Pleasure (6.6.18)

Pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain are hardwired impulses . We all want to feel good and to avoid feeling bad. Perhaps surprisingly, the Torah fully embraces this principle. The reason why we were created, we are told, is so that we can become receptacles of pleasure. Our only disagreement with other philosophies is […]

Our resources are finite. We must engage in trade-offs, deciding what pursuits to prioritize over others. This, of course, is all well known. But it’s more complicated: by design, we feel drawn to seek out and pursue goals that are potentially harmful and that can overtake your life. Balance is key. This Ethics Podcast was […]

The central conflict of our lives orients around our relationship with the physical world in which we currently inhabit: the Torah teaches us that the objective of life is to optimize for the benefit and betterment of the soul, and to prepare for Olam Haba. The Yetzer Hara is engineered to make us believe that […]

The oral Torah is vast, comprehensive, and multi-layered. One of its layers is known as Mishnah. What is Mishnah, how was it organized and codified, and why does it prepare us for wisdom? In this Ethics Podcast we learn all about Mishnah and it’s indispensability and power. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the […]

Our works of Scripture are all prophetic, each written with varying degrees of prophecy. When we study Scripture we are encountering the word of God. But what is the objective of the study of Scripture? Why does Scripture pave the way to wisdom? In this Ethics Podcast we discover what Scripture is, how it ought […]

Humans are not monolithic. Each one of us is unique and have a unique take on every life situation. The truth is even more granular: even within a single person, there is not uniformity. We are all internally conflicted, sometimes thinking like this and sometimes like that, sometimes feeling like this and sometimes feeling like […]

One of the most rewarding things a person can do is to teach others. But beyond the feeling of gratification that comes with teaching, When you are able to educate and enlighten other people with your knowledge, you learn a lot from the process. Teaching others is a fantastic way to study yourself. This Ethics […]

Humans are not perfect. Only God is. We are fallible. We are mistake-prone. Yet our mission and mandate is to discover truth. That is achieved, chiefly, via the study of Torah. The Almighty embedded truth and understanding of God in the Torah that He gave to us. But even our pursuit of Torah must be […]

Our glorious tradition was perpetuated from generation to generation, from teacher to student, from parent to child, for thousands of years. One of the ways to acquire wisdom is by studying under the tutelage of a great Sage. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jan 8, 2023 – – – […]

Our sages tell us that one of the ways to acquire wisdom is with purity. What exactly is purity and why would it be a means through which we can acquire wisdom? In this Ethics Podcast we explore the subject of purity with profound depth. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast […]