By Miriam Lichtenberg The voice of the Talmud is rich and dense. When studying it, I find myself deeply immersed in its dialogues and conversations, enjoying the back and forth nature of the text and understanding its Halachik decisions. When our cohort had the privilege to hear from Ilana Kurshan, I realized the ways that […]
By Ben de Toledo Growing up at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute and its affiliate Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, the Judaism that shaped my identity was defined by creativity, pluralism, artistic expression, and spirituality. In the years since I graduated highschool and left that unique Jewish community, I have constantly found myself seeking out creative Jewish […]
By Hannah Gilfix “If you can’t stop thinking about it, don’t stop working for it.” –Michael Jordan. This is a quote that Zeev Ben Shachar shared with us that has really resonated with me. Throughout this semester we’ve been given the opportunity to hear from a wide variety of speakers, travel Israel while learning about […]
By Shira Forester Immediately following havdalah during the Tzfat Shabbaton, we all embarked on a journey towards Amuka. This is a pilgrimage that a number of Jews have gone on, and many will continue to embark on in the future. After a long, dark, somewhat nauseating journey deep into the forests that surround the city […]
By Elana Pogal Several weeks ago, we had the privilege of hearing from Yossi Klein HaLevi, a famed journalist and the author of the acclaimed book, Like Dreamers. In his book, HaLevi tells the individual stories of the group of paratroopers who liberated Jerusalem during the Six Day War. As evidenced by his book’s structure, […]
By Nathan Schachter After a much needed, relaxing and spiritual Pesach vacation, we came back together as a cohort with the unique opportunity to meet Rav Yoel Bin Nun. Most known for his heroic service in the Six Day War which we read about in Yossi Klein Halevi’s Like Dreamers, Rav Yoel began with his firsthand […]
By Meital Gewirtz Earlier this semester we heard from Shalom Orzach, a senior educator at iCenter for Israel Education where he works at developing Israel educational resources for Jewish educators. Shalom aims to create experiential programs to teach students about Israel and the role it may play in shaping one’s Jewish identity. Shalom joined us […]
By Leah Sherin During the course of the semester, we have participated in different “units”, from Israeli Education, to Jewish Professions. Many of us were anticipating our unit on Israeli politics, wondering how our Shabbaton in Alon Shvut and many speakers on different political issues would affect our group dynamic and bring out our political […]
By Mady Frischer When I was 13 I wrapped tefillin for the first time. When I was 13 all the “post-b’nai mitzvah kids” had to take a class where we woke up early on sundays, wrapped tefillin and felt it dig into our skin while Rabbi Alex talked at us for an hour and half. […]
By Hannah Taylor Going into the weekend, I knew little about the community of the Alon Shvut. I knew we were visiting a community that was considered a settlement in the West Bank, but I did not know what that would look like or what kinds of people lived there. When we arrived at the […]
