By Ben Hersch
Every spring at my high school, we would host one or two student teachers from Pardes. Often to my surprise, I would recognize the student teacher as someone who attended or had worked at my camp. Moreover, when I heard they came from Pardes, I asked if they knew my uncle who had been teaching there for years until his recent retirement. They answered yes every time. Having recently had the opportunity to visit and learn for an afternoon at Pardes, a non-denominational institution for Jewish study, I am no longer surprised by these coincidences. Everyone we met there spoke fondly of their time spent at Pardes and it was clear that the students are there for the sake of learning and expanding their own Jewish identities.
Coincidentally, the day we visited Pardes was the same day my Uncle came in to substitute teach since he had retired. While I really enjoyed seeing him in his element, we were also treated like students, going through the motions of a class during our visit. We had the opportunity to sit in on classes, learn in chevrutah, and tie jewish texts, which belong to all Jews, to current events and modern day issues.
I understand now why every Jewish program I have been a part of has been touched by students of Pardes. The individuals who studies at Pardes seem to truly want to be there; while you can earn a degree in Jewish education through Pardes, a large amount of students are there not for a degree, but just for the sake of learning, "Torah Lishma". Similarly, everyone who works at Ramah gets paid, but most don’t return for the salary, we return summer after summer because we love it, we are passionate about instilling Jewish values in future generations of Jews, and we just care about the community we’ve built there.
