By Rabbi Patrick Beaulier
I'm so thrilled to guide you through Darshan Yeshiva’s new program, FIRST STEPS.
This crash course on Jewish concepts was created to help people who have limited experience (or no experience) in Judaism to understand Jewish ideas and the Jewish people. These are — quite literally — your first steps toward understanding who the Jewish people are, what we believe and what is meaningful to us.
I had fun creating an introduction to Judaism program inspired by my time in Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist synagogues and progressive Judaism aligned Jewish communities. This series is ideal for someone who wants a taste of Judaism, but not the whole buffet!
FIRST STEPS draws inspiration from two very different areas: the Reform movement’s Taste of Judaism concept, alongside Reconstructionist ideas of Judaism as an evolving religious civilization. The core areas of learning are Jewish belief, behavior and sense of belonging — what Taste of Judaism calls God, Torah and Israel.
Each unit has a video and source sheet for learning, along with a podcast where I answer common student questions about Jewish spirituality, practice and community. From there we have curated content from around the world, some unique posts I have written (that you will not see on Substack or anywhere else) and bonus content along the way.
Right now, FIRST STEPS is 20% off — no discount code needed.
I hope you’ll join in FIRST STEPS! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post below.