The Mishlei Podcast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! חֲדַל בְּנִי לִשְׁמֹעַ מוּסָר לִשְׁגוֹת מֵאִמְרֵי דָעַת: This morning (4/13/21 at YBT) we continued our analysis of yesterday's syntactically nightmarish pasuk, and - much to our delight - we arrived at several different explanations which all boiled down to one main idea and which aligned with Saadia Gaon's translation and comme...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! כֶּסֶף נִבְחָר לְשׁוֹן צַדִּיק לֵב רְשָׁעִים כִּמְעָט: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (4/12/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we decided tried an experiment: a part live and part hybrid shiur (as opposed to a Zoom only shiur). The bad news is that the experiment was a failure. The good news is that we still managed to get three explanatio...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! חֲדַל בְּנִי לִשְׁמֹעַ מוּסָר לִשְׁגוֹת מֵאִמְרֵי דָעַת: This morning (4/12/21 at YBT) we began working on an EXTREMELY convoluted pasuk. Our session was shortened because of Rosh Chodesh davening, and we spent the majority of the time working on translations. We ended shiur with three translations and a number of translations. Tomorrow we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! We don't usually do Mishlei on Friday mornings, but I had an epiphany last night about a speculative application of Mishlei within the framework of IFS (Internal Family Systems) based on a comment made by Shadal about human nature and a methodological premise articulated by Saadia Gaon in his introduction to Mishlei. I decided to shar...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מְשַׁדֶּד אָב יַבְרִיחַ אֵם בֵּן מֵבִישׁ וּמַחְפִּיר: Our morning Mishlei shiur (4/8/21 at YBT) resumed with another pasuk about disciplining one's children. This one didn't focus on the method of discipline, but rather on the consequences of the failure to do so. And not just any consequences, but some rather dire ones - especia...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לֵץ תַּכֶּה וּפֶתִי יַעְרִם וְהוֹכִיחַ לְנָבוֹן יָבִין דָּעַת: This morning (3/23/21 at YBT) we continued learning through Rabbeinu Yonah's character profiles of the pesi, the leitz, and the naar. Even though we learned through these same sources six months ago, we came away with new insights and a clearer understanding this time arou...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! חֲנֹךְ לַנַּעַר עַל פִּי דַרְכּוֹ גַּם כִּי יַזְקִין לֹא יָסוּר מִמֶּנָּה: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (3/22/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we decided to deviate from our chapter in order to learn a pasuk that I hoped would shed light on the Arbaah Banim section of the Haggadah - and it did! We ended up having an excellent discussio...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! לֵץ תַּכֶּה וּפֶתִי יַעְרִם וְהוֹכִיחַ לְנָבוֹן יָבִין דָּעַת: This morning (3/22/21 at YBT) I was inclined to choose a pasuk that had something to do with Pesach, since this is the week before Pesach. As it so happens, according to Rashi the pasuk we were scheduled to learn DOES have to do with Pesach! We began analyzing the pasuk itself...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! טָמַן עָצֵל יָדוֹ בַּצַּלָּחַת, גַּם אֶל פִּיהוּ לֹא יְשִׁיבֶנָּה: This morning (3/18/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk about laziness. After struggling through some of the more obscure translations, we decided to go with the smoother reading, which led to a foundational discussion about the nature of laziness. We might not have arrived at a &...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יִרְאַת י״י לְחַיִּים וְשָׂבֵעַ יָלִין בַּל יִפָּקֶד רָע: This morning (3/17/21 at YBT), armed with our definition of yiras Hashem from yesterday's pesukim (1:7 and 15:33), we continued our analysis of Mishlei 19:23 and arrived at a nice idea which happened to coincide with some Stoic ideas that I've been discussing on The Stoic...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יִרְאַת יְיָ רֵאשִׁית דָּעַת, חָכְמָה וּמוּסָר אֱוִילִים בָּזוּ: יִרְאַת י״י מוּסַר חׇכְמָה וְלִפְנֵי כָבוֹד עֲנָוָה: This morning (3/16/21 at YBT) we began our analysis of Mishlei 19:23, the next pasuk in our perek, but because this was the first pasuk we've learned this year which mentioned yiras Hashem (fear of God), we decided to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! בְּרֹב דְּבָרִים לֹא יֶחְדַּל פָּשַׁע, וְחוֹשֵׂךְ שְׂפָתָיו מַשְׂכִּיל: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (3/15/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we learned a pasuk which seemed like a cliche Mishlei idea at first glance. As always, once we delved into the analysis, we became sensitive to the nuances and we managed to uncover a new idea. As...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! תַּאֲוַת אָדָם חַסְדּוֹ וְטוֹב רָשׁ מֵאִישׁ כָּזָב: This morning (3/15/21 at YBT) we learned a very weird-sounding pasuk which seemed to consist of a jumble of unrelated topics. We came up with one approach based on Saadia Gaon's translation WITHOUT consulting his commentary, and we came up with a second approach based on his commenta...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! רַבּוֹת מַחֲשָׁבוֹת בְּלֶב אִישׁ וַעֲצַת י״י הִיא תָקוּם: This morning (3/11/21 at YBT) we learned the Ralbag on yesterday's pasuk, which helped us clarify Mishlei's treatment of the subject of hashgachah. And as an aside, I am pleased to announce that this is the 100th Mishlei shiur I've given at YBT this year. Here's...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! רַבּוֹת מַחֲשָׁבוֹת בְּלֶב אִישׁ וַעֲצַת י״י הִיא תָקוּם: This morning (3/10/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk that many of us say every day as part of davening. The challenge with such familiar pesukim is to be able to look at them with fresh eyes. I believe we succeeded in that this morning, and developed some nice approaches which we will c...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! שְׁמַע עֵצָה וְקַבֵּל מוּסָר לְמַעַן תֶּחְכַּם בְּאַחֲרִיתֶךָ: This morning (3/9/21 at YBT) we learned the meforshim on yesterday's pasuk, after reviewing and developing what we came up with yesterday. Rabbeinu Yonah and Metzudas David took opposite approaches, each with its own advantages. Please feel free to leave your questions, in...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מְכַסֶּה שִׂנְאָה שִׂפְתֵי שָׁקֶר וּמוֹצִא דִבָּה הוּא כְסִיל: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (3/8/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we learned a pasuk which leant itself to several different readings. Thankfully, the several streams of thought in the group flowed into a single river, and we arrived at a consensus about the main idea - on...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! שְׁמַע עֵצָה וְקַבֵּל מוּסָר לְמַעַן תֶּחְכַּם בְּאַחֲרִיתֶךָ: This morning (3/8/21 at YBT) we learned a pasuk that was complex in its simplicity: easy to translate, but broad and obvious-sounding enough that it posed some difficulty. We worked out a general approach which we hope to flesh out tomorrow with the aid of the meforshim. ------...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! [גְּדָל] (גרל) חֵמָה נֹשֵׂא עֹנֶשׁ כִּי אִם תַּצִּיל וְעוֹד תּוֹסִף: This morning (3/4/21 at YBT) we continued our analysis of yesterday's pasuk - this time, with help from the meforshim! Rabbeinu Yonah connected 19:19 with 19:18, taking a similar route to Rashi, but with greater elaboration and broader implications. Metzudas David wa...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! [גְּדָל] (גרל) חֵמָה נֹשֵׂא עֹנֶשׁ כִּי אִם תַּצִּיל וְעוֹד תּוֹסִף: This morning (3/3/21 at YBT) we began a pasuk which was REALLY challenging to translate! We began with a summary of the Abravanel's view of kri/ksiv, then we did the messy work of translating the pasuk, and we concluded by raising major questions and problems, and ve...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יַסֵּר בִּנְךָ כִּי יֵשׁ תִּקְוָה וְאֶל הֲמִיתוֹ אַל תִּשָּׂא נַפְשֶׁךָ: This morning (3/2/21 at YBT) we continued the pasuk we began yesterday. We started with Rabbeinu Yonah, whose explanation was the closest to the approach we took yesterday. We then contrasted this with Rashi's explanation of the second half, which was almost the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! אֹרַח לְחַיִּים שׁוֹמֵר מוּסָר וְעֹזֵב תּוֹכַחַת מַתְעֶה: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (3/1/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we faced another formidable pasuk, with many possible readings. Our discussions in shiur are often unpredictable. This time, instead of trying out many approaches that were clearly demarcated, we ended up proceed...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! יַסֵּר בִּנְךָ כִּי יֵשׁ תִּקְוָה וְאֶל הֲמִיתוֹ אַל תִּשָּׂא נַפְשֶׁךָ: Sometimes it's the straightforward-sounding pesukim that are the most difficult to understand. This morning (3/1/21 at YBT) we read a fairly straightforward pasuk addressing a father's rationalizations for not disciplining his son. Perhaps it's because...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! אֹרַח לְחַיִּים שׁוֹמֵר מוּסָר וְעֹזֵב תּוֹכַחַת מַתְעֶה: In our Monday Night Mishlei shiur (3/1/21 with Lomdeha, hosted by YBT) we faced another formidable pasuk, with many possible readings. Our discussions in shiur are often unpredictable. This time, instead of trying out many approaches that were clearly demarcated, we ended up proceed...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! מַלְוֵה י״י חוֹנֵן דָּל וּגְמֻלוֹ יְשַׁלֶּם לוֹ: This morning (2/24/21 at YBT) we revisited and refined our idea from last time using a surprising source: the Rambam in the Peirush ha'Mishnayos to Peah 1:1. Then, in another shocking move, we tried our hand at understanding Rashi's interpretation, which was echoed by the Ri Nachmi...