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My name is Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss, and this is the hub for all of my shiurim (classes) on Sefer Mishlei, a.k.a. The Book of Proverbs! Generally speaking we will follow the approach to Mishlei outlined by Saadia Gaon who views Mishlei as a guide for intelligent decision-making in everyday life with the goal of maximizing long-term pleasure and minimizing long-term pain. Each shiur will typically focus on one pasuk (verse), which we will attempt to analyze on our own before turning to the meforshim (commentators). If you have any questions feel free to email me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thanks for listening!
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Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:21-22 - Mishleic Revenge is a Dish Best Served (Part 2) (כא) אִם רָעֵב שֹׂנַאֲךָ הַאֲכִלֵהוּ לָחֶם וְאִם צָמֵא הַשְׁקֵהוּ מָיִם. (כב) כִּי גֶחָלִים אַתָּה חֹתֶה עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וַיְיָ יְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ: Length: 31 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/26/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began with a quick review of the questions, then jumped right into the meforshim. We made it through a surprising number of interpretations in...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:21-22 - Mishleic Revenge is a Dish Best Served (Part 1) (כא) אִם רָעֵב שֹׂנַאֲךָ הַאֲכִלֵהוּ לָחֶם וְאִם צָמֵא הַשְׁקֵהוּ מָיִם. (כב) כִּי גֶחָלִים אַתָּה חֹתֶה עַל רֹאשׁוֹ וַיְיָ יְשַׁלֶּם לָךְ: Length: 43 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/25/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began learning a pasuk I’ve learned and taught DOZENS of times, one of my favorite “introductory pesukim.” It may not follow the structure of ...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:21 - Two Failed Fathers of Two Mishleic Fools יֹלֵד כְּסִיל לְתוּגָה לוֹ וְלֹא יִשְׂמַח אֲבִי נָבָל: Length: 1 hour 42 minutes Synopsis: This evening (3/23/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we learned a pasuk which fit squarely into two Mishleic genres: (1) Mishleic parenting, and (2) seemingly obvious pesukim. Once again, I was a bit nervous because of how little the meforshim had to offer, and once again, I was p...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:20 - Is Music an Effective Remedy? (Part 2) מַעֲדֶה בֶּגֶד בְּיוֹם קָרָה חֹמֶץ עַל נָתֶר וְשָׁר בַּשִּׁרִים עַל לֶב רָע: Length: 43 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/19/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing what we covered yesterday, filling in a few more translation nuances. We spent the bulk of our time learning through the three explanations given by Saadia Gaon which, according to him, are all rela...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:20 - Is Music an Effective Remedy? (Part 1) מַעֲדֶה בֶּגֶד בְּיוֹם קָרָה חֹמֶץ עַל נָתֶר וְשָׁר בַּשִּׁרִים עַל לֶב רָע: Length: 44 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/18/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we started learning another "triple comparison pasuk." This one was made difficult by our lack of knowledge about the second metaphor. Still, we managed to come up with two nice (and somewhat opposite) approaches. I'm ve...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:20 - Crooked Hearts and Reversed Speech עִקֶּשׁ לֵב לֹא יִמְצָא טוֹב וְנֶהְפָּךְ בִּלְשׁוֹנוֹ יִפּוֹל בְּרָעָה: Length: 1 hour 23 minutes Synopsis: This evening (3/16/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we took up a pasuk that felt simultaneously generic and specific. We came up with good approaches, some complete and some on their way there, but then I hit a wall of exhaustion (due to a short, interrupted sleep the ...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:19 - On Unreliable Teeth, Feet, and Friends (Part 2) שֵׁן רֹעָה וְרֶגֶל מוּעָדֶת מִבְטָח בּוֹגֵד בְּיוֹם צָרָה: Length: 29 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/12/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we did a brief recap of yesterday's approaches, then started learning through the meforshim. First, Immanuel ha'Romi supported our take and provided two additional explanations. We speculated about our own derech nistar, but were...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:19 - On Unreliable Teeth, Feet, and Friends (Part 1) שֵׁן רֹעָה וְרֶגֶל מוּעָדֶת מִבְטָח בּוֹגֵד בְּיוֹם צָרָה: Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/11/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began working on another "straight-up mashal, Anshei Chizkiyahu"-style pasuk. We were a little shaky on the translation at first, but once we settled on that, we were able to develop two really nice approaches: one original an...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:19 - Offense-Lovers, Door-Raisers, and Karens אֹהֵב פֶּשַׁע אֹהֵב מַצָּה מַגְבִּיהַּ פִּתְחוֹ מְבַקֶּשׁ שָׁבֶר: Length: 1 hour 58 minutes Synopsis: This evening (3/9/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we took up an unusual pasuk that I had never learned before. Despite the weirdness of the pasuk's formlation, we came up with a nice variety of original interpretations, and then learned two completely different explan...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 28:15 - Lions, Bears, and Despots like Achashveirosh (Part 2) אֲרִי נֹהֵם וְדֹב שׁוֹקֵק מוֹשֵׁל רָשָׁע עַל עַם דָּל: Length: 30 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/26/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing what we covered yesterday. I then shared my own take on the pasuk, which dovetailed nicely with the interpretation of the pesichta by Rabbi Uzi Kalheim. I had wanted to go over a second explanation from th...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 28:15 - Lions, Bears, and Despots like Achashveirosh (Part 1) אֲרִי נֹהֵם וְדֹב שׁוֹקֵק מוֹשֵׁל רָשָׁע עַל עַם דָּל: Length: 42 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/25/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we took a break from our perek to learn a pasuk that we hope will shed light on Megilas Esther. On its surface, the pasuk addresses the effect of evil rulers on destitute people, but Reish Lakish uses it as an aggadic introduct...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:18 - Before You Agree to Back Up Your Friend ... אָדָם חֲסַר לֵב תּוֹקֵעַ כָּף, עֹרֵב עֲרֻבָּה לִפְנֵי רֵעֵהוּ: Length: 1 hour 27 minutes Synopsis: This evening (2/23/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we took up a pasuk that, on its surface, seemed overly specific and rather bland. We didn’t even come up with our usual number of questions or problems. Yet after a few false starts, we developed some genuinely strong...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:18 - False Testimony as Weapon(s) (Part 2) מֵפִיץ וְחֶרֶב וְחֵץ שָׁנוּן אִישׁ עֹנֶה בְרֵעֵהוּ עֵד שָׁקֶר: Length: 29 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/19/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we continued our analysis of yesterday's pasuk. After reviewing our questions and approaches, then speculating about a derech nistar (esoteric approach), we read through several meforshim. While none of them offered anything radically ...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:18 - False Testimony as Weapon(s) (Part 1) מֵפִיץ וְחֶרֶב וְחֵץ שָׁנוּן אִישׁ עֹנֶה בְרֵעֵהוּ עֵד שָׁקֶר: Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/18/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we started learning either a pasuk which may be characterized as either a very blunt or a very precise mashal. We raised more questions than I expected and came up with some really nice possibilities! Disconcertingly, our go-to meforsh...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:17 - Friends vs. Family בְּכׇל עֵת אֹהֵב הָרֵעַ וְאָח לְצָרָה יִוָּלֵד: Length: 1 hour 39 minutes Synopsis: This evening (2/16/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we learned an interesting pasuk about the difference between the love of friends and the reliability of family. The style of this pasuk was unusual and ... unsettling? We came up with a nice set of our own ideas - so many, in fact, that we didn't have as mu...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:16-17 - Don't Make Your Friend Vomit (Part 2) (טז) דְּבַשׁ מָצָאתָ אֱכֹל דַּיֶּךָּ פֶּן תִּשְׂבָּעֶנּוּ וַהֲקֵאתוֹ. (יז) הֹקַר רַגְלְךָ מִבֵּית רֵעֶךָ פֶּן יִשְׂבָּעֲךָ וּשְׂנֵאֶךָ: Length: 36 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/12/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we began by reviewing the main approach from yesterday. We delved a bit deeper into the derech nigleh, trying to understand exactly what makes a person sick of...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:16-17 - Don't Make Your Friend Vomit (Part 1) (טז) דְּבַשׁ מָצָאתָ אֱכֹל דַּיֶּךָּ פֶּן תִּשְׂבָּעֶנּוּ וַהֲקֵאתוֹ. (יז) הֹקַר רַגְלְךָ מִבֵּית רֵעֶךָ פֶּן יִשְׂבָּעֲךָ וּשְׂנֵאֶךָ: Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/11/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we learned a pair of pesukim that might have been the inspiration for Ben Franklin's quip: "Guests, like fish, stink after three days." Shlomo ha'Melech's vers...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:15 - How to Dupe an Angry Superior (Part 2) בְּאֹרֶךְ אַפַּיִם יְפֻתֶּה קָצִין וְלָשׁוֹן רַכָּה תִּשְׁבׇּר גָּרֶם: Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/5/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we learned through a TON of different meforshim on our pasuk. Some of them took it in similar directions to what we came up with yesterday. Others surprised us with their creativity. We came away with several nice ideas, but th...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 25:15 - How to Dupe an Angry Superior (Part 1) בְּאֹרֶךְ אַפַּיִם יְפֻתֶּה קָצִין וְלָשׁוֹן רַכָּה תִּשְׁבׇּר גָּרֶם: Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/4/26), in our Morning Mishlei shiur, we learned a pasuk that you shouldn't let your boss know that you learned. (I'm only half-joking.) Truth be told, the title doesn't reflect the ONLY way to learn the pasuk, but it does reflect the direction we took. We had some...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Mishlei 17:16 - The Fool Who Attempts to Buy Chochmah לָמָּה זֶּה מְחִיר בְּיַד כְּסִיל לִקְנוֹת חׇכְמָה וְלֶב אָיִן: Length: 1 hour 53 minutes Synopsis: This evening (2/2/26), in our Monday Night Mishlei shiur, we learned a pasuk that was NOT so familiar to me. To my surprise and delight, we came up with close to a DOZEN interpretations! We barely had time to learn any of the meforshim, since there were so many original interpreta...
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