Scholar-in-Residence Weekends

Professor Louis E. Newman is available for scholar-in-residence weekends. Specific titles and topics can be tailored to the needs and interests of the congregation. Click here to contact Dr. Newman regarding availability.

Examples of past programs include (click to learn more):

• Reclaiming the Lost Art of Repentance
  
• Teshuvah: The 'In's and 'Out's of 'Turning'
  
• Just Do It:  Living an Ethical Jewish Life
  

Lecture at Harvard Divinity School

Louis gave the List Lecture at HDS, "To Forgive is Human:  Jewish Reflections on the Meaning and Practice of Forgiveness," on April 4, 2013.  A video of his talk is available here.

 

One-day Workshop

Teshuvah Bootcamp:  Getting Your Soul in Shape for the Holidays

Outline

Session 1:  Where Are We Going? 

We all know what teshuvah is. . .or do we?  Discover new ways of understanding repentance and its power in our lives. 

 

Session 2:  How Do We Get There?  Finding Our Way on the Path of Teshuvah 

What does real teshuvah consist of?  What qualities do we need to cultivate in order to do the work of moral transformation? 

 

Session 3:  Transforming Our Past, Re-Envisioning Our Future 

How can the mistakes of the past help us renew our moral and spiritual lives?  How can we find a balance between paying attention to our past deeds and breaking with them? 

 

Session 4:  The Promise of Teshuvah

Culminating exercise on the power and promise of repentance in our lives and reflections on where we go from here. 

 

The workshop consists of a blend of text study, personal sharing, journaling, and music. 

 

• Participants' comments:

           "Awesome.  It was the perfect way to get spiritually prepared for the holidays"

           "I recommend it to anyone interested.  Bravo!"

           "Thank you for a wonderful day."

           "The most important part of this workshop for me was the distillation of so much wisdom in a way   that I could really take it in."

           "I'm really glad I came!  You are an excellent teacher!"

           "Thank you for creating a critical thinking and safe place for us to learn and respond."

Other Topics in Jewish Ethics and Theology

• Teshuvah 101:  Where Do I Begin and How Do I Know When I'm Done?
  
• Teshuvah Exercises:  Getting Your Soul in Shape for the New Year
• Curses and Stumbling-blocks:  How to Relate to the Vulnerable Among Us
• Red Torah, Blue Torah:  Is Judaism Liberal or Conservative?
• Divine Fire:  The Passionate and Destructive Faces of God
• Food for Thought:  The Jewish Ethics of Eating
• Inheriting God:  The Meaning of El Maleh Rahamim
•  Our Money and Our Values:  Making Sense of Our Cents
• The Jews and God—The Covenant Reconsidered
• The Shema:  The Ambiguous Affirmation
• Whistle-blowing:  Am I My Brother’s (and Sister’s) Keeper?
• The Narrative and the Normative:  The Value of Stories for Jewish Ethics
• Our Bodies, Our Values:  Whose “Self” Am I?
• The Ethics of the Powerful:  Dilemmas of Professional Life
• Looking at the Dark Side:  What is the Evil Inclination and Why Does it Matter? 
• Jewish Ethics:  What Does God Have To Do With It? 
• Ethics, Faith and Healing:  Jewish Physicians' Reflections on Medical Practice
• Tzedakah:  It's Not How Much You Give That Matters 
• Ethics at the End:  Jewish Values and Care for the Dying 
• Balancing Justice and Mercy:  A Jewish View of Forgiveness
• Jewish "Law and Order":  Commandments as a Path for Spiritual Growth

 

What People are Saying about Louis Newman's Teaching

 

“Louis Newman is a fabulous teacher. He was able to present scholarly material in a warm, accessible way that engaged our congregants intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. We can't wait to invite him back!”

Rabbi Janet Marder

Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills, CA

 

 

"We were delighted to have Dr. Louis E. Newman as a scholar-in-residence at Congregation Adath Jeshurun.  Dr. Newman's presentations blended learning and charm that enthralled his audience.  He took a topic that could have been arcane and made it accessible to our congregation.  Their eager comments and questions demonstrated that he touched a deep cord within them."

Rabbi Seymour Rosenbloom

Adath Jeshurun Congregation, Elkins Park, PA

 

"Professor Louis Newman is the kind of master teacher about whom we are encouraged to 'sit at his feet and drink his words with thirst.'  He did more than explain rabbinic texts, their history and their underlying values.  He brought them to life in a way that made Jewish wisdom and Jewish tradition sophisticated yet accessible, personally relevant, compelling and beautiful."

Rabbi Alexander Davis

Beth El Synagogue, St. Louis Park, MN

 

"Louis Newman is clearly a master teacher.  With warmth and depth Professor Newman led our congregants [at Westchester Reform Temple, Scarsdale, New York] through the complex and compelling world of our rabbinic sages."

Rabbi Richard Jacobs

President, Union of Reform Judaism

 

“Louis Newman has taught in Palo Alto on a number of occasions. He is always energetic, humorous, thoughtful, and articulate.  He engages his audience with humility and honesty.  He will be a very powerful teacher on the theme of Teshuvah.  I recommend him highly.”

Rabbi Sheldon Lewis
Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto, CA

 

 

“Louis Newman never disappoints.  He always stimulates the minds and hearts of the people who are privileged to listen to him, and he does that not with bombast or demagoguery, but with calm, clear thought, down-to-earth and easily understandable language, and yet deep analysis of his subject. Everyone leaves his sessions enriched not only in thought, but in living one's life.”

Elliot Dorff, Rabbi, Ph.D.
Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
American Jewish University

 

 
“Louis Newman is a wonderful scholar, an unusually lucid thinker and a compelling speaker.  His book Repentance is brimming with psychological and spiritual insight as well as the breadth of Jewish tradition.”

                          David A. Teutsch, Rabbi, Ph.D.
                          Wiener Professor of Contemporary Jewish Civilization
                          Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

 

“Louis Newman is an excellent teacher.  Engaging and profound, he brings the text alive and is able to relate teachings to everyday life in ways both concrete and deep. Learning with him is always an enjoyable and meaningful experience.”

 

 

David Waksberg, Executive Director

Jewish Learning Works, San Francisco, CA 

 

 

"Dr. Newman came to our shul for selichot and was pitch perfect to the community and the season.  He is warm, personable, scholarly without intimidation, and deep. . .Our Holidays were shaped by this wonderful experience.  Thank you to Dr. Newman for giving us a mirror to ourselves and the chance to shape the future."

Rabbi Micah Hyman

Congregation Beth Sholom, San Francisco, CA

 

 

"Professor Newman did a beautiful job leading our eclectic Reconstructionist congregation in a very meaningful conversation on the meaning of repentance in our own lives.  He was able to draw out many different voices, so that we learned much not only from him, but from each other, as well.  Newman is certainly a wise and thoughtful scholar, and a skilled and adept moderator." 

 

Patty Diamond, Program Director

Mayim Rabim Congregation, Minneapolis, MN

 

 

"Dr. Newman was a big hit at our congregation. His presentations were well-organized, well-spoken, and addressed both the head and the heart. Both his knowledge and his menchlichkeit came through clearly. The comments I heard from members afterwards were universally and enthusiastically positive."

Rabbi Daniel Pressman

Beth David Congregation

Saratoga, CA