The Mishlei Podcast

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...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:6 - Mishlei's Approach to Chinuch ... Whatever That Term Means (Part 2) חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל פִּי דַרְכּוֹ גַּם כִּי יַזְקִין לֹא יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה: This morning (5/19/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued learning yesterday's pasuk - and boy did we get a TON of ideas about teaching and parenting! After reviewi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:6 - Mishlei's Approach to Chinuch ... Whatever That Term Means (Part 1) חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל פִּי דַרְכּוֹ גַּם כִּי יַזְקִין לֹא יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה: This morning (5/18/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began learning one of the most frequently quoted pesukim in all of Mishlei. Because this pasuk lends itself to "fire...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:5 - The Perilous Path of the Crooked (Part 2) צִנִּים פַּחִים בְּדֶרֶךְ עִקֵּשׁ שׁוֹמֵר נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְחַק מֵהֶם: This morning (5/17/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued learning yesterday's pasuk. After reviewing what we did yesterday, we were delighted to see that Rabbeinu Yonah said almost EXACTLY what we said....

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 11:20 - Hashem Hates Crooked Hearts תּוֹעֲבַת י"י עִקְּשֵׁי לֵב וּרְצוֹנוֹ תְּמִימֵי דָרֶךְ: This evening (5/16/22), in our Monday Night Mishlei Shiur, we learned a difficult pasuk which several of our "go to" meforshim deemed to be so obvious that they felt they didn't need to comment. Thankfully, we were able...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:5 - The Perilous Path of the Crooked (Part 1) צִנִּים פַּחִים בְּדֶרֶךְ עִקֵּשׁ שׁוֹמֵר נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְחַק מֵהֶם: This morning (5/16/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began learning a very strange-sounding pasuk. Despite having only three people in shiur, we came up with a really good explanation which answered all of our ques...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 15:31-33 - The Developmental Trajectory of One Who Listens to Tochachah (לא) אֹזֶן שֹׁמַעַת תּוֹכַחַת חַיִּים בְּקֶרֶב חֲכָמִים תָּלִין. (לב) פּוֹרֵעַ מוּסָר מוֹאֵס נַפְשׁוֹ וְשׁוֹמֵעַ תּוֹכַחַת קוֹנֶה לֵּב. (לג) יִרְאַת י"י מוּסַר חׇכְמָה וְלִפְנֵי כָבוֹד עֲנָוָה: This morning (5/12/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we (ambi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:4 - The Benefits of Humility (Part 3) עֵקֶב עֲנָוָה יִרְאַת י"י עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד וְחַיִּים: This morning (5/11/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued working on yesterday's pasuk. We learned three similar approaches from Metzudas David, Ralbag, and the Malbim, then attempted to synthesize what we learned into a...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:4 - The Benefits of Humility (Part 2) עֵקֶב עֲנָוָה יִרְאַת י"י עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד וְחַיִּים: This morning (5/10/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued working on yesterday's pasuk. If Mishleic fruitfulness is measured by how many finalized ideas we arrive at, then today's session was fruitless. Thankfully,...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 11:19 - True Tzedakah and Its Opposite כֵּן צְדָקָה לְחַיִּים וּמְרַדֵּף רָעָה לְמוֹתוֹ: Last night (5/9/22), in our Monday Night Mishlei Shiur, we learned a tough pasuk - tough because of its wording, and because of its generality. It took us a little while to find our footing, but when we did, we ended up developing three (or, at...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:4 - The Benefits of Humility (Part 1) עֵקֶב עֲנָוָה יִרְאַת י"י עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד וְחַיִּים: This morning (5/9/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began learning what looks to be a foundational pasuk about two important qualities: humility and fear of Hashem. The fact that the pasuk speaks in such generalities makes it diff...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 22:3 - The Opposite of Seeing Evil and Hiding (Part 2) עָרוּם רָאָה רָעָה [וְנִסְתָּר] (ויסתר) וּפְתָיִים עָבְרוּ וְנֶעֱנָשׁוּ: This morning (5/5/22), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued working on our pasuk from yesterday and we came up with three (or four, depending on who you ask) nice ideas! More importantly, we emerged...