We are pleased to welcome renowned scholar of Jewish ethics, Louis Newman, as a Scholar-in-Residence. Dr. Newman will offer a d'var Torah during Shabbat morning services and lead a post-kiddush study session.

Scroll down for the topics of the presentations and to register.

Dr. Newman is the author most recently of Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success (Radius Book Group, 2023). From 2016 - 2022, he served as the Dean of Academic Advising and Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. From 1983 - 2016, he was on the faculty of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he is now the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus. During his tenure at Carleton, he also served as the Humphrey Doermann Professor of Liberal Learning and the Director of the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching (2010-13) and as Associate Dean of the College and Director of Advising at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota (2013-16). He is also Former Dean of Academic Advising and Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Stanford University.

One of the country’s leading scholars of Jewish ethics, he is the author of several books: Repentance: The Meaning and Practice of Teshuvah (Jewish Lights 2010), Past Imperatives: Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics (SUNY Press, 1998) and An Introduction to Jewish Ethics (Prentice Hall, 2005). He also co-edited, with Elliot Dorff, two anthologies, Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality (Oxford University Press, 1995) and Contemporary Jewish Theology (Oxford University Press, 1999), as well as three volumes in the Jewish Choices, Jewish Voices series (Jewish Publication Society, 2008/09) that address contemporary moral issues from a range of Jewish perspectives.

D'var Torah (~11:30 am): "Soul Reckoning: Are You Prepared for the New Year?"

What does “doing teshuvah” require of us?  How do we begin the process and how do we know when we are done? Long before “12 step programs” entered the lexicon, our classical sources spelled out a very well defined path to coming to terms with our moral failings and turning our lives around. Come explore how we can begin this process of renewal as we enter the New Year.