As the High Holidays approach, join CAJE for a 5-part special learning series exploring the many dimensions of teshuva - repentance, return, repair, and renewal. Taught by different CAJE faculty members, each session will open a distinct doorway into the work of the season: from the limits of forgiveness and the possibility of return, to fasting, embodiment, spiritual transformation, and the “physics” of change.
Tuesdays, Aug. 4, 11, 18, 25, Sept. 1| 10:00-11:30 am ET (virtual)
Course Schedule:
August 4 – Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger
“Is Anyone Beyond Return? Repentance, Heresy, and the Story of Elisha ben Abuya”
August 11 – Rabbi Norman Lipson
“Why Is This Fast Different From All Other Fasts? Food, Water, Words, and the Work of Return”
August 18 – Rachel Benaim-Abudarham
“Teshuva: Return to the Body-Mind-Soul Connection”
August 25 – Rabbi Jason Cook
"The Way Back: The Biblical Origins of Teshuva"
September 1 – Dr Marina Zilbergerts
“The Physics of Teshuva: Is it Possible to Change the Past and Rewrite Your Mistakes?”
| About The Instructors: |
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Dr. Bella Tendler Krieger is the director of Adult Learning and Growth at CAJE Miami. She has a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton University, an MBA from the University of Miami, and is a rabbinical student in the inaugural cohort of Rabbanut North America at the Shalom Hartman Institute. |
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Rabbi Norman Lipson moved to Miami, FL in 1955. Following graduation from the University of Miami, he entered the Hebrew-Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio and was ordained in 1972. He has served on the national staff of the Anti-Defamation League and as spiritual leader of congregations in Mississippi, Texas, Hollywood, FL and most recently Temple Dor Dorim in Weston, where he was the Founding Rabbi, and now is Emeritus.
Rachel Benaim-Abudarham is the new Assistant Director of Adult Learning at CAJE. A doctoral student, storyteller, and award-winning journalist, she brings Jewish history to life through a focus on diaspora communities, memory, and meaning. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, and The Weather Channel. A South Florida native, Rachel recently returned to Boca Raton with her husband and two children.
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Rabbi Jason Cook is the new Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth Am. He previously served as the campus rabbi at the University of Miami Hillel, where he helped students build meaningful Jewish community. Shaped by experiences with NFTY, the RAC’s L’Taken program, and work with a Jewish NGO abroad, Rabbi Cook is committed to creating loving communities where people find connection, purpose, and a deeper Jewish life.
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Dr. Marina Zilbergerts is an author and scholar of Jewish literature and thought whose work bridges the sciences, humanities, philosophy, and contemporary technology. She is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa and an Advisor with AI and Faith. Formerly Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she is the author of The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature, the poetry collection You Were Adam, and the forthcoming Genesis in the Age of AI: How Consciousness Became Human.
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