The Jewish calendar gives us the same holidays every year—but do we encounter them the same way each time?
In Hanukah, Pesach and Purim Walk into a Bar, the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators takes a playful title and turns it into a serious invitation to explore the Jewish year more deeply. Hosted by Pardes faculty member Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield, each episode brings together Jewish educators to share a text that opens a new window onto a holiday or moment in the Jewish calendar.
The series moves beyond Hanukah, Pesach, and Purim to explore Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Shavuot, Tu Bishvat, Rosh Chodesh, and the Jewish fast days. Guests include Pardes educators Aviva Lauer Golbert, Sefi Kraut, Rabbi Michael Hattin, Rabbi Zvi Grumet, Rabbi Reuven Margrett, Rachel Friedrichs, Penny Joel, Susan Yammer, and others.
Together, they ask the kinds of questions that can transform a familiar holiday into an opportunity for renewed learning. What does it really mean to receive Torah? What can Rosh Chodesh teach us about renewal? What are we mourning when we fast? How might the rituals of Sukkot engage not only our minds but our senses?
Created especially with educators in mind, the series offers texts, questions, and perspectives that can enrich classrooms, holiday tables, and personal practice alike—inviting listeners to return to the Jewish calendar each year ready to discover something new.
