Online Learning.

Credits: Judy Klitsner and Rabbi Elchanan Miller – Pardes Faculty  … Read the rest The post Parashat Toldot 5783: Parental Favoritism first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Toldot 5783: Parental Favoritism at Elmad Online Learning.

Parashat Chayei Sarah and Preparing for Thanksgiving.   Credits: Tovah Leah Nachmani and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield – Pardes Faculty  … Read the rest The post Parashat Chayei Sarah 5783 – Where Would I Be Without You: Perks and Pitfalls of Gratitude first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Chayei Sarah 5783 – Where Would I Be Without You: Perks and Pitfalls of Gratitude at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Parashat Vayera 5783: Examining Our Own Narratives first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Vayera 5783: Examining Our Own Narratives at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post The Jewish Story Season 6: Electoral Dysfunction Part III first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading The Jewish Story Season 6: Electoral Dysfunction Part III at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Parashat Lech Lecha 5783: The Beauty of Sarah first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Lech Lecha 5783: The Beauty of Sarah at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Parashat Noah 5783: Noah and the Climate Crisis, Then and Now first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Noah 5783: Noah and the Climate Crisis, Then and Now at Elmad Online Learning.

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 … Read the rest The post Parashat Bereishit 5783: Difficult Choices first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Bereishit 5783: Difficult Choices at Elmad Online Learning.

Ha’azinu speaks of God as a parent, as the Being that created and formed us all. What implications does this fact have for our spirituality and consciousness? Yiscah Smith presents a teaching of the Hassidic master – the Piazecne Rabbe, … Read the rest The post Ha’azinu 5783: Breathing God into Our Lives first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Ha’azinu 5783: Breathing God into Our Lives at Elmad Online Learning.

How do we approach the complicated dynamic in the High Holiday liturgy? What is the dynamic between Rosh Hashana’s haftarah reading of the Binding of Isaac and Yom Kippur’s reading of the Book of Jonah? Credits: Rabbi Brent Spodek and … Read the rest The post Yom Kippur 5783: Everything is Contingent first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Yom Kippur 5783: Everything is Contingent at Elmad Online Learning.

This Rosh Hashana podcast is sponsored by Ricki and David Bernstein in memory of Ricki’s parents, Beatrice and Murray Kirschblat, survivors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, respectively. Beatrice and Murray were each the sole survivors of large families which perished in … Read the rest The post Rosh Hashana 5783: Two Days, Two Messages? first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Rosh Hashana 5783: Two Days, Two Messages? at Elmad Online Learning.

Love learning Jewish history? Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 1: Prologue: A New Perspective Season 6 of The Jewish Story has finally begun! Here is a prologue to help frame … Read the rest The post The Jewish Story Season 6 – Prologue: A New Perspective first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading The Jewish Story Season 6 – Prologue: A New Perspective at Elmad Online Learning.

How does the law of bikkurim (sacrifice of the first fruits) relate to the Exodus from Egypt? Why does the blessing from the farmer use the plural tense, and why would a farmer who had never experienced the Exodus need … Read the rest The post Ki Tavo: History and Memory – The Declaration of the First Fruits first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Ki Tavo: History and Memory – The Declaration of the First Fruits at Elmad Online Learning.

This week’s parsha depicts four modes of administration in ancient Israel. What are these four centers of societal leadership, and how do they interact? How does our parsha give us room to consider our own political climate? What does this … Read the rest The post Shoftim: Judge, King, Priest, Prophet. first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Shoftim: Judge, King, Priest, Prophet. at Elmad Online Learning.

In this week’s Pardes Parsha Podcast, Aviva Lauer joins Rabbi Michael Hattin to discuss parashat Re’eh. As the people of Israel prepare for their entry into the land of Israel, Moses teaches them that God will choose the place for … Read the rest The post Parashat Re’eh: The Place that God Will Choose first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Re’eh: The Place that God Will Choose at Elmad Online Learning.

This podcast is sponsored by Suzana and Alan Caro in memory of Avi West z”l. A brilliant educator and master teacher, Avi touched the lives of thousands of Jews in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. His breadth of knowledge spanned … Read the rest The post Parashat Ekev: Yearning for a Challenge first appeared on Elmad Online Learning. Continue reading Parashat Ekev: Yearning for a Challenge at Elmad Online Learning.