Category Archives: Ethics of the Fathers

Faith and Fear (5:6)

Fear of God and Faith in God are both laudable qualities worthy of great people. Both, of course, are mitzvos as well. Which one is loftier? At first glance, fear of God can only be built upon an edifice of faith and thus it would be a loftier level. But when we examine the issue critically, we find something very surprising.

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Miracles at the Sea (5:5)

Ten is a very significant number in Jewish numerology and philosophy. The previous teachings in this chapter revolve around tens and the present Mishnah teaches that the Exodus was marked by a series of ten miracles for the Jews and ten plagues for the Egyptians whilst in Egypt and ten additional miracles for the Jews and ten additional plagues for the Egyptians at the splitting of the sea. What are these miracles and what is the significance of them happening twice?

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Spiritual Epigenetics (5:4)

The story of our forefather Abraham is told in great detail in the Torah. We read about his challenges and triumphs, travails, and travels. The Mishnah calculates that Abraham underwent ten distinct divine tests and succeeded in all of them. What are the nature of these ten tests and what do they portend to us? The answers are surprising and enlightening.

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Greedy When Others are Fearful (5:2-3)

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Ten generations elapsed both from Adam to Noah and from Noah to Abraham. The trend over those generations was away from God and into idolatry. At the end of each of these groups of ten generations came a great Tzadik. But Noah and Abraham were different classes of a Tzadik and the results are decidedly different. How does the Almighty treat generations of sinners? What opportunities are present for the righteous immersed in a sinful generation? We discover the answers and more in this special edition of The Ethics Podcast.

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Nuclear Football (5:1) + TORCH Fundraiser

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How important are we? Do we even matter? What difference does it make if I live of die? What difference can one person make in the grand scope of existence? These are tough existential questions that thinking people grapple with. In this thought provoking podcast, we follow the Mishnah in exploring some these advanced questions.

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Life, Afterlife, and Judgment (4:29)

What happens after we die? That is a question that fascinates and terrifies us. The future is unknown. It is a mystery, shrouded in uncertainty and dread. Naturally, the human tendency is to try to avoid thinking about those questions too much. In this Mishnah, the subject is ripped open and we learn some very valuable and penetrating insights that can forever shape our live.

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This Ethics Podcast is sponsored by my anonymous friend from LA in loving memory and leilui Nishmat his cousin, Behzad Emanuel ben Moshiach. May his soul be elevated in Heaven.

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Envy, Lust, and Honor (4:28)

This Mishnah is perhaps the most famous one in the entire Book of Pirkei Avos. We are told that there are three characteristics that remove a person from the world: Envy, Lust, and Honor. What is not specified is which world is being referenced, or why, exactly, these characteristics are so destructive. In this transformational Ethics podcast, we probe many central questions of Jewish faith and eschatology.

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Aged Wisdom (4:26-7)

How do children learn? How does intelligence and wisdom develop? How do people undergo intellectual and spiritual maturation? In this very powerful set of Mishnayos, we learn why young people why young people are not always ready for prime time, and how ruminating over wisdom transforms a person.

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Etched in Stone (4:25)

Elisha Ben Avuyah was one of the greatest Sages with the potential to being a historic legend of Jewish history on par with Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues. But he went awry. He became a heretic and a sinner and abandoned Torah. Why did he go awry? That question is hotly debated among the Sages. They scoured his life and found all kinds of episodes that caused him to go bad. What is the story of this renegade Sage? Why was his teaching included in Pirkei Avos?

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Benediction Malediction (4:24)

Shmuel HaKattan was one of the legends of Jewish history. The Talmud testifies on him that had his generation been worthy, he would have been a full-fledged prophet. Notwithstanding his generation, Shmuel Hakattan did merit lower grade prophecies in his life. He was commissioned by Rabban Gamliel to compose the blessing against the heretics, a blessing that we recite thrice daily. In his Mishnah we discover that he was not motivated by hatred of the heretics. To the contrary, he loved them and sought their repentance and restoration.

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Angry and Irrational (4:23)

Who controls a person? That is arguably the most important question there is. As Jews we are trained to adopt the Almighty God as our Master. With the Creator governing our life via His Torah, we are on the correct path to fulfill our life’s duty. But the Talmud reveals that there is an impostor jockeying for that role. The Yetzer Hara is a foreign god seeking to supplant God from within us to to commandeer that post. Once the foreign god is sitting on the throne within us, its directives will b e obeyed with religious zeal and we are heading down a path of devestation and destruction.

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An Invitation to The Afterlife (4:21-2)

We all recognize that we will eventually die. Each of us know that there will come a point in time where our body and Soul separate and go their own way. The body will return to its origin, the dust, and the Soul will return to its Heavenly roots. What happens to our Soul in Heaven is certainly a tantalizing question. In this Mishnah we learn about Olam Haba, the Next world, commonly called the Afterlife. What is the Afterlife? Why is it worth preparing for? What can I do to ensure that I am included in the invite-list for this eternal bliss? In this very critical podcast we attempt to penetrate the great mystery of Olam Haba.

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This special edition of the podcast is dedicated in the merit of the speedy and total recovery of Yehudit bat Sara who recently contracted the coronavirus. We hope and pray that she beats the virus completely and quickly with no lingering effects

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