Welcome to the Pardes Library

Halakha and the Gay community – Rahel

by Rabbi Rahel Berkovits

Jewish living, Halakha, Self & spirituality, Sexuality

Culpability for Curses in Jewish Law and Mystical Lore

Would a court judging according to Jewish Law find Voldemort guilty for the murders of James and Lily Potter? Voldemort had the intention to kill, yet the legal question is: Would Jewish Law consider the Killing Curse to be an act of…

by Dr. Levi Cooper

Jewish living, Halakha

Prenuptial Agreements for the Prevention of Get-Refusal

The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies was thrilled to welcome Dr. Rachel Levmore who came to talk to students on the important topic of Prenuptial Agreements for the Prevention of Get-Refusal: One solution to the worldwide problem.

by Rachel Levmore

Jewish living, Halakha, Marriage and divorce, Critical issues, Modernity

Would You Murder and Also Inherit? A Biblical Story of Crimes, Misdemeanors, and Other Addictions

Contributor to the 2014 Global Day of Jewish Learning. In a shocking biblical narrative, a king of Israel embarks on a spiral of crimes culminating in murder. Judy Klitsner examines the appetites and processes that lead from misdemeanor to crime;…

by Judy Klitsner

Jewish living, Halakha, Critical issues, Mahloket Matters/conflict resolution

The Cantor, the Mystic, and the Jurist

Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt (1882-1933) was offered an opportunity that would make any performer swoon: a star role in the ground-breaking film The Jazz Singer (1927). Yet Rosenblatt refused this artistic opportunity of the lifetime. This paper contextualises Rosenblatt’s baffling decision,…

by Dr. Levi Cooper

Jewish living, Halakha, Self & spirituality, Hasidut, Critical issues, Modernity

Masturbation

An examination of some of the halakhic sources which govern premarital sexual behavior, with an eye to understanding the texts on their own terms, as well as an openness to challenging them from modern reality, and thinking about ways to…

by Jennie Rosenfeld

Jewish living, Halakha, Self & spirituality, Sexuality

Premarital Sex

An examination of some of the halakhic sources which govern premarital sexual behavior, with an eye to understanding the texts on their own terms, as well as an openness to challenging them from modern reality, and thinking about ways to…

by Jennie Rosenfeld

Jewish living, Halakha

Shomer Negiya

An examination of some of the halakhic sources which govern premarital sexual behavior, with an eye to understanding the texts on their own terms, as well as an openness to challenging them from modern reality, and thinking about ways to…

by Jennie Rosenfeld

Jewish living, Halakha, Self & spirituality, Sexuality

The Challenge of Sexuality in Halakha

An examination of some of the halakhic sources which govern premarital sexual behavior, with an eye to understanding the texts on their own terms, as well as an openness to challenging them from modern reality, and thinking about ways to…

by Jennie Rosenfeld

Jewish living, Halakha

Hanukah Candles and Mehadrin

By Mick Weinstein The hag of Hanukah has come to be associated with a whole variety of celebration throughout the Jewish world – the gathering together of families, additional expressions of gratitude in prayer (including Hallel), the eating of latkes,…

by Adam Titcher

Jewish calendar, Chanukah, Jewish living, Halakha

The Inner Essence of Mitzvat Hatzedaka

By Linda Pardes Friedburg “…U’teshuva, u’tefilla, u’tzedaka maaviirin et roah hagzera.” ” …But repentance, prayer, and the giving of tzedaka mitigate the severity of the decree.” This refrain from the machzor follows us throughout the period of the High Holy…

by Adam Titcher

Jewish living, Halakha, Self & spirituality, Hasidut, Mishnah, Pirkei Avot

A Tip From the Mohel

This past month, the Daf Yomi cycle worked its way through the 19th chapter of Mesechet Shabbat, titled Rebi Eliezer D’Milah. This chapter is the basis for almost all of Hilchot Milah (the laws of circumcision) and since I am…

by Rabbi Hayim Leiter

Jewish living, Halakha, Critical issues, Modernity, Talmud