The Mishlei Podcast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:16 - The Bad Investments of Extorting the Poor and Giving to the Rich (Part 1) עֹשֵׁק דָּל לְהַרְבּוֹת לוֹ, נֹתֵן לְעָשִׁיר אַךְ לְמַחְסוֹר: This morning (9/19/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we started a new pasuk which makes a startling equation between two seemingly dissimilar cases. We began developing two approaches, but...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:15 - The Knotty Challenge of Disciplining a Youth (Part 4) אִוֶּלֶת קְשׁוּרָה בְלֶב נָעַר שֵׁבֶט מוּסָר יַרְחִיקֶנָּה מִמֶּנּוּ: This morning (9/15/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we spent a fourth and final day on our pasuk. We began by reviewing my Mishlei s-tier rankings, to explain why I don't typically use the GRA a...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:15 - The Knotty Challenge of Disciplining a Youth (Part 3) אִוֶּלֶת קְשׁוּרָה בְלֶב נָעַר שֵׁבֶט מוּסָר יַרְחִיקֶנָּה מִמֶּנּוּ: This morning (9/14/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing yesterday's idea, after recapping the "Standard Assignment" I regularly employed in my high school Mishlei cur...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:15 - The Knotty Challenge of Disciplining a Youth (Part 2) אִוֶּלֶת קְשׁוּרָה בְלֶב נָעַר שֵׁבֶט מוּסָר יַרְחִיקֶנָּה מִמֶּנּוּ: This morning (9/13/22), in our (truncated) morning Mishlei shiur, we fully developed our ideas from yesterday. I'd say that we came up with one approach with a few variations and nuances that are...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 11:23 - The Lusts of the Righteous and the Hopes of the Wicked תַּאֲוַת צַדִּיקִים אַךְ טוֹב, תִּקְוַת רְשָׁעִים עֶבְרָה: Tonight (9/12/22), in our first Monday Night Mishlei Shiur of the 2022-2023 yeshiva year, we learned a seemingly counterintuitive pasuk about tzadikim and reshaim. We came up with four explanations of the pasuk...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:15 - The Knotty Challenge of Disciplining a Youth (Part 1) אִוֶּלֶת קְשׁוּרָה בְלֶב נָעַר שֵׁבֶט מוּסָר יַרְחִיקֶנָּה מִמֶּנּוּ: This morning (9/12/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we began learning a new pasuk which proved difficult to read, due to the ambiguity of its pronouns. We developed several approaches, all of which s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:14 - The Pitfall of the Strange Woman's Rhetoric (Part 2) שׁוּחָה עֲמֻקָּה פִּי זָרוֹת, זְעוּם י"י [יִפׇּל] (יפול) שָׁם: This morning (9/8/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing yesterday's pasuk, dividing it into three clear readings, and then attempting to uncover an idea from each. We develope...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:14 - The Pitfall of the Strange Woman's Rhetoric (Part 1) שׁוּחָה עֲמֻקָּה פִּי זָרוֹת, זְעוּם י"י [יִפׇּל] (יפול) שָׁם: This morning (9/7/22), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we picked up where we left off last year. Today's pasuk contains at least one mashal, if not two. Our time was a little cut short, due to our...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 13:4 - The Souls of the Lazy and the Diligent מִתְאַוָּה וָאַיִן נַפְשׁוֹ עָצֵל וְנֶפֶשׁ חָרֻצִים תְּדֻשָּׁן: This morning (6/16/22), in our last Morning Mishlei shiur of the season, we took up another pasuk about laziness. This one seems obvious at first, but the pasuk includes a nuance that points to something more profound. We m...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:13 - The Rationalizations of the Lazy Person (after Mishlei 22:12) אָמַר עָצֵל אֲרִי בַחוּץ בְּתוֹךְ רְחֹבוֹת אֵרָצֵחַ: This morning (6/15/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by revisiting the pasuk we had been working on for the past two sessions - and we came up with an idea! Next, we tackled one of my favorite pesukim...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:12 - How Hashem Thwarts Traitors (Part 2) עֵינֵי יי נָצְרוּ דָעַת וַיְסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי בֹגֵד: This morning (6/14/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we took another pass at yesterday's pasuk. I'm not gonna lie: today was the most frustratingly difficult day of Mishlei learning all year. For me, at least. I've given...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:12 - How Hashem Thwarts Traitors (Part 1) עֵינֵי יי נָצְרוּ דָעַת וַיְסַלֵּף דִּבְרֵי בֹגֵד: This morning (6/13/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began a new pasuk which presented us with an interesting juxtaposition. We started developing a nice approach, but didn't quite manage to bring it home today. We'll take...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 11:22 - Like a Golden Ring in the Snout of a Pig נֶזֶם זָהָב בְּאַף חֲזִיר אִשָּׁה יָפָה וְסָרַת טָעַם: This evening (6/13/22), in our final Monday Night Mishlei Shiur of the year, we learned a very straightforward pasuk - but such straightforwardness can make things deceptively nuanced. We ended up arriving at several different ap...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:11 - The King's Speech (Part 2) אֹהֵב [טְהׇר] (טהור) לֵב, חֵן שְׂפָתָיו רֵעֵהוּ מֶלֶךְ: This morning (6/10/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued learning yesterday's tricky pasuk. After a semi-successful review, we learned Saadia Gaon's idea, followed by Rabbeinu Yonah, followed by the Meiri. NONE of the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:11 - The King's Speech (Part 1) אֹהֵב [טְהׇר] (טהור) לֵב, חֵן שְׂפָתָיו רֵעֵהוּ מֶלֶךְ: This morning (6/9/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we started learning a pasuk which proved difficult to read. The only thing we know for sure is that it's about the relationship between speech and a king - hence, the title of thi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:10 - The Only Way to Deal with a Leitz (Part 2) גָּרֵשׁ לֵץ וְיֵצֵא מָדוֹן וְיִשְׁבֹּת דִּין וְקָלוֹן: This morning (6/8/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with a trio of commentators who interpreted the words in the pasuk similarly, although they diverged in the particulars. In light of their ideas, we reconsidered the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:10 - The Only Way to Deal with a Leitz (Part 1) גָּרֵשׁ לֵץ וְיֵצֵא מָדוֹן וְיִשְׁבֹּת דִּין וְקָלוֹן: This morning (6/7/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we started a new pasuk on a topic we discussed at length earlier this year: the leitz (scoffer). We quickly developed a few approaches to the pasuk as a whole, but it seems t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:9 - True Blessing Comes from Splitting Sandwiches (Part 2) טוֹב עַיִן הוּא יְבֹרָךְ כִּי נָתַן מִלַּחְמוֹ לַדָּל: This morning (6/2/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing the two approaches we took yesterday, the first of which was bolstered by Saadia Gaon's commentary. We were about to start learning the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:9 - True Blessing Comes from Splitting Sandwiches (Part 1) טוֹב עַיִן הוּא יְבֹרָךְ כִּי נָתַן מִלַּחְמוֹ לַדָּל: This morning (6/1/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we resumed our Mishlei shiurim with a simple-to-read and fun-to-analyze pasuk about "giving from your bread to the poor." After proposing a few different...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! I'm sharing this recording on all five of my podcasts, regardless of their subject matter, because Rabbi  Moskowitz is responsible for all the Torah I learn and teach. But we all know that this IS appropriate for my Mishlei podcast. This is the audio of the eulogy I gave for my beloved rebbi, Rabbi Morton Moskowitz zt"l on Erev R...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:8 - The Consequences of Sowing Injustice (Part 2) זוֹרֵעַ עַוְלָה [יִקְצׇר] (יקצור) אָוֶן וְשֵׁבֶט עֶבְרָתוֹ יִכְלֶה: This morning (5/26/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we took a FRESH approach to yesterday's pasuk. We discovered some new facts which helped us better read the pasuk, and we came up with a few nice approac...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:8 - The Consequences of Sowing Injustice (Part 1) זוֹרֵעַ עַוְלָה [יִקְצׇר] (יקצור) אָוֶן וְשֵׁבֶט עֶבְרָתוֹ יִכְלֶה: This morning (5/25/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with a few additional points about yesterday's pasuk, after which we began a new and VERY difficult pasuk. We raised numerous questions and prop...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:7 - Mishlei on Hierarchical Socioeconomic Relationships (Part 2) עָשִׁיר בְּרָשִׁים יִמְשׁוֹל וְעֶבֶד לֹוֶה לְאִישׁ מַלְוֶה: This morning (5/24/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with my grateful acknowledgement that this is my 300th Mishlei shiur, which I paired with an idea about the benefits of learning Mishlei every...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 11:21 - Mishleic Hand to Hand Combat ... In a Manner of Speaking יָד לְיָד לֹא יִנָּקֶה רָּע, וְזֶרַע צַדִּיקִים נִמְלָט: This evening (5/23/22), in our Monday Night Mishlei Shiur, we learned one of those pasuk that makes you go, "What the WHAT?!" I was worried about whether we would be able to figure out even ONE idea, b...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:7 - Mishlei on Hierarchical Socioeconomic Relationships (Part 1) עָשִׁיר בְּרָשִׁים יִמְשׁוֹל וְעֶבֶד לֹוֶה לְאִישׁ מַלְוֶה: This morning (5/23/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with a few short points about the previous pasuk, and then we started this new one. We came up with 3-4 nice approaches on our own. Tomorrow w...