Shows / The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Ethics Podcast is dedicated to exploring the authoritative book of Jewish Ethics, the Book of Mishnah titled “Ethics of our Fathers”. This book, called “Pirkei Avos” in Hebrew, is nearly 2,000 years old, and it is a compendium of the ethical aphorisms of the great Sages of Jewish history circa 300 BCE – 200 CE. Each episode begins with a biographical sketch of the Mishnah’s author culled from the Mishnaic, Talmudic, and Midrashic Literature, and shares some of the timeless lessons and…
Episodes
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Discover You (1:14)
In the third teaching of Hillel the Elder, we discover timeless advice to maximizing life: If I am not for me, who will be for me; when I am for myself, what…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Spiritual Persistence (1:13)
In his second consecutive teaching, Hillel instructs us regarding the proper attitude to spiritual development and persistence, and the grave consequences of…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
How to be a Peacemaker (1:11-12)
One of the great legendary figures in Jewish history, Hillel, instructs us to follow the ways of Aaron: To love peace and to pursue it, and to love people and…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Two Elements of Leadership (1:10)
In the tenth Mishna, the leader of the Jews Shemayah, a descendent of the Assyrian king Sanchereb, teaches us about the work, leadership and politicians. This…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ethical Judicial Conduct (1:8-1:9)
In the Second Century before the Common Era, the Jewish world was in an upheaval due largely to various splinter sects, such as the Sadducees and Boethusians…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Avoiding Bad Neighbors (1:7)
In the previous mishna we are instructed how to choose positive influences, in this one we are warned of the perils of bad friends and bad neighbors. This…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Selecting Mentors (1:6)
In the 6th mishna of Pirkei Avos, we learn about the importance of having good mentors and friends, and the prerequisites to make such relationships work. This…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Excessive Schmoozing with Women (1:5)
In the fifth mishna we learn about the proper ways to interact with others, especially those less fortunate, in a pious and peril-free manner. This Ethics…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Godly Intellect (1:4)
In the fourth mishna of Pirkei Avos, our sages offer three steps to accessing Torah. In our deconstruction of this teaching we learn about the nature of Torah…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Fostering Lasting Relationships (1:3)
In following the previous mishna which distilled the life objectives to three tenets, Pirkei Avos proceeds to delve into each one individually. In perhaps the…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Three-Pronged Purpose (1.2)
The second Mishna in Pirkei Avos features a powerful teaching from one of the pivotal and legendary characters in Jewish History. Shimon HaTzadik (Simeon the…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
New 2025 Initiative: The Book of Ethics (1.1)
The first mishna of Pirkei Avos begins with attributing the first 900 years of the line of transmission of the Torah from Moshe at Sinai until the Men of the…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Ethics Podcast Conclusion Message
Speech at celebratory lunch at Genesis Steakhouse in Houston, TX to mark the completion of the Book Ethics and the Ethics Podcast. – – – – – – – – – – – – – –…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Purpose of Creation (6:11)
With endless praise to the Almighty for all goodness that he has done for us, we hereby present the final episode of the Ethics podcast. We began this project…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
God’s Cherished Possessions (6:10)
God owns everything. He created everything and owns it all. But there are some things that God cherishes above others. Our Mishnah describes five cherished…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Place of Torah (6.9)
There are only three rules of real estate: location, location, location. When it comes to choosing a place to live, the same principle applies. But what…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Double-Edged Swords (6.8)
Not everything that we covet in life necessarily redounds to our benefit. There are great many things that are double-edge swords: they can be used for good…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
The Life-Giving Property of Torah (6:7)
The thing that we crave more than anything else is life. We all want life. We all flee from curtailing of – or danger to – our life. How do we…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Proper Attribution (6.6.48)
When we hear something beautiful, something genius, something powerful, we may be tempted to pass it off as our own. In the final installment of the 48 ways to…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Systematic Studying (6.6.47)
The penultimate way to wisdom offered by our sages instructs us to be systematic in our studies. What exactly does this mean? In this very special Ethics…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Sharpening Teachers (6.6.46)
Teachers are usually pretty talented. They’re usually gifted, knowledgeable, intelligent, and well-studied. In way to wisdom # 46 we learn how a student…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Studying with Intentionality (6.6.44-45)
What are our intentions when we study? What are we trying to achieve? If we are studying the Almighty’s Torah simply as an exercise in theoretical…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Active Listening (6.6.43)
Listening is a lost art. To truly listen and consider the other person’s position is becoming increasingly rarer. We get consumed with our own ideas and…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Asking and Answering (6.6.42)
Questions are arguably the most potent tool by which to open up a complex subject. Asking questions on a given matter; asking many, diverse questions…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Well-Grounded (6.6.41)
What is our relationship with our studies? For some (many?) studying Torah is very important. It is a great priority. But is it the permanent fixture of a…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Truth and Peace (6.6.40)
Truth and peace are often incompatible. A peaceful solution to a problem is often not truthful; unvarnished truth is rarely diplomatic. In way number 40 to…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Judging Favorably (6.6.39)
Not everyone is a saint. In fact, the verse testifies that there is no righteous person in the land who does only good and never sins. So everyone is a sinner…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Bearing the Burden (6.6.38)
Everyone is going through something. Everyone has difficulties in life. That is the human condition. It is also all by design. But we are instructed to…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Unenthusiastic Judgment (6.6.37)
There was a need to render halachic rulings. Sometimes there was uncertainty and there’s a need to have a halachic decisor render a ruling. But what is…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Swelled Heart (6.6.36)
It is a mark of Torah ignorance to be content with the degree of Torah study that you have. It is broader than the land and deeper than the sea. Torah is…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Aversion to Honor (6.6.35)
Honor is a funny thing. It yields no tangible, discernible, sensory benefit to the recipient, yet it is so highly coveted and desired. We all want respect. We…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Loving Rebuke (6.6.34)
No one likes criticism. To receive criticism is painful. To be told what we did wrong stings. We bristle at the notion that we are flawed and imperfect. The…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Loving Straightness (6.6.33)
Straightness is a virtue. Straightness means to be proper and upstanding in all of your conduct. It means doing what’s proper and just and good. It also…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Loving Charities (6.6.32)
Charity is a big element of religious life. Our Sages tell us that the mitzvah of charity equals all the mitzvos of the Torah combined. But monetary charity is…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Loving Humanity (6.6.31) + TORCH Fundraiser
TORCH Fundraiser — support the Ethics Podcast Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Loving God (6.6.30) + TORCH Fundraiser
TORCH Fundraiser — support the Ethics Podcast Our organization, TORCH, does only one fundraiser a year, and that is happening right now at giveTORCH.org. This…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Beloved (6.6.30 Intro)
Torah was not given to angels. Torah was given to humans. One way to expand our ability to acquire Torah is by enhancing our humanity. The more human we are…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Sense of Mission (6.6.29)
We love Torah. Torah study is our national pastime and obsession. It is enjoyable; it is fun; it is interesting — but to acquire it – we have to now that…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Making Fences (6.6.28)
Humans are fallible. We are imperfect, yet we are tasked with being the stewards and the guardians of the perfect. We hold the Almighty’s Torah in our…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Joyous With Your Lot (6.6.27)
There is an unequal distribution of talents, gifts, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Everyone is different. Everyone is their own world. This applies both…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Know Your Place (6.6.26)
The greatest pedagogues of history – the Sages of the Mishnah – codified “knowing your place” as a means to acquire Torah, to acquire…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Accepting Affliction (6.6.25)
Life is full of nuisances. For many – maybe all – life inevitably contains some pain, suffering, and affliction. How we approach these situations…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Trust Sages (6.6.24)
Our primary responsibility as humans and as Jews is to develop and deepen our faith in the Creator. Can we have faith in man? Can we have faith in a mortal? In…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Good Heart (6.6.23)
Although the study of Torah is ostensibly a cognitive pursuit, there are many qualities that are not cognitive nature that facilitate and enable the study of…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Anger Suppression (6.6.22)
Anger is part of the human experience. When things agitate us, we get frustrated and have a tendency to lash out, to berate, to say things that we may regret…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Levity (6.6.21)
Life is serious. Pursuit of wisdom is the pursuit of truth. Pursuit of wisdom is the pursuit of understanding the Divine (to the best of our abilities). To…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Conversation (6:6:20)
We are speaking beings. In fact, the central differentiation between humanity and animals is the capacity of verbal communication. The judgment that we face in…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Sleep (6.6.19)
We all need to sleep. All humans, irrespective of their intelligence, their physical prowess, their wealth, must lay down in a comatose state for several hours…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Moderation (6:6:17)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
Worldliness (6.6.16)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom: Mishnah (6:6:15)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom: Scripture (6:6:14)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom #13: Equilibrium (6:6:13)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom #12: Engaging Students (6:6:12)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom – #11: Friendly Critique (6:6:11)
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 Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom – #10: Apprenticeship (6:6:10)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom – #9: Purity (6:6:9)
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…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom – #8: Joy (6:6:8)
Joy is an underappreciated aspect of the life of a Jew. One can imagine that you can fulfill all of your religious and spiritual obligations without living…
- The Ethics Podcast - With Rabbi Yaakov Wolbe
48 Ways to Wisdom – #7: Humility (6:6:7)
Humility is one of the attributes most associated with acquisition of wisdom. Moses was the humblest of men. Sinai was an unassuming, lowly mountain. But what…