Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: That’s right – 150 episodes! I had various ideas of what I wanted to talk about, but in the end, I decided to just hit record and think my scattered thoughts out loud, starting with one of my favorite quotations from Seneca regarding my craft. Related Episodes: - TSJ Milestone - Reflections on Our 100th Episode (!) and Epictetus on Becoming a Good Stoic Jew - Thank You to My Students, Be They Many or Few (Seneca: Letter #7 - On...
May 25, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 29
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s (short!) episode was brought to you by my annoying ticking clock, and my ineffective methods for dealing with the annoyance. The real-world example I talk about here illustrates one of my personal pitfalls in applying Stoicism – one which is remedied by Mishlei. As always, the devil is in the details. Sources: - Epictetus, Discourses 1:6 ---------- If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from ...
May 24, 2021•7 min•Season 4Ep. 28
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode was inspired by a comment someone made on Facebook which derisively referred to Ryan Holiday’s books on Stoicism as “the pop version of Stoic literature.” This comment rubbed me the wrong way, but I couldn’t put my finger on why … until I thought it through by making this episode. Sources: - Epictetus, Enchiridion (The Handbook) Chapters 49 and 46 - Shir ha’Shirim Rabbah 1:1 - Radak on Tehilim 119:6 ---------- I...
May 21, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 27
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In past episodes we’ve talked about how “live each day as if it might be your last” is easy to say but difficult to implement. One of the biggest obstacles to this mentality is the fact that, statistically speaking, it’s likely that this will NOT be your last day. This past (last?) Yom Tov I stumbled upon a way to overcome this obstacle. Like many ideas in Stoicism and Mishlei, this one isn’t a chidush (novel insight) – and yet...
May 20, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 26
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I didn’t intend to record TWO episodes about Shavuos, but in my efforts to answer a student’s question on a passage from Aurelius’s Meditations, we ended up going there. If you’ve ever wondered what the relationship is between the agricultural theme of Shavuos (“ chag ha’katzir,” the harvest festival) and the historical theme ( “zman matan Toraseinu,” the time of the giving of our Torah), perhaps Marcus Aurelius has an answer. ...
May 14, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 25
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode is a candid expression of my personal thoughts and feelings about the current situation in Israel. If this upsets you, I’m sorry, but I felt that it would be beneficial to honestly express my thoughts and feelings. As Rambam said: “[W]hen I have a difficult subject before me – when I find the road narrow, and can see no other way of teaching a well established truth except by pleasing one intelligent man and dis...
May 13, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 24
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I didn’t set out to record an episode about a Stoic perspective on Shavuos, and yet, here we are! It just so happens that the letter of Seneca we’ve been reading is perfectly aligned with Judaism’s stance on this topic, and it just so happens that this topic is relevant to Shavuos. For my shiur on the theme of Shavuos, click here for the podcast version, click here for the YouTube version, and click here for the written version...
May 12, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 23
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Today’s episode is l’zeicher nishmas Eliezer ben Hendel. Synopsis: Today we continue reading from Seneca’s letter of consolation to his mother, Helvia. This excerpt touches upon a number of themes without any common thread that I perceived. Some of these ideas we’ve never discussed and others are fundamental but expressed with Seneca’s unparalleled eloquence. For my article on the abbreviation of ת"ח as תלמיד חכמים, click here . Sources:...
May 11, 2021•13 min•Season 4Ep. 22
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Yesterday was Mother’s Day and I decided to see if I could find any Stoic writings on that theme. I selected an excerpt from Seneca’s letter of consolation to his own mother, which – as the title reflects – could be perceived as rather ruthless. But I do believe that if we understand the wisdom of his words, which are paralleled by Judaism’s laws of mourning, we will see that his seemingly harsh approach shows how capable and c...
May 10, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 21
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today we conclude our reading of Seneca’s letter to Lucilius on the topic of friendship and sharing knowledge. All the points Seneca makes in this part of the letter resonated with me on a personal level, in light of my experience as a teacher and as someone who is blessed to live in a community of chachamim . Sources: - Seneca: Letter #6 – On Friendship and the Sharing of Knowledge - Rambam: Mishneh Torah, Sefer ha’Mada, Hilch...
May 07, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 20
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today we begin reading a letter from Seneca to his friend and student, Lucilius, about the nature of a true friendship. His description of such a friendship conforms to the Rambam’s explanation of the type of friend we are commanded by the Sages to acquire for ourselves at all costs. Sources: - Seneca: Letter #6 – On Friendship and the Sharing of Knowledge - Rambam: Mishneh Torah, Sefer ha’Mada, Hilchos Deios 2:1 - Rambam: Comm...
May 06, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 19
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Have you ever heard of the tragedy of Golden Boy, the shirt? In today’s episode I will recount for you my own version of that tale – but one which ends on a happy note. I’m sure I’ve read these passages from Epictetus in the past, but as I mentioned at the outset of this week, reviewing Stoic ideas is critical for internalizing them, and reviewing them in conjunction with real-world examples is the most effective way to do that...
May 05, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s reading is from a chapter in Epictetus’s handbook which is loaded with weighty concepts. Our focus, however, will be on a single point. Stoicism and Judaism both prompt us to turn our focus inwards, and to recognize how we are complicit in our own suffering. However, Shlomo ha’Melech (King Solomon) takes a very different direction in Sefer Mishlei (The Book of Proverbs) than Epictetus does in his brand of Stoicism. In t...
May 04, 2021•13 min•Season 4Ep. 17
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Earlier this year I recorded an episode entitled “Stoic Compassion for Those Who Stumble.” Today I decided to review the same passages we read in that episode, adding a new layer from IFS (Internal Family Systems). I did my best to steer clear of going too much into IFS and tried to keep the ideas in as “normal sounding” terms as possible. I hope this is as clear and useful to you as it is to me! Related Episodes: - On Stoic Co...
May 03, 2021•15 min•Season 4Ep. 16
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I recorded today’s episode last week a couple of hours before Shabbos. I was in a particularly contemplative mood and decided to express my thoughts verbally. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to post it, for fear of it being TOO personal or TOO open, but I listened to it again today and deemed it shareable. I had initially planned to post it on Monday (as you’ll hear me say in the recording), but I felt it would be better to p...
Apr 30, 2021•13 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode was an experiment prompted by an IFS (Internal Family Systems) self-therapy session I had in which I attempted to gain insight into why I didn’t want to record an episode today. I debated whether to record this, and even after that, I debated whether to publish it. In the end I decided that even though I don’t explain the IFS aspect in detail, and it comes across as somewhat crazy sounding, there’s enough Stoic ...
Apr 29, 2021•8 min•Season 4Ep. 14
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we examine another example of a harsh truth taught by Epictetus in (what I deem to be) too harsh of a manner. The points he makes are compelling but he frames them in a way that risks alienating his audience with his absolutism. Are matters as black-and-white as he makes them seem? Is there a middle ground? And if there isn’t, is there another way he could craft his message to increase the chances that his li...
Apr 28, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In yesterday’s episode we discussed Epictetus’s method of “using impressions” to change our experience of life. In today’s episode Marcus Aurelius gives us an impressions-based technique for dealing with injuries and insults from our fellow human beings – one which might help us to implement the loftier and more philosophically attuned methods mentioned elsewhere by Aurelius and by the Rambam. Sources: - Aurelius, Meditations 6...
Apr 27, 2021•7 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Last month I made an episode in which I objected to Marcus Aurelius’s practice of deriding food, drink, and other material enjoyments by means of hyperrealistic “objective” descriptions (e.g. describing coffee as “hot bean juice”). In today’s episode we reexamine that technique and recognize its place in our lives. Related Episodes: - Coffee: One of Life’s Delights or Just Hot Bean Juice? (Aurelius – Meditations 6:13) Sources: ...
Apr 26, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today is Friday, and you know what that means: time for The Stoic Jew Q&A! As you can tell from the title of the episode, today’s question is not so much of a question (nor was it submitted as such) but a request. This is not the first time I’ve been asked to slow down, but it is the first time I’ve examined this personal fault of style through the perspectives of Seneca and the Rambam. Will this change anything? I sure hop...
Apr 23, 2021•14 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Warning – if you’re expecting a clear, neatly packaged, practical insight, then I advise you to skip this episode and listen to another one. Epictetus and I have been gradually coming to a head, and I finally decided to attempt to talk about it. The key word here is “attempt.” On the one hand, I am aware that Epictetus’s view of The Good is at odds with that of the Torah. On the other hand, his view has merit and fits into the ...
Apr 22, 2021•16 min•Season 4Ep. 9
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today’s episode was inspired by a coffee-related mishap which led to a critique of Epictetus’s Stoicism, in contrast to Shlomo ha’Melech’s foundational Stoicism in Mishlei. Epictetus isn’t entirely at fault here, but in my opinion, the way he teaches Stoicism lends itself to these fallacious ways of thinking. For my other episode about coffee and Stoicism, check out Coffee: One of Life’s Delights or Just Hot Bean Juice? (Aureli...
Apr 21, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 8
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we discuss the different perspectives on sleep, as reflected in the teachings of Marcus Aurelius and the Rambam. I hesitate to characterize this as “the Stoic view on sleep” because this was literally the only Stoic teaching I could find on the topic, but perhaps that fact is significant in and of itself. Regardless, I do think that this is a point in which Judaism and Stoicism differ, and I think that the di...
Apr 20, 2021•14 min•Season 4Ep. 7
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Today will be our last episode on Letter #123 (for now, at least). In this excerpt Seneca provides us with further guidance on how to resist the “counterfeit Stoicism” we read about last time. His method parallels that of the Rambam in Hilchos Deios and Shemoneh Perakim, although it’s not exactly the same. The reason I wanted to record this episode was because of a hidden gem: a Mishleic perspective Seneca gives us which can he...
Apr 19, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 6
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we read an example of a particularly insidious form of rationalization – one in which your yetzer ha’ra uses a counterfeit version of the value system you’ve embraced and persuades you to engage in self-destructive behavior, thinking that you’re making progress. And when this rationalization is promoted by the people you spend time with every day, then the potential for catastrophe is even greater. Sources: -...
Apr 16, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 5
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: Yesterday we discussed the “disease” of the relative value system, and the pain and unhappiness that comes from comparing yourself to others. Today we discuss the “cure” for this disease, as prescribed by Seneca and the Rambam. Some may find this remedy to be difficult to implement in practice, but I argue that even if a total implementation is unrealistic, we can at least work on making an effort to move in the right direction...
Apr 15, 2021•11 min•Season 4Ep. 4
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode we continue reading Seneca’s Letter #123. In this excerpt he discusses what we might view as a very “modern” problem, namely, desiring possessions simply because everyone else seems to own them. As value as this lesson is in its own right, I think it applies equally to things that really matter, such as our learning, our service of Hashem, and how we live. This lesson was first introduced to me by my 3rd grad...
Apr 14, 2021•14 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: I liked the letter we started yesterday so much that I decided to continue it in today’s episode. Because Rosh Chodesh and its newfound significance (thanks to Sforno’s idea, which I discussed in Season 3 Episode 17 ) has been on my mind, I decided to use Seneca’s words as a springboard to suggest a method for using Rosh Chodesh as a tool for measuring one’s personal progress, whether in Stoicism, Judaism, or any other area of ...
Apr 13, 2021•13 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: We’re back for Season 4 of The Stoic Jew podcast! In today’s episode we hear Seneca’s strategy for making his bad bread taste good – a strategy which is also taught by Shlomo ha’Melech in Mishlei. Although it may look like both of them are advocating asceticism, they are really doing the opposite: showing you how to maximize pleasure in the physical world by focusing your efforts on your inner world, which is the only thing tha...
Apr 12, 2021•10 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In today’s episode I reflect on my own chipazon -ridden journey from Pesach 5780 to Pesach 5781 in light of a memento mori passage from Aurelius and a beautiful commentary of Sforno on the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh. I hope the ideas and personal reflections I share prompt similar thoughts in you. If you’d like to share them with me, I would be happy to listen. ---------- Aurelius – Meditations 4:47 Just as if God told you, “tomor...
Mar 23, 2021•13 min•Season 3Ep. 17
