14. On Making Hard Decisions: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai

16. The Powers and Pitfalls of Belief: Josephus

Have you ever wondered who this famous "Josephus" is, who is so often quoted here and, in fact, all over the place? In this episode we take a deep-dive into the life of one of the most influential Jews of all time, like him or not-- we'll talk about the drama that surrounded Josephus during his life and that has shadowed his legacy for two millennia. And, as always, we will end with a practical lesson for our own experiences as moral leaders.

15. Direction from Destruction: Lessons for Elul from Av

Here we take a brief break from the exploration of mishnaic personalities to look back on the whole Second Temple period. If we take the time period as a whole, what are the major lessons that history is begging us to learn? What happened when we lost everything that we thought we stood for, as a nation? Why does the month of destruction - Av - lead right into the month of return - Elul - and what lessons can we learn for our own Avodah?

14. On Making Hard Decisions: Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai

The Temple is on the brink of destruction, and Jerusalem is overrun with Romans, traitors, turncoats, and brigands. One man has the courage to stand up and take action. In this episode we will learn not only what he did, as the sole hero of the time period, but also how that decision FELT in his own inner world.

13. Of Strife & Betrayal: A Raw History of the Fall of the Temple

In this episode, we get so caught up in the history of the fall of the Second Temple that we run out of blessed time to speak about Chazal's rendition of events. But no worries! After all, there's always next episode! As for now... you've always said "churban bayis", "the destruction of the Temple", but with only vague and fuzzy memories of exactly what went down, and how, and by whom, and why the whole thing actually matters, anyway. Here, we deep dive into history and meet the bad guys (where are the good guys?!), see what happens in Judea and in Jerusalem, and learn some incredibly important lessons from the surface of history. Next time, we will jump into the very few segments of the story that Chazal bring to our attention, and what they teach us about moral leadership. "Happy" (??!!) listening!

12. Leaders Don't Stay in their Lane: Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel

What's the difference between leaders to whom we owe something as the Jewish people... and leaders to whom we "owe" the destruction of the Temple? As we get closer to the Churban Bayis, the themes that Chazal want us to pay attention to become ever more clear.... In this episode, we meet Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel. We discuss both his accomplishments but also how he is uniquely symbolic of a shift in the Jewish people, one which Chazal want us to pay close attention to, and for good reason.