Kidush ha’Shem and Kidush ha’Stoicism (Seneca: Letter #5 – On the Philosopher’s Mean, Part 1)

Synopsis: In today’s episode we begin a new letter in which Seneca warns his student Lucilius about becoming supercilious in his philosophical lifestyle and its external trappings. We compare Seneca’s advice to the guidelines for how a chacham (wise man) should be behave in the framework of kidush ha’shem (sanctifying God’s name) and in the framework of hilchos deos (the laws of character traits).

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Sources:
- Seneca: Letter #5; click here to access the full text of Seneca's Letter
- Rambam: Mishneh Torah, Sefer ha’Mada, Hilchos Yesodei ha’Toah 5:11
- Rambam: Mishneh Torah, Sefer ha’Mada, Hilchos Deos 5:1
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
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Stoic texts:
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Letters from a Stoic Master (Seneca)
The Discourses of Epictetus
The Enchiridion (Handbook) of Epictetus
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