Repentance: The Meaning and Practice of Teshuvah
An inspiring way to reclaim your integrity and renew your sense of moral purpose.
"Like water, teshuvah is both destructive and creative. It dissolves the person you were but simultaneously provides the moisture you need to grow anew. It erodes the hard edges of your willfulness but also refreshens your spirit. It can turn the tallest barriers of moral blindness into rubble while it also gently nourishes the hidden seeds of hope buried deep in your soul. Teshuvah, like water, has the power both to wash away past sin and to shower you with the blessing of a new future, if only you trust it and allow yourself to be carried along in its current." —from Part VII
In this candid and comprehensive probe into the nature of moral transgression and spiritual healing, Dr. Louis E. Newman examines both the practical and philosophical dimensions of teshuvah, Judaism's core religious-moral teaching on repentance, and its value for us—Jews and non-Jews alike—today. He exposes the inner logic of teshuvah as well as the beliefs about God and humankind that make it possible. He also charts the path of teshuvah, revealing to us how we can free ourselves from the burden of our own transgressions by:
- Acknowledging our transgressions
- Confessing
- Feeling remorse
- Apologizing
- Making restitution
- Soul reckoning
- Avoiding sin when the next opportunity arises
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Book details
- Author
- Dr. Louis E. Newman
- Imprint
- Jewish Lights, an imprint of Turner Publishing Company
- Published
- Pages
- 256
- Formats
- Hardcover, Paperback
- Subjects
- Religion › Judaism
Religion › Spirituality - ISBN-13
- 9781580234269 (Hardcover)9781580237185 (Paperback)
About the author
DR. LOUIS E. NEWMAN is the John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. His books include Doing Teshuvah: Undoing Mistakes, Repairing Relationships and Finding Inner Peace, An Introduction to Jewish Ethics and Past Imperatives: Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics.
Newman holds a doctoral degree and specializes in the history and theory of Jewish ethics.
When not writing, Newman leads scholar-in-residence weekends and repentance workshops, speaking on topics ranging from Jewish approaches to repentance and ethics to the relationship between Torah and politics. This work in Jewish moral reasoning runs throughout his writing.