Sitemap - 2022 - The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack

An Etymological Drash from Rav Hirsch on Jewish vs. Pagan Priests

Chanukah 5783: The “Beloved” Mitzvah of Ner Chanukah

Vayeishev: Should this Rashi be Taught to Children?

Insights Gleaned from My 30-Day Coffee Replacement Experiment (Epictetus - Discourses 2:18; Seneca - Consolation to Helvia 11:14; Letter #39)

Vayishlach: Can We Talk About Reuven’s Sin?

Musings on OpenAI in Light of Stoic and Jewish Concepts of the Soul (Aurelius – Meditations 2:2,17; 3:16)

Reflection on Counting 52 Weeks of My Life (Seneca – On the Shortness of Life)

Vayeitzei: The Eyes of Leah in the Eyes of Three Schools of Commentary

Toldos: Does God Judge Our Prayers Based on Our Parents?

500 Days of Gratitude (Epictetus - Discourses 3:12, Aurelius - Meditations 5:20, 10:16)

Reacting to an Event as a Slow-Motion Explosion (Seneca – Letter #99: On Consolation to the Bereaved; Aurelius – Meditations 9:36)

Chayei Sarah: The Pshat of “Place Your Hand Under My Thigh”

To Die Like Ben Azzai in Pardes … Would it Be So Bad? (Aurelius – Meditations 12:36)

Vayeira: Don’t Deviate from the Minhag: XTREME Edition

B’Shem Hashem El Olam: Only God “Has Time” (Aurelius – Meditations 2:4)

Lech Lecha: Is Circumcision “Mutilation”?

You Can’t Be Present Yesterday (Aurelius - Meditations 2:14)

Beur Tefilah: Who is the “Aleinu” in Sim Shalom?

How Not to Not Not Care About Being Liked By Everyone (Seneca - Letter #52; Epictetus - Discourses 1:21; Aurelius - Meditations 7:62)

Noach: Shadal’s Radical Application of Dibrah Torah ki’Lshon Bnei Adam

Coming soon

When Life Gives You Insomnia, Bake a Cake and Rejoice in Yisurin (Aurelius - Meditations 5:20)

Some Stoic Strategies for Being Late (Epictetus - Enchiridion 1,4,17; Aurelius - Meditations 4:8; Seneca - Letter #13)

The Short Prayers of Marcus Aurelius and the Kohen Gadol (Aurelius - Meditations 5:7)

Yom ha’Kippurim 5783: Musings on Erev Yom ha’Kippurim Anxiety

Yom ha'Kippurim Round-up: 5775 - 5783

Stoicism vs. Judaism on Motives for Righteousness (Aurelius - Meditations 5:6)

How to Grapple with Your Own Intellectual Inferiority (Aurelius - Meditations 5:5)

May We Have an Elul Filled with Suffering and a Painful New Year (Epictetus – Discourses 3:23)

Rav Hirsch on Bad Biographies

How Stoic Invulnerability Works (Aurelius – Meditations 10:33, 4:8, 5:20)

Tishah b'Av 5782: Kinnah #28 - Eich Enacheim? (How Can I Be Consoled?)

Why I Can’t Take the “Stoic” Out of “The Stoic Jew Podcast”

Don’t Cry Over Spilled Almond Extract (Epictetus – Discourses 1:6)

My 48-Hour Fast, Marta bas Baisos, and the Boon of Halacha (Seneca – Letter #18; Epictetus – Enchiridion 50)

Is it Permissible to Enjoy Learning on Tishah b'Av?

How to Make Kinnos Real

Wishful Thinking and Prophetic Interpretation

Review of R' Shagar's book: "Faith Shattered and Restored: Judaism in the Postmodern Age"

Masei: How to Read the Travels of Bnei Yisrael

Why Talk About Other Religions?

Do You Have People in Your Life Who Try to Convince You You're Unhappy? (Seneca - Letter #13)

Sefer Mishlei’s Jargon-Filled Introduction (Mishlei 1:1-6)

Ralbag on the Speculative Nature of Taamei ha'Mitzvos

Post-Insomnia Stoic Jew Self-Talk (Aurelius - Meditations 6:31)

Abandonment by Hashem as a Catalyst for Teshuvah

Haftaras Parashas Pinchas: Goyishe Jews

My Rejected Kiruv Article on the Purpose of Life

When the IRS Acts as an Agent of God (Epictetus - Enchiridion 11)

“Hump Day,” Wednesday, and Yom Revii l’Shabbos

Minhag Mythbusters: Does a Husband Sing Eishes Chayil for His Wife?

The Role of Episodic Memory in the Three Weeks and Tishah b'Av

EFT: The Future of Thinking About the Future (Seneca - Letter #91; Aurelius 9:30; 12:24)

17th of Tammuz Reflections on Waikiki

Why Do You Value Stoicism as a Jew? (Epictetus – Enchiridion 8,5,1; Seneca – Letter #91; Aurelius – Meditations 2:11)

The Pros and Cons of a Postmodernist Analysis of Halacha

Judaism and the Benefits of EFT (Episodic Future Thinking)

How to Win the Lead Role in E.T. and Achieve Human Perfection (Epictetus – Discourses 2:18)

EFT (Episodic Future Thinking) Training: A Summer 2022 Experiment

How Rambam Sees God in the Sunset

365 Days of Gratitude (Aurelius - Meditations 5:16)

State of the Blog: Summer 2022

Leo Tolstoy, Eishes Chayil, and Caring What Others Think

When Hashem Prefers Telling Lies Over Doing Miracles

The Intellectual Humility of Rabbi Moskowitz and Marcus Aurelius (Aurelius – Meditations 6:21)

On Reading the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah Like a Love Letter

An Example of My Idiosyncratic Brand of Spirituality

My Eulogy for Rabbi Moskowitz zt"l

Applying Epictetus to My Insomnia (Epictetus - Discourses 2:18)

"Are you sure it was a rat?" (Seneca - Letter #71: On the Supreme Good)

What Won't Last (Aurelius - Meditations 5:23)

Habit Tracking and Sefiras ha'Omer (Epictetus - Discourses 2:18)

How to Learn Ethics Without Vomiting (Epictetus - Discourses 3:21; 2:9)

A Stoic Jew Mother's Day Episode, Dedicated to Mommy and Popo (Seneca - Consolation of Helvia)

How I Met Epictetus (Epictetus - Enchiridion 1)

TSJ Interlude: 300 Days of Gratitude

Stoic Anxiety vs. Torah Anxiety (Epictetus – Enchiridion 50)

Stoic Musings Upon Visiting Bruce Lee's Grave on R' Soloveitchik's Yahrtzeit (Aurelius - Meditations 12:1)

Etzba Elohim: The Finger of WHICH God?

Pesach, Epictetus, and Man's Search for Meaning

Tzfarde’a: The Plague That Lasted Forever

Avadim Hayinu: Even If We Are All Wise, Understanding, Elders, Those Who Know Torah

Chad Gadya: A New Song with an Ancient Theme

Some Thoughts on Will Smith's Angry Reaction (Epictetus - Enchiridion 20; Seneca - On Anger 2:1)

Why We Choose Evil (Epictetus - Discourses 2:18)

Decorating Our Prison Cells (Epictetus - Enchiridion 3)

Purim vs. Stoicism (Epictetus – Discourses 4:4; 2:6; Enchiridion 14)

Letting Go of Your Rice, Tafasta Merubeh, and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai's Wisdom (Epictetus - Discourses 3:9)

XTREME Premeditatio Malorum, Vaynerchuk Style (Seneca - Letter #91: On the Lesson to Be Drawn from the Burning of Lyons)

Insight from a Misreading of Seneca (Seneca - Letter #13: On Groundless Fears)

TSJ Interlude: Reflection on Five Consecutive Days of TSJ Episodes

How to Avoid Results-Oriented Thinking (Epictetus – Enchiridion 1)

“A few is enough for me; so is one; and so is none” (Seneca – Letter #7: On Crowds)

My February 2022 Experiments in the Art of Creating Time (Seneca - Letter #1: On Using and Wasting Time)

Marcus’s Material Mortality Meditation (Aurelius – Meditations 5:4)

Is “Subjugation” to Stoicism a Bad Thing? (Epictetus – Discourses 4:4)

225 Days of Gratitude (Aurelius - Meditations 9:6)

Liza's Short, Good Life (Seneca - On the Shortness of Life)

A Stoic Cure for Insomnia ... I Hope (Aurelius - Meditations 6:31)

Seneca on Hashgachah Part 1 (On Providence 1:1)

Hashgachah Clarification from the Rosh ha’Yeshiva

Stoic Thoughts on My Winter Break 2022 - Part 2 (Seneca - Letters #2 and 83; Aurelius - Meditations 4:3)

Stoic Thoughts on My Winter Break 2022 - Part 1 (Seneca – On Tranquility of Mind 17:5)

Stoic Authenticity (Aurelius - Meditations 5:3)

The Waltz of Fate (Epictetus - Enchiridion 8; Aurelius - Meditations 5:20)

38th Birthday Reflections: On Self-Harm and Self-Actualization (Aurelius - Meditations 2.6)