The Mishlei Podcast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:6 - Mishlei on Intergenerational Pride (and Ibn Kaspi's Rant About Wanting to Have Kids) עֲטֶרֶת זְקֵנִים בְּנֵי בָנִים וְתִפְאֶרֶת בָּנִים אֲבוֹתָם: Length: 1 hour 48 minutes Synopsis: This evening (11/10/25), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we had a WILD RIDE! The pasuk itself was intriguing, and we came up with some n...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:4-5 - The Silver Refining Principle/Fallacy (Part 2) (ד) הָגוֹ סִיגִים מִכָּסֶף וַיֵּצֵא לַצֹּרֵף כֶּלִי.(ה) הָגוֹ רָשָׁע לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ וְיִכּוֹן בַּצֶּדֶק כִּסְאוֹ. Length: 30 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/6/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we analyzed the couplet of pesukim we only barely touched yesterday (no thanks t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:4-5 - The Silver Refining Principle/Fallacy (Part 1) (ד) הָגוֹ סִיגִים מִכָּסֶף וַיֵּצֵא לַצֹּרֵף כֶּלִי.(ה) הָגוֹ רָשָׁע לִפְנֵי מֶלֶךְ וְיִכּוֹן בַּצֶּדֶק כִּסְאוֹ. Length: 10 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/5/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we only had 10 minutes - since I spent the first 35 minutes giving an impromptu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:5 - The Metaphysical Implications of Mocking the Poor and Schadenfreude לֹעֵג לָרָשׁ חֵרֵף עֹשֵׂהוּ שָׂמֵחַ לְאֵיד לֹא יִנָּקֶה: Length: 1 hours 32 minutes Synopsis: This evening (11/3/25), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we learned an EXTREMELY rich pasuk, overflowing with ideas. After quickly developing our own approaches,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:3 - The Unfathomable Hearts of Kings (Part 2) שָׁמַיִם לָרוּם וָאָרֶץ לָעֹמֶק, וְלֵב מְלָכִים אֵין חֵקֶר: Length: 28 minutes Synopsis: This morning (10/30/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we quickly reviewed yesterday's three approaches, which we supplemented and developed with words of the meforshim (and with testimony f...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:3 - The Unfathomable Hearts of Kings (Part 1) שָׁמַיִם לָרוּם וָאָרֶץ לָעֹמֶק, וְלֵב מְלָכִים אֵין חֵקֶר: Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (10/29/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued with the local cluster of pesukim about kings. Have you ever weighed in on the decision of a world leader? Well, according to S...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:4 - What the Evildoer and Man-of-Falsehood Listen To מֵרַע מַקְשִׁיב עַל שְׂפַת אָוֶן, שֶׁקֶר מֵזִין עַל לְשׁוֹן הַוֺּת: Length: 1 hour 42 minutes Synopsis: This evening (10/27/25), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, nearly every word or phrase in our pasuk was unusual. After we got our bearings and asked all the questions, we c...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:3 - The Crucible of the Heart מַצְרֵף לַכֶּסֶף וְכוּר לַזָּהָב וּבֹחֵן לִבּוֹת יְיָ: Length: 1 hour 31 minutes Synopsis: This evening (9/29/25), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we took up another pasuk that formed a core part of my high school curriculum. Like the past two weeks, this made me worried that we wouldn't dis...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:1-2 - Kavod Elohim vs. Kavod Melachim (Part 2) גַּם אֵלֶּה מִשְׁלֵי שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר הֶעְתִּיקוּ אַנְשֵׁי חִזְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה: כְּבֹד אֱלֹהִים הַסְתֵּר דָּבָר וּכְבֹד מְלָכִים חֲקֹר דָּבָר: Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/26/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued learning the first two pesukim of Mish...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:1-2 - Kavod Elohim vs. Kavod Melachim (Part 1) גַּם אֵלֶּה מִשְׁלֵי שְׁלֹמֹה אֲשֶׁר הֶעְתִּיקוּ אַנְשֵׁי חִזְקִיָּה מֶלֶךְ יְהוּדָה: כְּבֹד אֱלֹהִים הַסְתֵּר דָּבָר וּכְבֹד מְלָכִים חֲקֹר דָּבָר: Length: 47 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/22/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began a new chapter AND a whole new section of M...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:33 - Mishlei's Definition of Yiras Hashem (Part 2) יִרְאַת יְיָ מוּסַר חׇכְמָה וְלִפְנֵי כָבוֹד עֲנָוָה:  Length: 44 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/18/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we ended up going in a different direction than I anticipated. As usual, we started with a review of yesterday's findings, adding s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:33 - Mishlei's Definition of Yiras Hashem (Part 1) יִרְאַת יְיָ מוּסַר חׇכְמָה וְלִפְנֵי כָבוֹד עֲנָוָה:  Length: 47 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/17/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we learned what I consider to be one of the most important pesukim in Sefer Mishlei. If I had to name the subject of Sefer Mishlei, I&ap...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:2 - Intelligent Servant vs. Embarrassing Son עֶבֶד מַשְׂכִּיל יִמְשֹׁל בְּבֵן מֵבִישׁ וּבְתוֹךְ אַחִים יַחֲלֹק נַחֲלָה: Length: 1 hour 42 minutes Synopsis: This evening (9/15/25), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we took up a pasuk that I was worried was too obvious. We ended up raising eighteen (!) question on it, then came u...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:32 - The Consequences of Loosening or Negating Mussar (Part 2) פּוֹרֵעַ מוּסָר מוֹאֵס נַפְשׁוֹ וְשׁוֹמֵעַ תּוֹכַחַת קוֹנֶה לֵּב: Length: 30 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/11/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with a quick review of what we covered yesterday, including a more developed analysis of Ralbag, in which we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:32 - The Consequences of Loosening or Negating Mussar (Part 1) פּוֹרֵעַ מוּסָר מוֹאֵס נַפְשׁוֹ וְשׁוֹמֵעַ תּוֹכַחַת קוֹנֶה לֵּב: Length: 43 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/10/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we learned a pasuk that was clearly connected to the theme of the local cluster. On the surface, it seemed obvious, bu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:1 - A Dry Piece of Bread vs. a House Filled with Meat טוֹב פַּת חֲרֵבָה וְשַׁלְוָה בָהּ, מִבַּיִת מָלֵא זִבְחֵי רִיב: Length: 1 hour 42 minutes Synopsis: This evening (9/8/25), in the first Monday Night Mishlei shiur of the 2025–2026 season, we began Chapter 17. The challenge was that I’ve given so many classes on so many pesuki...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:31 - How Non-Chachamim Can Get Into the Chachamim Club (Part 2) אֹזֶן שֹׁמַעַת תּוֹכַחַת חַיִּים, בְּקֶרֶב חֲכָמִים תָּלִין: Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/5/25), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing the questions and approaches from yesterday, refining some and discarding others. Then we delved into...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:31 - How Non-Chachamim Can Get Into the Chachamim Club (Part 1) אֹזֶן שֹׁמַעַת תּוֹכַחַת חַיִּים, בְּקֶרֶב חֲכָמִים תָּלִין: Length: 30 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/4/25), in our first Morning Mishlei shiur of the 2025-2026 yeshiva year, we picked up where we left off in June. This one happens to be a favorite of my rebbi,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 16:1 - From Hashem is the Tongue's Reply (Part 2) לְאָדָם מַעַרְכֵי לֵב, וּמֵיְיָ מַעֲנֵה לָשׁוֹן: Length: 1 hour 1 minutes Synopsis: This afternoon (7/24/25), we continued our analysis of the pasuk we began yesterday. After a quick review and some elaboration on Saadia Gaon, I shared my interpretation, which we examined throu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 16:1 - From Hashem is the Tongue's Reply (Part 1) לְאָדָם מַעַרְכֵי לֵב, וּמֵיְיָ מַעֲנֵה לָשׁוֹן: Length: 1 hour 2 minutes Synopsis: This afternoon (7/23/25), in an unexpected plot twist, I was asked to give a two-part SUMMER Mishlei shiur! I chose the one pasuk from Chapter 16 that we skipped this year. Since this was a spec...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:30 - Happy Hearts and Fat Bones (Part 2) מְאוֹר עֵינַיִם יְשַׂמַּח לֵב, שְׁמוּעָה טוֹבָה תְּדַשֶּׁן עָצֶם: Length: 47 minutes Synopsis: This morning (6/12/25), in our last morning Mishlei shiur of the season, we began by reviewing yesterday's approaches, then delved into the peshat approach given by Rashi (!) and the Rid (!...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:30 - Happy Hearts and Fat Bones (Part 1) מְאוֹר עֵינַיִם יְשַׂמַּח לֵב, שְׁמוּעָה טוֹבָה תְּדַשֶּׁן עָצֶם: Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (6/11/25), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we took up a pasuk which I anticipated to be difficult, due to the unfamiliar (and possibly outdated) references in the pasuk. Fortunately,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:29 - Mishlei's Advice for Getting Your Tefilah Heard (Part 2) רָחוֹק יְיָ מֵרְשָׁעִים וּתְפִלַּת צַדִּיקִים יִשְׁמָע Length: 48 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/29/25), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we began with my own take on the pasuk, which overlapped several of the explanations from yesterday. We then learned some mef...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:29 - Mishlei's Advice for Getting Your Tefilah Heard (Part 1) רָחוֹק יְיָ מֵרְשָׁעִים וּתְפִלַּת צַדִּיקִים יִשְׁמָע Length: 34 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/28/25), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we took up one of only three pesukim in Mishlei that explicitly reference tefilah. The problem with this pasuk is glaring: it...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:28 - The Utterances of the Tzadik and Rasha (Part 2) לֵב צַדִּיק יֶהְגֶּה לַעֲנוֹת וּפִי רְשָׁעִים יַבִּיעַ רָעוֹת: Length: 44 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/22/25), in our morning Mishlei shiur, we began by examining a "hot take" translation of our pasuk, which we ended up rejecting. After reviewing the questions a...