Yiscah Smith is an adjunct faculty member at Pardes, where she teaches Hasidism and spiritual texts. A spiritual activist, educator, mentor, and meditation guide, Yiscah approaches Judaism as a spiritual practice rooted in the encounter with the Divine spark within and beyond oneself. Yiscah holds a Master’s Degree in Jewish Education from The Jewish Theological Seminary.
Yiscah’s passion is encouraging and empowering others to carve their own paths. Her work takes many forms: faculty at Pardes, Applied Jewish Spirituality, and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality; founder and director of Conscious Community Nachlaot in Jerusalem; international lecturer; and author of Planting Seeds of the Divine: Torah Commentaries to Cultivate Your Spiritual Practice. As an avid gardener, Yiscah also enables her passion for growth to find expression in the natural world.
How do we know when it’s time to leave the familiar behind? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yiscah Smith explore Avraham’s response to the call of Lech Lecha and what it means to leave the familiar behind. Was Avraham…
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Personalities, Biblical personalities, Self & spirituality
What if leaving Egypt is not only a story about the Jewish past, but a spiritual journey we are invited to make ourselves? In Rav Kook on the Haggadah, Pardes faculty member Yiscah Smith leads listeners through a ten-part exploration…
Podcast series, Rav Kook on the Haggadah with Yiscah Smith
What does it mean to see each moment as either a blessing or a curse? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yiscah Smith explore Parshat Re’eh and Moshe’s call to “see” the blessing and the curse. They discuss how Torah…
Tanakh, Torah, Devarim (Deuteronomy), Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast, Re’eh
In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yiscah Smith explore Parshat Shemot, the beginning of the Book of Exodus, focusing on the spiritual and physical challenges of the Jewish people’s exile in Egypt. They discuss the transition from individual to communal…
Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast, Tanakh, Torah, Shemot (Exodus), Shemot
How can we remain hopeful amid life’s turbulent “floodwaters”? In this week’s Parshat Noach episode, Zvi Hirschfield is joined by Yiscah Smith to explore the relevance of Noah’s story and how, even amid overwhelming turmoil, one can find an “ark”…
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Noach, Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast
How can a single word in the Torah guide us toward deeper spiritual understanding? In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Yizcah Smith dive into Parshat Ekev, exploring the profound spiritual insights hidden within the word “Ekev.” They discuss how the…
Tanakh, Torah, Devarim (Deuteronomy), Eikev, Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast
Can we transform the “bread of affliction” into the “bread of redemption” this Passover?” Yiscah Smith returns this week with a call for us to see ourselves (“l’rot atzmo”) as leaving spiritual enslavement each Passover. Drawing from the Piazner Rebbe…
Jewish calendar, Pesach
Dive on in as Yiscah Smith joins Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield to discuss the story of the Red Sea, reminding us that we had to first jump into the water before it would split. Can we view faith as a concious…
Tanakh, Torah, Shemot (Exodus), Beshalach, Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast
Do we allow our pursuit of spirituality to get in the way of true divine connection? In this week’s episode of Pardes from Jerusalem, Yiscah Smith and Rabbi Zvi Hirschfield discuss Parshat Vayera through the lens of human and divine…
Tanakh, Torah, Bereishit (Genesis), Podcast series, Pardes Parsha Podcast, Vayera
Discover how to connect to your authentic self and build an ongoing relationship with the Divine Presence within you.