Welcome to the Pardes Library

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Hasidic approaches to AI

In November 2022, OpenAI – a non-profit organization – released a free preview of ChatGPT. This triggered widespread interest in generative AI and leading to the ongoing AI boom. By March 2023, OpenAI released a new model – GPT-4 –…

Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

Article

Hasidic Tales of Pope Joan

The notion of a women serving as pontifex maximus, the bishop of Rome, sovereign of papal states, and the visible head of the Catholic Church – seems incongruous. Yet a legend first recorded in the thirteenth century identifies just such…

Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

Article

Prayers of Silence

The Passover Seder night is all about the faculty of speech. We talk, explain, pose questions and offer answers, discuss, and recount the story of our people. Indeed, the Hebrew word for Passover, Pesah, is a portmanteau for peh sah…

Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Jewish Prayer, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

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Preparing or wing it?

Rabbi Yitzhak of Radziwiłłów was active as a hasidic master in the early nineteenth century. His father, the maggid (preacher) Rabbi Yehiel Mikhel of Złoczów (1731-1780s), was a hasidic leader in the early days of nascent Hasidism. Each of Rabbi…

Self & Spirituality, Spirituality, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

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Meeting of minds and hearts

The Battle of the Vale of Siddim – or as it is known in Jewish tradition: The War of the Four Kings against the Five (Genesis 14:1-17) – was a result of longstanding tensions in the Jordan River plain during…

Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne, Hasidic Lore Series, Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Laws of Government

Article

Judging God’s sins

In 1933, Rabbi Yisrael Bekmeister (1877-1954) published a twenty-page collection of hasidic tales. The collection included a fascinating tale that speaks to assessing the past year, as we approach the High Holy Days. **** Bekmeister’s slender booklet included fifteen tales…

Self & Spirituality, Reflection, Spirituality, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne, Jewish Calendar

Article

Is Jewish law more important than everything?

A 1907 collection of hasidic tales by Rabbi Yisrael Berger (1855-1919), Eser Orot, offered a bevy of tales about Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdyczów (1740-1809). Rabbi Berger was one of the key transmitters of hasidic tales, publishing a tetralogy that…

Self & Spirituality, Reflection, Spirituality, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

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Praying for peace

Likkutei Tefillot is one of the fascinating books in the hasidic library. Written by Rabbi Natan Sternhartz of Nemirov (1780-1844), it does not fit neatly in the classic genres of hasidic writing. The work, as we have it today, is…

Self & Spirituality, Jewish Prayer, Reflection, Spirituality, Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne

Article

The Tisch: Omer Obsession

The following article was published on April 13, 2020. Many people obsess over counting the Omer. “Did you count yet?” “What was last night?” “Don’t forget to count!” In fact, this obsession has roots in Jewish, and specifically hasidic, tradition.…

Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne, Hasidic Lore Series, Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Jewish Calendar

Article

With God While Eating

Enjoy learning with Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper? Check out his podcast series! The following article is the second in the series “Navigating Excessive Spirituality”.   With God While Eating Dov Ehrman was born around 1860 and grew up in the…

Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne, Hasidic Lore Series, Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Navigating Excessive Spirituality

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Making Time for Torah Learning – Practical Tips

Originally published June 18, 2015, with the conclusion of the 2022-2023 academic year, we’ve decided to bring this article back as a reminder to all of us that the Torah learning goes on. Who’s Carrying the Torah? The noisy din…

Teaching Resources & Education, Philosophy of Education, Self & Spirituality, Reflection, Torah Study

Article

Intense Devekut

Enjoy learning with Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper? Check out his podcast series! The following article is the first in the series “Navigating Excessive Spirituality”. Intense Devekut The goal of the mystic is to reach a state of devekut. The experience…

Podcast Series, The Maggid of Melbourne, Hasidic Lore Series, Self & Spirituality, Hasidut, Navigating Excessive Spirituality

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