Online Classes
Teshuvah: The Inward Turn Toward Repairing the World
Tuesdays July 28th, August 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th, September 1st & 8th · 7pm - 8:30pm
This is an online class. You will receive a link after you register.
Teshuvah is the Jewish idea of self and communal repair. It means "return," and it refers to the process by which we examine our lives and take responsibility for how we want to more fully live in accordance with what we need to be — and, in turn, what the world needs us to be. The word is often translated as "repentance," and we most often encounter it in the High Holy Day prayerbook.
In this class we will look at the different layers of teshuvah: in Torah and Talmud, in Jewish ethical literature (Mussar), and in Kabbalah. The goal is not just an analytical understanding but real tools — practices like cheshbon hanefesh (a structured accounting of one's own life and conduct), focused work on a single middah (character trait), drawn from the Mussar tradition, and meditative practices drawn from the mystical tradition. In other words, to discover how teshuvah can become a reality for us, not just an idea we study.
This course will lead us right in to Rosh Hashanah, so you will enter the High Holy Days with new perspectives on the liturgy, and more prepared to move through this season engaged in the actual process of teshuvah.
No knowledge of Hebrew is required to love this class!
This series is "Pay what you wish" - really! - but Rabbi Josh asks that you consider offering $360 total.
Core Teaching Values
These are the values that Rabbi Josh draws on to guide his teaching.
Respect (Kavod)
Questions and insights are taken seriously, no matter the learner’s Jewish background, education, or orientation. That same respect extends to the texts themselves—approached as potential sources of wisdom even when they seem challenging or strange at first glance.
Depth
Jewish teachings are sometimes flattened into slogans or simplified to make them easy to digest. Here, texts are treated as demanding, layered, and powerful—capable of speaking to the central questions of our lives when engaged with patience and rigor.
Openness
Learning begins with curiosity. Student experience and insight matter, and inquiry leads where it needs to— without predetermined conclusions. Rabbi Josh’s engagement with history, comparative theology and philosophy helps frame this open-ended inquiry.
Honesty
Reverence for tradition includes honesty about it. Jewish texts can inspire and transform. To take them seriously is to read them on their own terms, wrestle with them, be challenged by them—and to challenge them in return when they conflict with contemporary moral commitments.
Joy
Too often overlooked in Torah settings, a sense of fun and a little humor makes the learning environment accessible and enjoyable.