Taught by Reb Judith Goleman

This class will look at spiritual concepts in Judaism that support a process of deepening of our love and acceptance of ourselves.

Judaism holds concepts such as these: that God’s nature indwelling inside of the creation, the Shechinah, has a profound and committed and unending love of us. That our innate true nature is part of Divinity. That our inner structure as humans may cause us to separate from or be unaware of our true nature, and we may be acting in a variety of humanly imperfect ways, but that Divinity is patiently waiting for us to return to our full and true self – these concepts can support our development of authenticity and self love.

We will draw from Jewish prayer language, as well as teachings from the Baal Shem Tov and other Kabalistic and Hasidic sources.

Rabbinic Pastor Judith Goleman, MFT, is a chaplain and also has a private practice in individual and couple counseling. As teenager she fell in love with the joyous tales of the Hasidic Rabbis of the 18th century, who saw God as the deep nature of everything in Creation (including us in our true potential). As an adult she encountered this spirit in the Jewish Renewal movement, and was lucky to study for her ordination as a Rabbinic Pastor in this spiritual approach. It also informs her psychotherapy practice.