Celebrating Michael Simon

There are so, so many. One moment that comes to mind is the time during midday announcements in the Beit Midrash when Leah Solomon and Miriam Margles mentioned that The Nesiya Institute was looking for madrichim for Summer 2002. I followed up, which led to my first Jewish communal job.

I learned Talmud for the first time at Pardes. I also learned mishna, halacha, and midrash for the first time at Pardes. In a sense, I did my first real, sustained Torah learning of my life at Pardes. I went on my first tiyulim in the desert and Shabbatonim with Pardes. So many gifts!

My very favorite class at Pardes was my Tanakh class taught by Judy Klitsner. This took place during my second year at Pardes, when I was a Fellow. This was also the year after Marla and Ben had been killed (along with seven others) and Jamie had been injured (along with dozens of others) in the terrorist attack at Hebrew University. For me, that year was incredibly painful — often, it was difficult just to get out of bed, let alone to come to Pardes and try to get through a day of learning. But Judy’s class — which would have been special anytime — became an anchor, a pathway back toward meaning. The wordplay and connections that Judy helped us to see, the questions I got to explore in hevruta, the reminders of how vast our tradition of learning are and how we’re connected across thousands of years of tradition — all of those were like lifelines for me, every day.

My favorite spot in Jerusalem — can I pick 3? Actually, can I pick 30?

I have so many ways that I’d like to answer this question. I’d want to bring back Martin Luther King, Jr., to talk about social justice and racial justice in America. I’d want to bring back Moshe and ask him if all of it — if any of it — is true. Same with Jacob. Same with David. I’d want to bring back the women of the Torah whose voices are so often muffled or missing. I’d want to bring back my mom, and my dad, and my grandparents.

I am incredibly fortunate that I have the opportunity to work with smart, kind, passionate, and caring students who are interested in making a positive difference in the world. I am most proud when I see what students who I have worked with in recent years are now doing out in their communities, building wonderful friendships and families, and helping to make the world a better place in small and large ways.

It is difficult to imagine that I would be who I am in 2023 if it weren’t for my experiences at Pardes. As I often say, during 2001-2002 I fell in love with Israel, with Torah learning, and with Marla — all of this took place while I was at Pardes. My love of Torah learning and Israel became the foundation for my looking into work in the Jewish communal world that summer at Nesiya, and then when I was ready to return to the U.S. in August 2003. There is a direct line from Pardes to Nesiya to Harvard Hillel, where the Executive Director was Bernie Steinberg, a renowned Pardes alum who became my mentor and one of my most important teachers.