Over Shabbos I learned a beautiful talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe about Teshuva/repentance. The Rambam does not list repentance (teshuva) as one of the 613 mitzvos. Rather, *confession to G-d* (vidui) is listed as the mitzvah. The Rebbe outlines three schools of thought on why:
I read this over Shabbos.
It’s written by a self prescribed “secular” Jewish woman along with her Rabbi, Eli Schlanger.
I found it to be very thought provoking, in the way that it breaks down complex and deeply spiritual ancient Jewish ideas, in a way that can be understood by all, regardless of religious background or prior knowledge of Judaism.
Sadly, Rabbi Schlanger was gunned down and murdered by terrorists at the Bondi Beach Chanukah event in Australia in December of 2025.
I read this over Shabbos. While his case for centering Tzelem Elohim in Judaism compelling, it’s surprising that he feels the need to engage with the UN Human Rights Declaration at all, though even 17 years ago he realizes it’s been hijacked by anti-Semites.