The Mishlei Podcast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/21/21 at YBT) we continued our review of every pasuk we've learned in our morning Mishlei shiur since the beginning of the year. Once again, there were pesukim about which we said, "I have no memory of this place." And this time, I don't feel inclined to go back and listen to the old shiurim. Instead, we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/20/21 at YBT) we continued our review every pasuk we've learned in our morning Mishlei shiur since the beginning of the year. This time there were a couple of pesukim we didn't really remember so well. To repeat our plan: our goal wasn't necessary to review all of the IDEAS (since we often came up with 2-5 id...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/19/21 at YBT) we embarked on an ambitious mission: to review every pasuk we've learned in our morning Mishlei shiur since the beginning of the year. Our goal wasn't necessary to review all of the IDEAS (since we often came up with 2-5 ideas for each pasuk), but rather, to review at least one idea for each pasuk. W...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּתֻמּוֹ צַדִּיק אַשְׁרֵי בָנָיו אַחֲרָיו: This morning (5/13/21 at YBT) we learned a new pasuk which first struck us as ambiguous on a number of levels. Once we started analyzing it, everything clicked into place, and we emerged with a nice idea. Unfortunately, since this is the last Mishlei shiur we're having before Sha...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! רׇב אָדָם יִקְרָא אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ וְאִישׁ אֱמוּנִים מִי יִמְצָא: This morning (5/12/21 at YBT) we wrapped up our learning of the pasuk we've been focusing on this week. We learned the explanations of Rabbeinu Yonah and, to a lesser extent, the Meiri, and although we gained some insights here and there, we didn't find anything to r...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! רׇב אָדָם יִקְרָא אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ וְאִישׁ אֱמוּנִים מִי יִמְצָא: This morning (5/11/21 at YBT) we continued learning the pasuk we began yesterday on how people advertise the chesed they do. First we refined our own approach. Next, we had a brief discussion about my "Mishlei Power Rankings" and why I include Metzudas David, Rabbein...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! כִּשְׂחוֹק לִכְסִיל עֲשׂוֹת זִמָּה וְחׇכְמָה לְאִישׁ תְּבוּנָה: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (5/10/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we learned what looked to be a very confusing pasuk, both linguistically and conceptually. To be honest, I was a little worried during our questioning period whether this would be a fruitful learning sessi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! רׇב אָדָם יִקְרָא אִישׁ חַסְדּוֹ וְאִישׁ אֱמוּנִים מִי יִמְצָא: This morning (5/10/21 at YBT) we began learning one of the few pesukim in Mishlei that has anything to do with chesed (kindness). It shouldn't come as a surprise that Mishlei takes a very Mishleic approach to the topic of chesed. (I won't spoil that tautology by expa...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מַיִם עֲמֻקִּים עֵצָה בְלֶב אִישׁ וְאִישׁ תְּבוּנָה יִדְלֶנָּה: This morning (5/6/21 at YBT) we went back to our regularly scheduled Mishlei programming, continuing where we left off in Chapter 20. At first glance, today's pasuk looked fairly straightforward, but we soon discovered that it could be read in different ways even with the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ו) לֵךְ אֶל נְמָלָה עָצֵל רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם. (ז) אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהּ קָצִין שֹׁטֵר וּמֹשֵׁל. (ח) תָּכִין בַּקַּיִץ לַחְמָהּ אָגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַאֲכָלָהּ. (ט) עַד מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ. (י) מְעַט שֵׁנוֹת מְעַט תְּנוּמוֹת מְעַט חִבֻּק יָדַיִם לִשְׁכָּב. (יא) וּבָא כִמְהַלֵּךְ רֵאשֶׁךָ וּמַחְסֹרְךָ כְּאִישׁ מָג...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ו) לֵךְ אֶל נְמָלָה עָצֵל רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם. (ז) אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהּ קָצִין שֹׁטֵר וּמֹשֵׁל. (ח) תָּכִין בַּקַּיִץ לַחְמָהּ אָגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַאֲכָלָהּ. (ט) עַד מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ. (י) מְעַט שֵׁנוֹת מְעַט תְּנוּמוֹת מְעַט חִבֻּק יָדַיִם לִשְׁכָּב. (יא) וּבָא כִמְהַלֵּךְ רֵאשֶׁךָ וּמַחְסֹרְךָ כְּאִישׁ מָג...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! בִּרְכַּת יי הִיא תַעֲשִׁיר וְלֹא יוֹסִף עֶצֶב עִמָּהּ: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (5/3/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we learned a pasuk which was an anomaly in that it focused on Hashem's actions, without any reference to Mishleic personalities. After working out the translation of the pasuk and reviewing what it means when...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ו) לֵךְ אֶל נְמָלָה עָצֵל רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם. (ז) אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהּ קָצִין שֹׁטֵר וּמֹשֵׁל. (ח) תָּכִין בַּקַּיִץ לַחְמָהּ אָגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַאֲכָלָהּ. (ט) עַד מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ. (י) מְעַט שֵׁנוֹת מְעַט תְּנוּמוֹת מְעַט חִבֻּק יָדַיִם לִשְׁכָּב. (יא) וּבָא כִמְהַלֵּךְ רֵאשֶׁךָ וּמַחְסֹרְךָ כְּאִישׁ מָג...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! (ו) לֵךְ אֶל נְמָלָה עָצֵל רְאֵה דְרָכֶיהָ וַחֲכָם. (ז) אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהּ קָצִין שֹׁטֵר וּמֹשֵׁל. (ח) תָּכִין בַּקַּיִץ לַחְמָהּ אָגְרָה בַקָּצִיר מַאֲכָלָהּ. (ט) עַד מָתַי עָצֵל תִּשְׁכָּב מָתַי תָּקוּם מִשְּׁנָתֶךָ. (י) מְעַט שֵׁנוֹת מְעַט תְּנוּמוֹת מְעַט חִבֻּק יָדַיִם לִשְׁכָּב. (יא) וּבָא כִמְהַלֵּךְ רֵאשֶׁךָ וּמַחְסֹרְךָ כְּאִישׁ מָג...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מֵחֹרֶף עָצֵל לֹא יַחֲרֹשׁ [וְשָׁאַל] (ישאל) בַּקָּצִיר וָאָיִן: This morning (4/28/21 at YBT) we learned another relatively straightforward pasuk - thanks, in no small measure, to the definition of laziness provided by Saadia Gaon in his introduction to Mishlei. The insight we gained was still valuable, and we would like to give more thou...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! כָּבוֹד לָאִישׁ שֶׁבֶת מֵרִיב וְכׇל אֱוִיל יִתְגַּלָּע: This morning (4/27/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk that was refreshingly straightforward and easy to interpret, yet just as rich and practical as the other ideas in Mishlei. We even managed to connect it to yesterday's pasuk, "Rabbeinu Yonah style" (in quotation marks bec...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! My understanding of several Mishleic personalities has been shifting as of late, and I wanted to explore some of these insights with my Monday Night Mishlei group. For this reason, we took a break from our pasuk-by-pasuk learning of Mishlei Chapter 10 in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (4/26/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) in order to refin...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! נַהַם כַּכְּפִיר אֵימַת מֶלֶךְ מִתְעַבְּרוֹ חוֹטֵא נַפְשׁוֹ: This morning (4/26/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk that was quite similar to Mishlei 19:12, which we learned earlier this year. We arrived at two ideas here: one based on a creative reading which was aimed at the king (and anyone who is in a position of eminent leadership), and the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לֵץ הַיַּיִן הֹמֶה שֵׁכָר וְכׇל שֹׁגֶה בּוֹ לֹא יֶחְכָּם: This morning (4/21/21 at YBT) we wrapped up our analysis of yesterday's pasuk. We managed to resolve the problems we had with the Metzudas David's interpretation yesterday. We then learned Rabbeinu Yonah's explanation, which (it turns out) was where I got half of mine...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לֵץ הַיַּיִן הֹמֶה שֵׁכָר וְכׇל שֹׁגֶה בּוֹ לֹא יֶחְכָּם: This morning (4/21/21 at YBT) we continued our analysis of yesterday's pasuk. First we reviewed and refined two of the approaches from yesterday. The second of those approaches gave rise to a third, which we also explored. We then began working on the Metzudas David's expl...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לֵץ הַיַּיִן הֹמֶה שֵׁכָר וְכׇל שֹׁגֶה בּוֹ לֹא יֶחְכָּם: This morning (4/20/21 at YBT) we began learning a VERY difficult-to-translate pasuk. We were immediately confronted with six or seven different ways to translate it. Nevertheless, we were able to make some headway in our understanding, and began developing several approaches. Tomorr...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! שִׂפְתֵי צַדִּיק יִרְעוּ רַבִּים וֶאֱוִילִים בַּחֲסַר לֵב יָמוּתוּ: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (4/19/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we came up with two ideas. The first was a nice, standard Mishleic idea which followed Saadia Gaon's translation. The second was a foundational insight into the personality of the eveel (Pleasure-...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! נָכוֹנוּ לַלֵּצִים שְׁפָטִים וּמַהֲלֻמוֹת לְגֵו כְּסִילִים: This morning (4/19/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk which seems to be fundamental in our understanding of leiztim and ksilim. We explored several different approaches and refined them to around the 75-90% complete range. There are still some questions that remain to be answered and s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! עֵד בְּלִיַּעַל יָלִיץ מִשְׁפָּט וּפִי רְשָׁעִים יְבַלַּע אָוֶן: This morning (4/15/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk which felt like a multiple-choice test when it came to the translation. After some initial fumbling we arrived at not one, not two, but three interpretations! The bonus is that all three interpretations were based on only one t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! עֹכֵר בֵּיתוֹ בּוֹצֵעַ בָּצַע וְשׂוֹנֵא מַתָּנֹת יִחְיֶה: This morning (4/14/21 at YBT) we departed from our current chapter to take a request: the pasuk which is the source of the oft-quoted idiom "one who hates gifts will live." We were somewhat pressed for time, but we managed to come up with two or three solid approaches. Ple...