Returning to my True Nature:
(Self) Compassion, Forgiveness, & the Art of Teshuvah
A Virtual 4-part Elul Series
With Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Niculescu
Thursdays, August 28, Sept 4, 11 & 18, 2025
At 9am-10am PST / 12pm-1pm EST / 5pm - 6pm UK / 7pm-8pm Israel
On Zoom
*Sessions will be recorded for those who cannot make the live sessions
Discover the transformative potential of compassion & forgiveness during the sacred month of reflection and inner preparation for the High Holidays
Elul is the month of return - teshuvah.
Commonly translated as “repentance”, teshuvah really means “return”. Return to what?
In a Jewish spiritual perspective, returning to God, returning to doing good and returning to ourselves is really one and the same thing: it means returning to our true nature.
This hints to something essential about the way the Jewish tradition views human nature: we are fundamentally good.
Only along our life journey, social conditioning, wrong projections, hurtful words and difficult experiences shape various forms of defense mechanism which sometimes end up having us treat ourselves, and therefore others, from a place of harshness and judgment, defiance and resentment.
Taking responsibility for our lives and our actions is key to the practice of forgiveness we do before Kippur, in order to cleanse our systems from guilt and resentment, regret and shame.
And this process of returning to the lightness and joy of our true nature is like a flower growing from a very specific soil: self-compassion.
In a world that feels so torn and wounded right now, the Jewish mystical tradition reminds us that we have a part to play. And it starts with something as simple as looking within, taking responsibility for our mistakes as well as our needs, and taking action from a place of care and compassion, whether it is about saying I’m sorry or resetting our boundaries.
And if not now, then when?
In this course you will:
Learn Jewish texts about the freedom of responsibility and Forgiveness in the Jewish tradition
Deepen your knowledge of the Jewish view on human nature through the concepts of teshuvah, sinning and forgiving through the lens of the mussar (ethical discipline tradition)
Experiment with various Indigenous Jewish meditation techniques.
Experience secular mindfulness and healing techniques such as Loving-Kindness, R.A.I.N, somatic experiencing, journaling or dance
Give yourself the gift of a true preparation for the High Holidays and befriend yourself in the process
Who is this for?
This series is open to all, from beginner to advanced meditators and whatever your relationship with Jewish life is like. It provides a welcoming and supportive space to connect with others on a shared path of exploration and growth, and will offer mutual encouragement and support on your meditative journey in a Jewish spiritual framework.
What to expect and how you’ll be supported
Each session comprises guided and silent meditation, a teaching, a time for Q&A, and optional homework to do in between sessions. You will have access to a WhatsApp group to communicate with other participants throughout the course.
*Sessions will be recorded for those who cannot make the live sessions
Course Outline
In each session, we explore a specific aspect of (self) compassion and forgiveness as tools for taking responsibility for our lives and returning to our true nature. We do so through three tools of traditional Jewish spiritual practice: inquiring (hitbonenut) into a specific aspect of the human experience, cultivating a specific quality (midah), and practicing a specific meditation technique (hitbodedut).
Session 1. Teshuvah: Returning to our true nature
Every day in our morning prayers, we claim that our soul is “pure.” Purity in a Jewish perspective means being deeply connected to life.
Regret, guilt, resentment or shame are emotions which disconnect us from life. The first step of teshuvah is to reaffirm the purity of our soul - its deep, intimate connection with Life Source, no matter what we’ve been through in this life, as our birthright. We can do this through a practice as simple as connecting to our breath. This the midrash teaches us in a meditation where we are invited to connect to the Divine through connecting to our Breath.
Inquiry (hitbonenut): Human nature
Quality (midah): Self-compassion
Practice (hitbodedut): Neshama, Neshima (soul/breath)
Session 2. Cheshbon Nefesh: Taking responsibility for my life
While Cheshbon Nefesh - soul assessment - tends to be seen as an austere practice, it is quite a freeing one. This is because taking responsibility for our actions actually frees us from the grip of guilt or regret. In this session we examine the concept of forgiveness in the Jewish tradition: what it means, what it entails and what it does not entail. We contemplate how (self) forgiveness helps us take responsibility for our lives, and how the spiritual practice of Cheshbon Nefesh helps us do so.
Inquiry (hitbonenut): What is forgiveness
Quality (midah): Taking responsibility
Practice (hitbodedut): Cheshbon nefesh (soul assessment)
Session 3. Zehirut: Acting with care
Being more aware of our past is the sine qua non condition of acting more consciously in the present. But that doesn't suffice. We then need to be mindful of our action. This is the concept of carefulness, zehirut, in the Jewish tradition of ethical discipline (mussar).
Inquiry (hitbonenut): What is mindful action
Quality (midah): Intentionality (kavannah)
Practice (hitbodedut): Zehirut (carefulness)
Session 4. Chessed: Blessing myself and others
When I have clarity on my true nature, when I have looked with honesty and clarity into my past, what happened to me and what I did, when I have cultivated mindful action, my journey of return through responsibility-taking and self-compassion becomes activated through the cultivation of an essential quality: chessed, loving-kindness.
Mussar (ethical discipline) is designed to help us work on our character traits and embody chessed (loving-kindness) in everyday life. With this, we seal our journey of teshuvah. We return to our true nature.
Inquiry (hitbonenut): What is loving-kindness?
Quality (midah): Tikkun midot
Practice (hitbodedut): Brakhot (blessings)
Meet Your Teacher
Rabbah Dr. Mira Neshama Niculescu
Mira teaches Jewish texts and spiritual practices as a way of life. She is a Doctor in the Socio-Anthropology of Religion, an ordained Rabbah from the modern Orthodox yeshiva Harel in Jerusalem and a certified teacher of mindfulness meditation and yoga. For over 10 years she has been sharing her exploration of Torah, Hasidut, Mussar, and Jewish meditation in English, Hebrew and French.
Born in Paris, living in Jerusalem, she writes and teaches globally online and in person, inviting students to dive deep into their own inner work (tikkun atsmi) as a way to contribute, one person at a time, to the tikkun (repair) of the world.
Choose your rate
At Or HaLev, we believe in the spirit of generosity as an essential part of practice. We also acknowledge that financial abilities differ for everyone and we strive to make this class accessible to those who wish to participate, regardless of ability to pay.
Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able to. Your generosity will help in supporting Or HaLev's activities and in growing our community.
Supporter
Enables a scholarship for those who cannot afford the course.
Standard
Covers the actual cost
of the course.
Scholarship
A subsidized rate
of the course.
We want to make this series accessible to anyone who wishes to join it. If the scholarship rate is financially unfeasible for you, please write to zacn@orhalev.org, with a brief explanation of why you’d like to join us and your financial needs, and we will do our best to make the series accessible to you.
We Are Here
Any questions? Please email Or HaLev Program Director, Zac Newman, at zacn@orhalev.org
