We are at the point in the Jewish Calendar: Yom HaShoa, Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut, where the meaning and spiritual purpose of Jewish People-hood are at the center of our thoughts and aspirations. Join Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield for an exciting conversation with Marc Rosenberg, Director of pre-aliya at Nefesh B'Nefesh, where they reflect on different approaches to religious Zionism, and discuss how diaspora Jews are either connecting to or distancing themselves from Zionism and the State of Israel. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

The asylum seekers issue is dividing Israel and the Jewish world and presenting a tremendous challenge to the cohesiveness of Israeli society.  Is Israel simply pursuing a rational immigration policy and protecting its resources and citizens, or are we failing in our moral and ethical responsibility as a Jewish state?  Join Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield for a conversation with Jean-Marc Liling, a lawyer and advocate for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrant workers in Israel.  Jean Marc expresses passionate views about how he wants Israel to reflect what he believes to be the values and aspirations of the Torah texts he loves and studies. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

Join Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield for a special episode of This Pardes Life for Tu B'Shvat with Aviva Lauer, a master educator and Director of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. In this podcast, they discuss cultivating a Jewish approach to environmentalism. Aviva traces the development of the significance of Tu B'Shvat from Mishnaic times to today, and shares how this process of creative development over time and changing circumstances can be a blueprint for how contemporary Jews can feel both rooted in tradition and discover new, personally relevant lessons in Jewish practice. For further reading, see Aviva's article on The Many (Authentic) Facelifts of Tu B’Shvat. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

Join Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield for an exciting discussion with Dr. Rachel Korazim, a master educator who uses close readings of Israeli literature as a vehicle to explore the questions of modern Jewish identity and contemporary Israel. In our discussion of a poem by Yehuda Amichai, Rachel challenges us to question simplistic notions of secularism, nationalism, and Judaism. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

The Pardes Day School Educators Program has produced an impressive number of North American Jewish day school educators who are bright, passionate, creative and caring. Listen in as three of our best share their thoughts on Jewish education and their personal commitment to impacting the lives of young Jews. We hear about their challenges and successes, and their thoughts about the future of day school education. Deborah Anstandig (Cohort 8; teaches at the Heschel School in New York City), Cara Abrams-Simonton (Cohort 13; teaches at the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle), and Tani Cohen-Fraade (Cohort 13: teaches at the Luria School in Brooklyn). You can also take part in the campaign to help find the best new talent out there for the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. Click here for more information and to get involved.

Matt Bar is a poet, rapper, Jewish educator and a student of Torah. In this episode of This Pardes Life, Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield and Matt explore how Jewish texts and Jewish wisdom inform his art and how he pursues both his artistic, creative truth along with his ongoing commitment to finding meaning and inspiration in Torah. Matt's humor, insight and excitement come through in this Rapper-Rabbi havruta. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

In the third episode of this season's installment of This Pardes Life, which was recorded live, Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield talks to Dean Dr. David Bernstein. David explores with us a powerful text from the Holocaust and shares how being the child of survivors and growing up in the shadow of the Shoa has inspired his vision and passion for Jewish education and his mission to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people. Zvi and David also discuss the broader questions of the role of the Holocaust in modern Jewish identity and if we doing enough to integrate the experience of the shoa into contemporary Judaism and Jewish life. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

In the second episode of this season's This Pardes Life, Rabbanit Nechama Goldman Barash, an Orthodox Jewish feminist who has been studying and teaching Jewish rabbinic and halakhic texts for years, shares her fascinating struggle of holding both a deep love and reverence for Rabbinic texts and Halakha while simultaneously bringing to them a critique born out of a modern, feminist perspective. As she walks us through a text that appears to convey a harsh attitude towards women on the part of the Sages, she demonstrates how close reading and appreciation of irony can yield a reading of the source that makes it meaningful and insightful without apologetics. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

We're excited to launch the 3rd series of This Pardes Life. In the first episode, join Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield as he explores the challenging issues of prayer in Judaism with Rabbi Leon Morris, President of Pardes. Through the lens of a text in Tractate Yoma, Leon shares his struggle to balance personal integrity with a commitment to traditional liturgy and frameworks of Jewish prayer. He explores how this tension can be both difficult but also inspiring and exciting. This Pardes Life sees Pardes teacher Rabbi Zvi Hirshfield gets up close and personal with fellow teachers and alumni talking about life, texts and Pardes. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.

In the last episode of this season, join us and explore how the well-known and highly respected teacher and spiritual mentor Yiscah Smith found inspiration in the writings of Rav Kook to live in the tension between the demands of traditional Judaism and the truth in her own heart.  Yiscah offers us the opportunity to think about how personal integrity and authenticity are an essential part of a meaningful Jewish life. See www.elmad.pardes.org/thispardeslife for other episodes in this series.