The Stoic Jew

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today's unplanned episode is an update on three (two? three? ten?) of the "experiments" I'm conducting for the sake of my own development. My hope is that this will encourage others to initiate their own experiments, especially during the month of Elul. Today's Torah content has been sponsored by the gene...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we take another look at the similar teachings of Marcus Aurelius, who urges us to “be fire,” and Bruce Lee, who urged us to “be water.” I set out to record this episode without planning what I would say, and the result may come as a surprise. I am definitely open to hearing your input. Today's Torah conten...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s “zany to the max” episode was inspired by the lyrics of two shows I watched as a kid in the 90’s – Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures – which were stuck in my head this morning. After reflecting on their Stoic implications, we examine the broader implications of this particular kind of free association. Far from being ac...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode I reflect on a real-world example that I’ve passed by on my walk to yeshiva every day involving two totaled cars; from there we extend the insight to our reputations, in light of an excerpt from Awareness , by Anthony de Mello. Today’s Torah content is dedicated to the joyous occasion of the marriage of Jon Deu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode I discuss the three Stoic medallions I purchased – what they say, how their ideas are based in Judaism, and why I purchased them – as well as the fourth medallion which I have not yet purchased because I’m not on the level. This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Sol and Chummie Azose, in honor of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today's ANTI-planned episode is about how to turn your problems into non-problems, how to make yourself immune to hurt, and how to turn any stumbling block into a stepping stone. How's THAT for a synopsis? This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Sol and Chummie Azose, in honor of the upcoming 81st birthday...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Last night I held a dying old man in my arms. This episode is about that experience.  Today’s episode of The Stoic Jew Podcast is dedicated to the joyous occasion of the marriage of Isaac Lichter and Aviva Rubenstein. Isaac is my talmid chaver: my dear friend, my fellow student of Torah and chochmah, and a talmid who attended ALL...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous, and told me, "No thanks needed!" so I'm not going to thank them.  Synopsis: In today’s episode I discuss my conflicted feelings about my imminent return to New York and how Marcus Aurelius helped me to accept, use, and “love my fa...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous, and told me, "No thanks needed!" so I'm not going to thank them.  Synopsis: I accidentally lived a day to its fullest, and that day was Tishah b’Av. This episode is a debriefing in which I “follow the bright spots,” examining what...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by a generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous, and told me, "No thanks needed!" so I'm not going to thank them.  Synopsis: In today’s (unplanned, longer-than-usual) episode I share some (unorganized, more meandering-than-usual) thoughts about how to apply Seneca’s Stoic techni...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by the Reznik family in dedication to the loving memory of Silvia Tanzer (Sora Hesha bas Chaim Moshe) and Irving Tanzer (Yisroel ben Yechezkel). Synopsis: Today’s episode was inspired by Irving Tanzer, in whose memory this content was dedicated. His granddaughter described him as "happy bein...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by the Reznik family in dedication to the loving memory of Silvia Tanzer (Sora Hesha bas Chaim Moshe) and Irving Tanzer (Yisroel ben Yechezkel). Synopsis: Today’s episode was as unplanned as my unplanned 4-hours of sleep last night. Thankfully, I was able to use the Stoic method of “the obstacle...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This week's Torah content is sponsored by the Reznik family in dedication to the loving memory of Silvia Tanzer (Sora Hesha bas Chaim Moshe) and Irving Tanzer (Yisroel ben Yechezkel). Synopsis: Today’s episode focuses on something that Judaism and Stoicism have in common, namely, a recognition that it is the soul, not the body, that i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: My post-Sacred Pause summer has been filled with a number of experiments. One of these was proposed by my chavrusa yesterday, and is the subject of today’s episode. I hope that some of you decide to join us in this experiment, and pair up with your own gratitude accountability buddy. If you do, let me know how it goes! Related Ra...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I’m back, after my much-needed Sacred Pause! In this episode I discuss my attempt to make my first episode of TSJ Season 5, which was thwarted by an injury, which was then converted into an episode. I also discuss my summer plans for TSJ. Related Rabbi Schneeweiss Content: - TSJ Intercession: Putting The Stoic Jew Podcast on Sacr...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In this last episode of the season, which is the last season of the first year of this podcast, I reflect on the year as a whole and on the role of this podcast in my year. If this episode is more “rambly” than usual, it’s only because I had a lot to say, and had to decide (in real time) what ought to be said, and how. Shlomo ha’...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode I share an interesting experience I had this past Sunday involving a fly, an unexpected burst of compassion, and renewed insight into a couple of pesukim I say in Ashrei three times each day – all of which enhanced my appreciation of the mission of The Stoic Jew Podcast.  Related Episodes: - Stoic Strategies fo...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode focuses on a practical application of Stoic techniques to one of the banes of my existence: the kosher ice cream truck, and its daemonic song. If you, too, have been subjected to this brutal strain and have employed your own successful coping strategies, please share them with me. As you’ll hear in my words and to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode may be thought of as a further elucidation of the concepts I’ve been speaking about in relation to my Mezuzah Experiment that’s been going on for the last two weeks. Although you can definitely listen to this one on its own, it’ll make more sense in context to listen to the “Sacred Pause”-related episodes linked b...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we explore what is possibly a new technique or avenue of internalizing Stoic insights. The insight was sparked by Naval Ravikant’s explanation of why he takes cold showers, which – surprise surprise! – I couldn’t help but read through the lens of Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance and Shlomo ha’Melech’s Sefer Mish...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode is a follow-up on the “Sacred Pause as Applied to Mezuzah” experiment I initiated last Friday. I was asked a question about this experiment which happens to relate to Parashas Korach. My response to this question clarifies what mitzvos are, how they are intended to function, and what I endeavor to do in my applica...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! My apologies for the late upload this morning! This will be addressed in the episode itself. Synopsis: Ordinarily I would say what the episode is about, but the nature of the episode has inclined me not to do so. I know that people tend to listen to these recordings in a variety of situations and while doing a variety of things, but I have...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In past episodes I’ve voiced my own critiques of Epictetus’s brand of Stoicism. Specifically, I’ve indicted him for advocating heartlessness, inhumanity, and sociopathy. I recently came across a defense of Epictetus against such charges. While it’s too early to tell whether this defense addresses all of my problems, I am certain...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I chose this excerpt for two reasons: (1) Marcus Aurelius’s statements about the value of honesty, integrity, and lack of pretense complement the statements of the Rambam in Hilchos Deios on the same topic, which we recently covered in my Rambam Bekius shiur; (2) I love the analogy of the smelly goat!   Related Episodes of Rambam...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode is about a two-week experiment I’m in the midst of conducting: What will happen if I utilize Tara Brach’s “sacred pause” technique in order to more fully attend to the mezuzah and its ideational content? To my mind this is a good example of how there are things to learn from non-Jewish sources and practices which...