Core Teaching Values

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.