Episodes

  • The Critical Hour (4:3)

    The Critical Hour (4:3)
    May 16 2025
    How valuable is an hour of time? How much of a person’s life can be changed in one hour? In this mishna, Ben Azzai teaches us the power of a single hour. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Nov 18, 2019 – – – – – – – – – […]
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    32 mins
  • Miracle Drugs and Superfoods (4:2)

    Miracle Drugs and Superfoods (4:2)
    May 14 2025
    Something dramatic happens when the Soul is fed. It is empowered and its place in a person’s identity is augmented, and concurrently the Yetzer Hara’s influence is weakened. A virtuous cycle results wherein one Mitzvah makes the second Mitzvah more likely. Initially, the Mitzvos need to be force-fed like feeding a patient who refuses food. […]
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    54 mins
  • Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise (4:1)

    Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise (4:1)
    May 12 2025
    Does it make sense to take pride in one’s intellect, fitness, or wealth? Our Sages teach us that those things are determined before someone is born, and therefore it would be ludicrous for us to take pride in what was given to us by God. But in a seminal teaching, Ben Zoma reveals that there […]
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    50 mins
  • Complex Calculations (3:23)

    Complex Calculations (3:23)
    May 9 2025
    What is the relationship between Torah and secular disciplines such as astronomy mathematics? In a pithy and cryptic teaching, Rabbi Elazar Chisma – a Sage who excelled in both – offers an insightful perspective. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Sep 1, 2019 – – – – – – – […]
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    34 mins
  • Preconditions to Torah (3:21-22)

    Preconditions to Torah (3:21-22)
    May 7 2025
    Torah is unlike any other discipline. Every other discipline can be acquired without preconditions; Torah can only be unlocked by someone who has successfully primed himself for that lofty status. In this Mishnah, Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah instructs us on what is needed before Torah can flourish within us. This Ethics Podcast was originally released […]
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    32 mins
  • Hotel Incidentals (3:20)

    Hotel Incidentals (3:20)
    Apr 30 2025
    In his fourth and final teaching, Rabbi Akiva shares a powerful and serious parable that is designed to shake us up and take life seriously but also contains the undertones of a very inspirational and comforting message. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics Podcast on Jun 16, 2019 – – – – […]
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    30 mins
  • World Building (3:18)

    World Building (3:18)
    Apr 25 2025
    In an astonishingly profound teaching, Rabbi Akiva informs us of the special role that humans have in completing the objective of the Almighty’s creation; and the amplified role that our nation has in effectuating that; and the tools that we were given to achieve that goal. This Ethics Podcast was originally released on the Ethics […]
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    29 mins
  • Bulletproof Fences (3:17)

    Bulletproof Fences (3:17)
    Apr 23 2025
    Rabbi Akiva is one of the titanic figures of the Mishnaic Era. He served as the vital link transmitting the Torah that he studied from his predecessors to his students amid ceaseless oppression under the Romans. In the first of three consecutive Mishnas authored by Rabbi Akiva, we learn the keys to avoiding catastrophic promiscuity, […]
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    1 hr and 13 mins