Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (she/her) is an award-winning author and writer who serves as Scholar in Residence at the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). She has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, and many other publications. Her seven other books include Nurture the Wow: Finding Spirituality in the Frustration, Boredom, Tears, Poop, Desperation, Wonder, and Radical Amazement of Parenting, which was a National Jewish Book Award finalist, and Surprised By God: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Religion, nominated for the Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish literature; The Passionate Torah: Sex and Judaism; Yentl's Revenge: The Next Wave of Jewish Feminism, and, with Rabbi Elliot Dorff, three books on Jewish ethics. Her newest book is On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World is available at a 10% discount.

Jewish Values

The Heroic Work of Repentance

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

September 6, 2022

This time of year, we hear again and again about how much emphasis Judaism places on the nuances of how to address harm of all kinds. I am convinced that the steps of repentance and repair outlined by the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides make sense not only in our individual lives when we harm our coworkers, friends, family, and intimate partners, but also in reference to the communal, cultural, and national levels.

Mother and preschool child on a couch; mother scolding and pointing her finger at the child

Yom Kippur

Returning to the People – and the Parents – We Want to Be

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg

September 6, 2017

I don’t want to raise my children in a home with yelling. And yet, when I slip in a way that’s human and understandable, I fail both myself and my children.