What is the Pardes Method of Torah Study and Dvar Torah Creation

Sample Chapter: The Four Dimensions of Torah Study and Dvar Torah Creation, the PaRDeS Model
from Reclaiming Bar/Bat Mitzvah as a Spiritual Rite of Passage: An Empowering Guide for Students, Families, Educators, and Clergy by Rabbi Goldie Milgram 

Pardes means “paradise” in Hebrew. How do you think the ancient rabbinic sages would imagine paradise? A Jewish folk tale gives their vision of paradise as spending eternity sitting near the tree of knowledge in the garden of Eden learning Torah. Actually, we can all experience this kind of Eden in the here and now because paradise is a state of mind that can happen during Torah study.

On this website in the Sample Chapter sections from Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah, you have experienced the four-dimensional model for Torah study called PaRDeS, which takes its name from the sound of the first letter of each dimension:

P’shat is the simple, basic story: who said and did what with whom, how and what came of it.

Remez are hints in the language of the text, such as metaphors that open up opportunities for deeper meaning.

D’rash are the missing dialogue and difficulties in the text that your imagination can fill in and so expand the inspiration and meaning.

Sod is the secret. What hidden meanings are embedded in the text that will help you relate to it today?

For Example, Take Careful Note of Names

Interpretive opportunity knocks within the names of people and places in the Torah. Names help tell the story.

For example, Exodus 19 mentions by name the places in the wilderness through which the Israelites wandered for thirty-seven years; these names appear nowhere else in the Torah. Each name has a root word that describes an experience; for example, the first is Rimon Peretz. Rimon means “pomegranate,” and peretz means “burst.” In modern Hebrew rimon means both pomegranate and hand grenade. This portion could contain the seed of opportunity for a d’var Torah on issues of territoriality in the Middle East.

Yitro (Jethro), the father-in-law of Moses, is a Midianite priest. This is an interesting opportunity to create a d’var Torah on intermarriage. Moses has married a Midianite woman. What will his relationship with his in-laws be like? The Torah gives us a clue, perhaps, because [Numbers 10:29] Yitro is also called Reul, meaning “friend of God.” In fact, Yitro teaches Moses how to develop a leadership infrastructure so that he doesn’t have to handle every Israelite who needs guidance or has a gripe himself. Many Bar and Bat Mitzvah students have one parent who isn’t Jewish, who is, at the same time, wonderfully supportive of the child or stepchild’s B-Mitzvah process. This portion might create an entry point to speaking about this sensitive subject.