Louis E. Newman is John M. and Elizabeth W. Musser Professor of Religious Studies, emeritus, Carleton College, and former dean of academic advising at Stanford University. He is the author of several books in Jewish ethics, including Repentance: The Meaning and Practice of Teshuvah (Jewish Lights), An Introduction to Jewish Ethics (Prentice-Hall) and Past Imperatives: Studies in the History and Theory of Jewish Ethics (SUNY Press), as well as co-editor (with Elliot N. Dorff) of several volumes on Jewish ethics and theology. His most recent book is Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success (Radius Book Group, 2023), and he currently works as a College Success Coach.
Jewish resources can bolster a defense of higher education at a time when it is threatened and discredited.
An “argument for the sake of heaven” is one in which both sides share a commitment to uncovering the truth and to the value of respectful disagreement.
We must stand firm in the face of the current administration’s attacks on those who have suffered from historic injustices.
We’re living through the disintegration of American Jewish civil religion as we have known it.
It is said that caring for the dead in this way — an opportunity to perform what our tradition rightly calls hesed shel emet, an act of true lovingkindness — is the ultimate act of selfless devotion, for we do it knowing that it can never be reciprocated.
Many Jewish texts, ancient and modern, encourage us to forgive those who injure us, even when they themselves have not acknowledged the injury or asked for forgiveness. When we forgive, we let go of our injury and can proceed with compassion.
Professor Louis Newman helps to launch us into the spirit of the month of Elul and the High Holy Days that follow.
Serving as central organization of the Reconstructionist movement
Training the next generation of groundbreaking rabbis
Modeling respectful conversations on pressing Jewish issues
Curating original, Jewish rituals, and convening Jewish creatives
