Transcript & English subtitles: https://youtu.be/4EcXqJBQ4Ik?si=IhaMn-Qi3eLyNp-a 【Free】Vocab & Phrase list (PDF): https://buymeacoffee.com/tanakasan/e/349475 Tanaka Radio Playlist: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkK7KO2TnEcx18YuX8g5OOOLBMomrIvCE

Iyov continues his response. On the one hand he seems to want to die, he repeatedly speaks of his descending to his grave; on the other hand he expresses exasperation with his interlocutors and a desire to increase his strength and stamina.

Iyov barely responds to his critics. Instead he expresses that he feels God has handed him over into the hands of some evil force who is tormenting and torturing him. Moreover, he calls his gaunt scarred body and heaven and earth to serve as witnesses on his behalf before God, as he pleads his innocence.…

The second round of discussions get underway. Eliphaz speaks first. In essence he will accuse Iyov that his troubles and torments are his own fault. He is a sinner. He has gotten what he deserves.

Today we tell the story of Rabbi Akiva who found faith in the future from watching water smoothing out a rock. He quoted the verse from our chapter (14:19) 'water wears away stone' . As we will see, Job speaks this verse in a dispirited lament at human fatality and futility. We might wonder what might have transpired were Iyov to have met Rabbi Aki…

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hyrcanus taught: Job served the Holy One, Blessed be He, only out of love, as it is stated: “Though He will slay me, still I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Why is Iyov the ultimate lover of God, and why does he accuse his interlocutors as being "creators of lies, healers of idols" in their defence of the Almighty?…

If God is all powerful, then he must be responsible for natural disasters, for human error and the like. How can Job's friends sustain the impressions of God's power and responsibility and then also claim that he is kind and just? If he is in charge, then God must also cause pain and suffering!

The 3rd friend, Tzofar, accuses Iyov of overreach, as he thinks he understands God, but in fact God's wisdom is "longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. What audacity to think that one understands the divine!

Iyov speaks to God with a series of direct and powerful questions about the way that God is treating him. At the centre of the chapter is the challenge of the absurdity of the human situation: If God has created and formed us, he knows humans will err. How then does God subject humans to suffering and torment? Is this some sort of masochistic game?…

Iyov responds to Bildad by saying that he would love justice - he would love to bring God to trial and vindicate himself. But that with the radical power disparity between humans and God, theer will be no opportunity to get a fair hearing. To listen to the chapter, passuk by passuk https://cdn.tanachstudy.com/archives/Ketuvim/Iyov/iyov-9.mp3…

Bildad is the second friend of Iyov, He also offers accusation rather than support. In his attempt to justify God, he essentially claims that Iyov's children must have died for their sins; and that Iyov is innocent, he will soon be rewarded. His proofs come from nature. Interestingly, many of these arguments and metaphors are reflected in various P…

In this chapter Iyov asks God why he is subject to such close scrutiny? How much attention do we want from God? Is God's attention a good thing or a bad thing?

Iyov and his friend Eliphaz are not merely having a philosophical argument, they are speaking at cross-purposes, they are engaged in different languages. In this podcast we speak about how we might approach someone who is experiencing pain and suffering.

Eliphaz appeals to Iyov, that in the broad long run of history, God might sometimes strike a bitter blow, but in the broad calculus of time: "He {God} injures, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands heal." We ask whether this is a convincing argument.

The first of Job's friends challenges Job's status as "wholesome and blameless" and he charges: "What innocent man ever perished?" In other words - If you are suffering, you MUST be guilty.

In this chapter, after 7 days of silence, Job begins to speak. He 1. curses the day he was born, and the night of his conception. 2. Longs for death when his pain will be over.

If ch.1 gave us the awful loss of Job's wealth and the death of his ten children, today we see Satan take a step forward and afflict Job with the agony of boils or sores over his entire body, from head to the soles of his feet. We discuss his conversation with his wife, and witness the visit of his 3 friends who sit with him for seven days in absol…

What happens when the man who has it all loses everything? What happens when a world of order turns to disarray? What happens when Satan makes a wager with God?

We move from Sefer Mishlei, an ordered, ethical world, to Iyov - a cruel world in which the righteous suffer. Today we offer a few words of introduction to the book.

Who is this "woman of valour" who we sing about every Shabbat? How does this alphabetical poem fit into Sefer Mishlei?

We are getting to the end of Mishlei. Here we have a collation of proverbs from 3 sages: Agur, Aluka and Lemuel. In this podcast we study 30:1-14 understanding the sage wisdom of Agur. We also scan the numerical riddles of Aluka.

Today we discuss the importance of integrity, fairness, and empathy of leaders and judges.

How do we balance healthy fear with unhealthy anxiety? How do we balance caution with rigidity?

Our chapter is filled with proverbs about friends (and enemies), about when rebuke is positive guidance from a person who cares, or conversely, when expressions of affection are in fact bogus, and the gestures of friendship are a mere facade.

Chapter 25 speaks of Solomon's proverbs republished in the time of King Hizkiyahu. What is the story behind the re-publishing of Shlomo Ha-melekh's literary works? We offer two possibilities.

"The Tzaddik falls seven times, and rises."What happens when disaster strikes?What does a person do when they are experiencing a string of failures?That is our theme today.

Is chapter 22-24 of Proverbs plagiarized from the Egyptian teachings of Amenemope? A striking resemblance is found between the two texts. If this does have its origin in Egyptian wisdom literature, how did it find its way to King Solomon? And does it belong in the Tanakh?

"Educate a child according to his way; Even when he gets old he will not veer from it." The idea of Jewish Education has shifted over time. We will look at some traditional and modern conceptions of education.

"Knowledge, wisdom and counsel are nothing before God!" Yes! God is the ultimate authority. Man plans and God's designs will prevail. But man is also endowed with the same divine features: Knowledge, wisdom and insight - and this creates an intriguing tension.

Today we address v.27 which is as spiritual as it is cryptic: "The soul of man is the candle of God." What does that mean? We offer FOUR interpretations.

Our chapter presents many points of proverbial advice that relate to the financial sphere. Here we present 9 guiding proverbs.

18:22 - "He who finds a wife finds what is good". Today we discuss marriage.

What are the virtues and actions that create and reinforce friendship? And what are the behaviours that have the capacity to drive friends apart? This is the topic that we address today.

This chapter is thematically ordered. But one of the overarching themes is that whatever man intends, ultimately God is in control; even evil has been placed in the world for God's designs. Alongside this is a running theme about justice and integrity.

Today we discuss the pleasures and perils of our social environment.

Can we ever understand another person? Can others ever understand us?

Are we affected by our society, by our associates and friends, or do we influence them? When are we subject to social pressure? When are we influnced and when are we influencers? Today we examine the question of social pressure through the lens of the Midrash, the Rambam, and Rabb Sacks z"l

Words are powerful. Words are creative. Mishlei contains many metaphors: Words can be like fruit, like daggers; and as we will discuss, language, conversation can also be a way of ridding oneself of worry.

Today we address the notion of privacy vs. discretion as Mishlei decries the gossip and revealer of information, and praises the discreet individual who knows how to keep a secret. What does this say to us in our social-media age?

We open the second segment of Mishlei which shifts the entire tempo and character of the book. Today we offer a short introduction.

Mishlei contains several sterotypes or archetypal characters. Our chapter offers three personality types and charts 3 varying ways to engage them.

In our chapter, "wisdom" speaks in the grammatical first person, telling us her autobiography - how she advises kings, and how she was present prior to the founding of the world.

Mishlei chapter 7 brings us back to the temptress. It issues a stern warning to avoid contact with this woman and to steer clear of her path. How are we to deal with distractions and addictive habits? How do we steer clear?

Today we speak about making our time count. Do we want to spend our days relaxing or working?

Mishlei returns time after time, to the imagery of an attractive, seductive woman who leads the "son" astray from his pursuit of wisdom.

Today we deal with 3 themes 1. 3 Generations. The speaker, possibly King Solomon, speaks of messages that he heard from his father that he is passing down to his son. This is a deeply touching image. 2. The Joy of Torah 3. The metaphor of the necklace and the wreath/crown - Mishlei repeatedly speaks of wisdom as jewellery. What does that intend to …

Today we discuss several features of Mishlei: 1. The engagement with a Judaism that is far wider than ritual moments and encompasses all avenues of life 2. That Mishlei incentivizes the path of Torah 3. We speak of a fascinating intertextual polemic about the "Tree of Life"

We address two themes: 1. The notion of parent and child; wisdom which comes through the family, through sage adavice rather than direct divine revelation 2. The presentation of choices and consequences; good paths and bad paths; straight and crooked.

Today we discuss 1:7 - "The beginning of wisdom is fear of God"