Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

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Teshuvah

September 3, 2026

What I’ve Learned (So Far) About Teshuvah From “The Good Place”

This is what I said in an episode I recorded for our podcast Tov! about the TV show “The Good Place” and Jewish ideas, just before Rosh Hashanah in 2023. You can listen to this specific episode on the Tov! website here or on YouTube here. Or find Tov! on any favorite podcast app. Hey!… Continue reading

Calendar, Ethics, High Holidays, Holidays, Jewish Education, Maimonides, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Teshuvah, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
July 17, 2026

Four Takes on the Book of Deuteronomy (Shabbat Chazon, Devarim 5782/2022)

This was my D’var Torah on August 26, 2022 for Parashat Devarim, the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy. When you look at the Torah in the scroll or even in a book, it all looks the same – the stories, the laws, the recipes for meals at the altar, the census lists and travelogues,… Continue reading

Books, Brit, Calendar, Devarim, High Holidays, History, Holidays, Jewish Education, Leadership, Moshe, Parashat Hashavua, Prophets, Simchat Torah, Study, Synagogue, Teshuvah, Torah
February 10, 2025

A Year of Jewish Ethics #10: Teshuvah

One of the most fundamental Jewish ethical practices is teshuvah. Teshuvah is the word that’s often translated as “repentance” and is too often just associated in people’s minds with the season of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Yamim Nora’im or Days of Awe. The word teshuvah has a broader meaning of “going back” or… Continue reading

A Year of Jewish Ethics, Bereshit, Ethics, Maimonides, Middot, Miketz, Parashat Hashavua, Teshuvah, Vayeshev, Vayiggash, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
June 27, 2024

The Grape Cluster and the Two Who Carry It: A D’var Torah for Pride

This is the D’var Torah I gave for Pride Shabbat 5781/2021, for Parashat Sh’lach L’cha (Numbers 13:1-15:41). I love this parasha about the scouts, the m’raglim, and the fact that the Torah is so brutally honest about how hard it is to go forward even to a land of milk and honey, even when the… Continue reading

Calendar, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Friendship, GLBT, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, LGBTQ+, Parashat Hashavua, Sh’lach L’cha, Teens, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
October 1, 2022

My Rosh Hashanah Sermons From Last Week

Here are my sermons from Rosh Hashanah 5783: First day:Help Me Talk About What I've Been Through and Who I Am Second day:Right-ology: How to Be Right Better in the New Year Wishing everyone a Shana Tova Umetukah, a good and sweet new year! Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Elul, Ethics, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Middot, Midrash, Prayer, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Speech Ethics, Spirituality, Synagogue, Talmud, Teacher-Student Relationship, Television, Teshuvah, Theology, Torah, Tov! Podcast, USA, Yamim Noraim
September 8, 2022

Best of My Past High Holy Day Sermons

These are to me the best of my Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur sermons from years past. I'm collecting them here because you find them useful to read and think about in Elul. They aren't in chronological or any particular order. Hope In An Uncertain World (5777/2016)What the Chanukkah dreidel can teach us about four… Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Gratitude, Hakarat Hatov, High Holidays, Hope, Justice, Leadership, Middot, Patience, Ritual, Rosh Hashanah, Shabbat, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Youth
September 5, 2022

Media From Me for Elul — Tov! Podcast, Maimonides YouTubes

We're deep into Season 3 of Tov!, my podcast about The Good Place and Jewish ideas related to teshuvah. You can find all the most recent episodes here, or type "Tov!" into your favorite podcast app. Also, I have been logging in at 12:36pm Eastern time each weekday this Elul to teach and talk about some classic teaching about teshuvah, mostly… Continue reading

Calendar, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, Halacha, High Holidays, Holidays, Maimonides, Ritual, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Talmud, Teshuvah, Torah, Tov! Podcast, Yamim Noraim
June 21, 2022

The Moral, the Political, and the Partisan

This was the D’var Torah I gave for Parashat Behar on May 21, 2022. The original text is below; an adaptation is in the video here, slightly updated in the fall of 2025. Whenever people suggest that Judaism could be separate from politics, I think about this week’s parasha. The Shabbaton and the Yovel (the… Continue reading

Behar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Election, Ethics, Exodus, Freedom, Justice, Leadership, Middot, Parashat Hashavua, Spirituality, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, USA
June 20, 2022

In the Midst, All at Once: A Torah for Pride 5782

This was the D'var Torah I gave for Parashat B’haalotcha on June 18, 2022. When the same passage of Torah comes at you from four different sources the same week, you have to pay attention. I always look forward to Parashat B’haalotcha because it’s the start of the frisky Torah, the Torah of complaining. It’s… Continue reading

B’haalotcha, Conservative Judaism, Current Affairs, Education, Equality, Ethics, GLBT, Inclusion, Jewish Education, Justice, LGBTQ+, Parashat Hashavua, Synagogue, Temple Beth Abraham, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 18, 2021

Tov! Podcast Chapter 3 Is Up!

On “The Good Place” Michael tries to guide Chidi and Janet toward new things, but it’s Eleanor who finds unexpected inspiration because of Tahani. So on the podcast, Jon Spira-Savett and Audrey Marcus Berkman explore reincarnation Jewish-style and who the teacher you need turns out to be. Continue reading

Calendar, Education, Elul, Ethics, Foregiveness, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Spirituality, Study, Talmud, Teacher-Student Relationship, Television, Teshuvah, Torah, Yamim Noraim, Yom Kippur, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
August 8, 2021

Launching Tov! The Podcast About “The Good Place” and Jewish Ideas

If you're a fan of "The Good Place" and at all connected to Jews or Judaism, try out my new podcast that I'm creating with a bunch of colleagues! Tov! is on all the major podcast platforms, and it will be a fun and interesting way to explore some Jewish texts and ideas. Check out the… Continue reading

Calendar, Education, Ethics, Foregiveness, Gossip, Harry Potter, High Holidays, Holidays, Hope, Jewish Education, Lashon Hara, Leadership, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Soul, Study, Talmud, Television, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Tzedakah, Web/Tech, Weblogs, Yamim Noraim, Young Jewish Adult, Youth
September 24, 2020

My Rosh Hashanah Sermons 5781 (2020)

Rosh Hashanah 5781 (2020) Day 1 6 Feet Closer Rosh Hashanah 5781 (2020) Day 2 Hope Continue reading

Calendar, Coronavirus, Current Affairs, Election, Elul, Ethics, High Holidays, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Middot, Rosh Hashanah, Spirituality, Temple Beth Abraham, Teshuvah, Tikkun Olam, Torah, USA, Yamim Noraim