The Mishlei Podcast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מֵי״י מִצְעֲדֵי גָבֶר וְאָדָם מַה יָּבִין דַּרְכּוֹ: This morning (10/5/21) we began by reviewing our four approaches from yesterday. We then consulted the meforshim - some of whom took similar approaches to ours, and some of whom added new points. We concluded by tying the ideas we learned to the berachah we say every morning. ----------...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מָעוֹז לַתֹּם דֶּרֶךְ י״י וּמְחִתָּה לְפֹעֲלֵי אָוֶן: This evening (10/4/21), in our Monday Night Mishlei Shiur, we learned a pasuk that was difficult to translate and even more difficult to understand. We developed several related approaches and did our best to hone them, thanks to Rabbeinu Yonah, and although we didn't QUITE reach t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מֵי״י מִצְעֲדֵי גָבֶר וְאָדָם מַה יָּבִין דַּרְכּוֹ: This morning (10/4/21) we began learning the pasuk which, according to some, is the source-pasuk for the berachah of "ha'meichin mitzadei gaver." We spent this morning's learning session attempting to develop our own approaches. Tomorrow we'll consult the meforsh...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! תּוֹעֲבַת י״י אֶבֶן וָאָבֶן וּמֹאזְנֵי מִרְמָה לֹא טוֹב: This morning (9/17/21) we encountered yet ANOTHER pasuk about deceitful weights and measures! We had enough difficulty with the pasuk earlier in the perek, which seemed to be a repetition of what is already stated in the Torah. What does this NEW seemingly redundant pasuk come to add...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 20:22 - Hope to Hashem, the Avenger (Part 2) אַל תֹּאמַר אֲשַׁלְּמָה רָע קַוֵּה לַי״י וְיֹשַׁע לָךְ: This morning (9/14/21) we continued our analysis of yesterday's pasuk. We clarified our understanding of MOST of Rabbeinu Yonah's approach, but didn't succeed in figuring out the last part. Thankfully, Radak, Ralbag,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! תּוֹחֶלֶת צַדִּיקִים שִׂמְחָה וְתִקְוַת רְשָׁעִים תֹּאבֵד: This evening (9/13/21), in our first Monday Night Mishlei Shiur of the 2021-2022 year, we learned a pasuk which proved difficult to read at first. Our analysis led us to an idea that was expanded upon by the Rabbeinu Yonah. If the promise in the title of the shiur sounds too good t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! אַל תֹּאמַר אֲשַׁלְּמָה רָע קַוֵּה לַי״י וְיֹשַׁע לָךְ: This morning (9/13/21) we began our analysis of a seemingly non-Mishleic pasuk. The questions were straightforward, and we took a few steps on our own before turning to the meforshim. The meforshim did a thorough job explaining the case in the first half of the pasuk, but shed very li...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מְכַסֶּה פְשָׁעָיו לֹא יַצְלִיחַ וּמוֹדֶה וְעֹזֵב יְרֻחָם: This morning (9/10/21), in our inaugural morning Mishlei shiur of 2021-2022, we learned a pasuk that is very relevant to the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah. First we learned the pasuk according to the most basic pshat, namely, that it's about how to maximize the chance that you will be...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! נַחֲלָה מְבֹהֶלֶת בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה וְאַחֲרִיתָהּ לֹא תְבֹרָךְ: This morning (8/5/21 at YBT) we concluded our 2020-2021 season of Mishlei with Mishlei 20:21. Fortunately, the ideas were so abundant that we didn't have enough time to refine and consolidate them! Those who listen to the shiur will have to do that work on their own, if they...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ יִדְעַךְ נֵרוֹ בֶּאֱשׁוּן חֹשֶׁךְ: This morning (8/4/21 at YBT) we continued the pasuk we started on Monday ... with tremendous difficulty! We tried out a bunch of different approaches, including one based on the Rambam in the Sefer ha'Mitzvos. There were interesting avenues, but no definitive conclusions. Suc...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מְקַלֵּל אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ יִדְעַךְ נֵרוֹ בֶּאֱשׁוּן חֹשֶׁךְ: This morning (8/2/21 at YBT) we began analyzing a new pasuk - one which struck us as difficult because of its allegorical content and (seemingly) hyperbolic style. Today we explored a few approaches. Next time we'll develop those approaches with the help of the meforshim. ---...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! גּוֹלֶה סּוֹד הוֹלֵךְ רָכִיל וּלְפֹתֶה שְׂפָתָיו לֹא תִתְעָרָב: This morning (7/30/21 at YBT) we reviewed the idea we came up with yesterday, then consulted the meforshim. It turns out that the approach we took was, by and large, the same approach they took, albeit with subtle differences. Thus, most of what we did today was a refining of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! גּוֹלֶה סּוֹד הוֹלֵךְ רָכִיל וּלְפֹתֶה שְׂפָתָיו לֹא תִתְעָרָב: This morning (7/29/21 at YBT) we moved on to the next pasuk, which - as hashgachah would have it - is about the same topic that we've been working on in Rambam Bekius this week: rechilus (gossip). Today's pasuk warns us not to mingle with three (or two?) types of ind...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מַחֲשָׁבוֹת בְּעֵצָה תִכּוֹן וּבְתַחְבֻּלוֹת עֲשֵׂה מִלְחָמָה: This morning (7/28/21 at YBT) we returned to "regular Mishlei," resuming where we left off in June. Today's pasuk seemed to fall into the "Duh!" category, but as always, deeper analysis revealed Mishleic wisdom. We developed our own complete approach, t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ה) בְּטַח אֶל י״י בְּכׇל לִבֶּךָ וְאֶל בִּינָתְךָ אַל תִּשָּׁעֵן. (ו) בְּכׇל דְּרָכֶיךָ דָעֵהוּ וְהוּא יְיַשֵּׁר אֹרְחֹתֶיךָ. This morning (7/27/21 at YBT) we began by reviewing and refining yesterday's approach to 3:5. We then tackled 3:6, came up with an approach, and developed it with the aid of the Radak and Marcus Aurelius. ----...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ה) בְּטַח אֶל י״י בְּכׇל לִבֶּךָ וְאֶל בִּינָתְךָ אַל תִּשָּׁעֵן. (ו) בְּכׇל דְּרָכֶיךָ דָעֵהוּ וְהוּא יְיַשֵּׁר אֹרְחֹתֶיךָ. We're back! At least, for the next two weeks (bg"h). This morning (7/26/21 at YBT) we took up a pasuk which, on the surface, appears to contradict Torah, Mishlei, and rationality itself! As is our practic...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! עָרֵב לָאִישׁ לֶחֶם שָׁקֶר וְאַחַר יִמָּלֵא פִיהוּ חָצָץ: This morning (6/17/21 at YBT) we continued working on yesterday's pasuk with both of yesterday's meforshim. We definitely made progress and gleaned some nice insights, but I'm not 100% happy with our understanding of the Metzudas David, but there's definitely pot...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! עָרֵב לָאִישׁ לֶחֶם שָׁקֶר וְאַחַר יִמָּלֵא פִיהוּ חָצָץ: This morning (6/16/21 at YBT) we started a new pasuk with a highly, multi-sensorily evocative mashal. Perhaps it's because our shiur had triple the number of guys, we didn't really get to delve into the possibilities we raised. I'd like to revisit our pasuk tomorrow,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לְקַח בִּגְדוֹ כִּי עָרַב זָר וּבְעַד [נׇכְרִיָּה] (נכרים) חַבְלֵהוּ: This morning (6/15/21 at YBT) we continued our analysis of yesterday's pasuk, starting with Metzudas David. We then read Rabbeinu Yonah's explanation, which was consistent with the approach we had developed. We concluded by trying to learn the Ralbag's int...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יִרְאַת י״י תּוֹסִיף יָמִים וּשְׁנוֹת רְשָׁעִים תִּקְצֹרְנָה: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (6/14/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk which looked so basic that the Radak actually said, "[The meaning] is clear, and the pasuk is repeating the idea in different words." Nevertheless, we raised all the questions and looked for a chidus...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לְקַח בִּגְדוֹ כִּי עָרַב זָר וּבְעַד [נׇכְרִיָּה] (נכרים) חַבְלֵהוּ: This morning (6/14/21 at YBT) we tackled a pasuk that was difficult to translate and confusing to understand on a factual level - so much so that we bypassed our usual procedure in our analysis. We ended up arriving at an approach based on Metzudas David, which we didn&a...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יֵשׁ זָהָב וְרׇב פְּנִינִים וּכְלִי יְקָר שִׂפְתֵי דָעַת: This morning (6/10/21 at YBT) we continued our analysis of 20:15 from the Metzudas David, where we left off yesterday. We got a "chidush," but not the type of truly insightful chidush I tend to look for in Mishlei. I feel like we were right there, but we just didn't g...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יֵשׁ זָהָב וְרׇב פְּנִינִים וּכְלִי יְקָר שִׂפְתֵי דָעַת: This morning (6/9/21 at YBT) we learned Mishlei 20:15 on its own. I say "on its own" because a number of meforshim connect it to the previous pasuk, which we learned on Monday. We developed a few approaches today and began analyzing the Metzudas David's explanation. T...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ז) שְׁתַּיִם שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאִתָּךְ אַל תִּמְנַע מִמֶּנִּי בְּטֶרֶם אָמוּת. (ח) שָׁוְא וּדְבַר כָּזָב הַרְחֵק מִמֶּנִּי רֵאשׁ וָעֹשֶׁר אַל תִּתֶּן לִי הַטְרִיפֵנִי לֶחֶם חֻקִּי. (ט) פֶּן אֶשְׂבַּע וְכִחַשְׁתִּי וְאָמַרְתִּי מִי י״י וּפֶן אִוָּרֵשׁ וְגָנַבְתִּי וְתָפַשְׂתִּי שֵׁם אֱלֹהָי. This morning (6/8/21 at YBT) we took a break from ou...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! כַּחֹמֶץ לַשִּׁנַּיִם וְכֶעָשָׁן לָעֵינָיִם כֵּן הֶעָצֵל לְשֹׁלְחָיו: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (6/7/21 at YBT) the pasuk we learned was very easy to translate and relatively easy to analyze. The difficulty was in the highly specific analagies in the first half of the pasuk. We found that these could be interpreted in a number of d...