The Lion And The Ox: Two Modes Of Jewish Leadership podcast

#Society #Jewish #Religion #Self-Improvement #Philosophy #Shmuel Halpern #Podcasting Education

1:14:43

Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace—what does that mean for the future of technology, venture capital, business, and even our understanding of ourselves? Award-winning journalist and writer Anil Ananthaswamy joins us for our latest episode to discuss his latest book Why Machines Learn: The Elegant Math Behind Modern AI . Anil helps us explore the journey and many breakthroughs that have propelled machine learning from simple perceptrons to the sophisticated algorithms shaping today’s AI revolution, powering GPT and other models. The discussion aims to demystify some of the underlying math that powers modern machine learning to help everyone grasp this technology impacting our lives, even if your last math class was in high school. Anil walks us through the power of scaling laws, the shift from training to inference optimization, and the debate among AI’s pioneers about the road to AGI—should we be concerned, or are we still missing key pieces of the puzzle? The conversation also delves into AI’s philosophical implications—could understanding how machines learn help us better understand ourselves? And what challenges remain before AI systems can truly operate with agency? If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for exclusive insights and updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits. Links: Read Why Machines Learn, Anil’s latest book on the math behind AI https://www.amazon.com/Why-Machines-Learn-Elegant-Behind/dp/0593185749 Learn more about Anil Ananthaswamy’s work and writing https://anilananthaswamy.com/ Watch Anil Ananthaswamy’s TED Talk on AI and intelligence https://www.ted.com/speakers/anil_ananthaswamy Discover the MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellowship that shaped Anil’s AI research https://ksj.mit.edu/ Understand the Perceptron, the foundation of neural networks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perceptron Read about the Perceptron Convergence Theorem and its significance https://www.nature.com/articles/323533a0…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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There are two pathways up the mountain of life: the path of focused strength, and the path of resilience. The former is the path of Yosef and the latter is the path of Yehuda and his descendant King David. Yosef was a tzadik; the paradigm of moral strength, he always managed to turn dust to gold. As a young slave, recently torn from his family, he does well enough to become head of household for an important court official. Handsome, uber successful, and lonesome at the age of seventeen, he had the inner strength and focus to resist the daily advances of his master’s wife. Yosef teaches us to set our moral compass early in life, and never waver. He knew where he wanted to go, and nothing could distract him. Yosef was a dreamer, he had ambitions, and he set out to conquer them. Calm and composed, he had an intuitive sense of who he was, and the faith to know that he would eventually arrive. Failure was simply not in Yosef’s lexicon. Yehuda and David, on the other hand, were all about resiliency. While Yosef taught us how to avoid failure, Yehuda and David taught us how to succeed despite and indeed because of failure. Yehuda was seduced by Tamar. Compounding the problem was the very difficult choice he faced: admit to it, or see an innocent woman killed. He admits to his lapse, and from this embarrassing union Mashiach is born. Resiliency isn't about recovery but about transformation. Yehuda uses a powerful formula of humility, faith and hope to bounce back from failure stronger than ever. Yosef and Yehuda, resilience and excellence, aren’t mutually exclusive. With Yosef as our guide, we discover our strengths and learn to focus our efforts where they matter most. But what happens when we fall - and if we travel the road to greatness, we will falter. It is inevitable. But - does that spell the end? Do we stop dreaming, stop trying? Yehuda and David teach us to dust ourselves off, get up, and get back to work. A project of Denverkollel.org I would love to hear from you! Rsh@denverkollel.org

36 episodes

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

updated 2 years ago

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36 episodes

#Society #Jewish #Religion #Self-Improvement #Philosophy #Shmuel Halpern #Podcasting Education

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The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

1
Facing the Truth with Authenticity and Courage—#6 17:45

2 years ago17:45

17:45

Humility = Strength. Ego is the enemy, and getting ourselves out of our own way is the David/Yehuda way to incredible success/Kingship. When we uphold the image of our successful self, we can take the high road of Yosef, but sometimes the best and most powerful path forward is to admit that we are in fact powerless (this expression of powerlessness is the essence of prayer, and king David says of himself “I am prayer”). With no skin in the game we are able to humbly submit before Hashem and allow Him to lead us to great success that only He knows us to be capable of. Millions have found strength and powerful inspiration from the various twelve step programs. Step # 3, which is the crux of the program reads as follows: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of G-d…” There’s incredible power in the raw honest living that comes with genuine ego negation. The interplay between resilience and excellence Yehuda is crowned King by Yaakov at the end, but that is only after first failing to fully save Yosef, saving his life, but sent away by the brothers for failing to immediately save Yosef in such a way that would have avoided the rift in the Jewish people which is only healed by Mashiach, then personal and familial failure with Tamar, and then the crowning achievement of his admission, which paves the way for his taking full responsibility for Binyamin, and his face-off and discovery of Yosef. Yehuda and Tamar: Admitting weakness as a form of strength (Yosef, who represents strength, only emerges after Yehuda admits to his role with Tamar). Yaakov entrusts Benjamin with Yehuda and not Rueven: Responsibility as the foundation for leadership.. What makes Judah trustworthy is that he submits his entire being under that responsibility, he becomes the vessel to succeed in the mission he’s entrusted with because he negates himself so powerfully. Yaakov can’t bring himself to trust Reuven with the dangerous and consequential mission, as he is worried that Reuven will mix himself into the picture, and fail to bring his entire self to bear on the problems that the Egyptians will surely throw their way. Under fire, fears of failure, even legitimate ones, will hinder one's ability to focus everything they’ve got, and under fire you’d better have access to all your strength and focus. Yehuda, with no self in the picture, is able to decide exactly when to push Yaakov to part with Binyamin. He isn’t rash. He has no need to act if it won’t be 100% useful, and so he waits, patiently, for the perfect opportunity, and he gets one when the food supplies run dry.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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The Overview Perspective: The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership #5 16:42

3 years ago16:42

16:42

Yosef is being led by the hand to his destiny. His descent to Egypt is the catalyst for the Jewish nation being exiled there, surviving spiritually, and ultimately emerging as a nation, and it all begins with Yosef’s descent. This story is so much bigger than him! And Yosef knows this, else, he wouldn’t survive the loneliness and suffering. He knows there’s a big picture. And yet, he also focuses 100% on his small picture – the one in front of him today. Being the most useful servant of the depraved Potifar. Why? Because he knows that this small picture of today will build his own story, and ultimately the story of the Divine plan. How they exactly connect isn’t his business at the moment, but he knows with perfect faith that they connect. The meeting point between free-will and Divine providence. The above idea leads us to a deeper understanding of the serenity prayer. We don’t merely accept that which we can’t control as something that is not worth focusing on, because, hey, there’s nothing we can do about it anyways, rather, we accept the inevitable as part of our place in the Divine plan that is way bigger than we are. And then we get to work on the aspects that are within our control, and therefore our responsibility. Never forgetting that there is a bigger picture as well.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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YOU Write the Script of Your Life: The Lion and the Ox--Two Modes of Jewish Leadership # 4 17:10

3 years ago17:10

17:10

YOU Write the Script of Your Life. We discuss how staying above your circumstances, by being rooted above your circumstances. That way you can *choose* to define your reality, and not let reality dictate to you what your life is. We return to the life of biblical Joseph. The great commentator, Malbim, writes that Yosef acted based on the needs of the situation, not his own personal preferences. He treated those who were socially needier than he was with compassion, while he treated his equals with strength. This is something that was misunderstood by his brothers. From Joseph we learn that focused Action = success. Marry the potential to the proper area of actualization and stick with it. Success is not a product of random chance! With focused efforts, we marry our potential to its soulmate –the fertile grounds of actualization. We must see our circumstances as the setting for focused action that will build our reality --today is only a springboard for tomorrow.. Having a growth mindset isn't only about one’s skill set and strengths, but in truth it's really a global idea. How do you see the world? We get into how being able to choose, and being able to focus action to build the future, tie together to be one concept. Today things are only the way they look because you haven't brought your free-will to bear yet. Interestingly, as we’ve mentioned twice, this futuristic view actually makes it easier to accept circumstances as they are today, and not rebel against the will of God in giving us our personal package of reality. Joseph accepts his reality 100% and then he gets to work, seeing where this reality will take him. Todays reality is just a stage, and it setup comes from above; there’s nothing I can do about changing things as they are NOW, so why bother? It's inspiring to follow Joseph down to Egypt and watch as he finds success in all circumstances via complete focus on the present. Hashem is creating my reality. It is exactly as it should be, so focus 100%. Despite being ‘out of a job’ --Potifar purchased Joseph for immoral purposes, but was struck by a impotency--, Joseph focuses on the task at hand, and becomes chief of staff -- he gives everything his best effort and reaps the rewards. Joseph realizes the power of getting to work on the reality right in front of you. There’s no reason to search for opportunity. The opportunity in front of us is where we must start. If we begin, the rest will follow.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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I may Be Dreaming, But I'm NOT Sleeping--The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership #3 13:07

3 years ago13:07

13:07

In episode #2 we discussed how to balance ambition and acceptance. Accept the reality of today, including the things you don’t love, and by accepting them, you keep them from overwhelming your entire worldview, which in turn allows you to move forward. Acceptant mindfulness has two components: One, the embrace of what there is to love in life, and two, the acceptance of the difficult and painful. We learned how Joseph was a master of this craft, and how he helped keep things straight for his mother, at the same time, he expanded his fathers mission. We have learned of Joseph as a youngster. We saw what he meant to his parents and got to peek at his potential. But now is the time to see this great tzadik emerge. What happens to us when we leave the cute childhood behind and try to make our dreams come true in the ‘real’ world? How do our childish dreams translate into actionable goals? The Start of Dreams: Step one: be present. Being present to the moment gives you the peace of mind to sense the quiet voice of inner power and potential. It is only through an honest, realistic view of our current standing that we can hope and yearn for more. Otherwise our dreams are completely non-realistic. Dreams shouldn’t contradict reality, they should expand reality. Now we can begin to dream, not as a total fantasy but a dream of expressing our truest essence. Joseph was a dreamer, so are many, the difference is that his dream of greatness and leadership came to fruition. His dreams are prophetic, yet still require time and process to become actualized. Joseph’s brutally honest appraisal and acceptance of reality led him to a deep, faith-based sense of where he was at the moment and where he needed to go -- this being the basis of true dreams. This then allowed him to dream, to see well beyond the horizon of his present circumstances. In turn, it gave him the courage to face his most trying moments. Because he wasn’t limited by that moment, he saw way beyond it to a better tomorrow. What are dreams? Dreams and imagination work through imagery, the polar opposite of purely abstract intellectualization (Moreh Nevuchim 2:73). On a more basic level, thinking with images only, is symptomatic of being enmeshed in the physical world. But Yosef is able to show that even here on this earthly land of dreams, if the earthly is fully aligned with the spiritual, there is pure, unadulterated, spiritual truth. Dreams are imaginative, the furthest possible from reality, and yet for Yosef, dreams represent the truth, and he is able to carry the emes to the farthest places, most distant from the Source –Hashem. Kabalistically, Yosef represents the attribute of Yesod, which connects heaven and earth. Yosef the dreamer stands at the border of freewill/malchut and divine knowledge/higher realms: Creativity Vs. Structure. Acceptance Vs. ‘pushing forward’. This is the tightrope that Joseph walks. Yosef has the potential for perfect alignment, he can realize the Will of Hashem by his own self development without there be any contradiction between his will and that of his Creator. His free will and the realm beyond it meet in his dreams. He can realize the deepest Will that originates from far beyond self, with the daily building blocks of exercising his own power. What it has to do with us. Rav Tzadok Hakohen writes that we each have a dream, a secret yearning to be a king or queen. This isn’t a result of visiting Buckingham, but an expression of a yearning that has roots deep within our psyche. You see, our soul, our deeper self, is rooted beyond the superficial reality. The dreamer faces two major challenges. One, uncovering our inner essence which is deeply veiled by the busyness of life, and muffled by the incessant chatter of the ego. Two, even when we get a glimpse of our inner essence, when we hear the faint sounds of our soul, we have little idea how to translate it to the ‘real’ world. We briefly have a dim sense of a vision, sighting on the horizon a mission for which we are uniquely suited. But we are filled with doubt, asking, “how do we get from here to there? Do I have what it takes?” Worse yet, the vision at this point is a dim one, we have a niggling sense, but not the clarity that allows us to easily translate the dream to reality. Like Joseph we must be relentless. Half hearted efforts will not do. We’ve seen the vision, now we have to pursue it. Yes, we will stumble about as we try and put our dreams into practice. But as we get up from each fall, we are one step closer, and the vision one degree sharper. John Keats wrote that self-negation precedes creativity. However, dreams teach us that we don’t need to negate self to transcend. We already are transcendent; we just need to uncover our inner essence and unleash our inner power. The dreamer Interacting with others The beauty and the flaws require tweaking, as the future leader can dream of the future, but can’t see it, and as a result they have a hard time selling it to others. Drucker, the leader’s job is to define reality. At first, they are somewhat awkward in asserting their authority. In addition, not everyone appreciates a reminder of ‘reality’, or of what could be. His brothers were none too pleased that he brought their weaknesses to their father Jocob’s attention. Commentators point out that Joseph's negative reports to his father were a deficiency in his greatest strength – being able to see, with faith, how today translates into tomorrow. The urgency he felt to do something about the weaknesses he perceived in his brothers bespoke an immaturity in the strength that would come to define Joseph. This teaches us a fundamental truth, it is in areas of our greatest potential that we meet our greatest challenges. Facing Opposition. The brother’s interpretation defines the dream’s outcome (R’ Bachya), as a dream generally follows its interpretation. Our dreams may seem like their subject to the approval of others, and their interest in putting us in the right place to be able to make our mark. But that isn’t truly the case. Yosef’s dreams came true, despite and indeed because of the opposition he faced. In fact, it was the opposition, included attempted murder, that drove his dreams forward to fruition. Back to acceptance: Accepting setbacks on the road to fulfill our dreams. en route to Egypt, Yosef finds succor in the sweet-smelling spices. He was calm enough to see the silver lining.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Mindful Ambition: The Lion and the Ox #2 15:31

3 years ago15:31

15:31

Who was Joseph? Paradigm of discipline and focus? Starry eyed dreamer? Brilliant visionary? Joseph’s personality develops from day one, and can be derived from his very name. “And she (Rachel) called his name Joseph (yosef, to add) for G-d has gathered (asaf) my shame.” Joseph, it turns out, relates both to adding and to gathering. He defines, gathers, directs, ensures that nothing gets lost, and then with every ounce of good conserved and every bit of bad contained, Joseph is ready to add. Joseph’s name contains two fundamental truths: One, for goodness to thrive, evil must be kept at bay. Sure, it’d be great to vanquish all negativity, put all evildoers behind bars, and get on with our work. But that has little to do with reality. Instead, evil should be defined, understood, and promptly banished i.e., limited as much as possible; it has its powers, but the key question is: do we add to its strength? Do we give it larger-than-life powers? Joseph understood the power of limiting evil to be no more than it is on its own. “You want to mess with G-d’s world? You won’t get any attention or help from me,” says Joseph. As we travel through life, we will face challenges. A key question we must ask ourselves is, how much of this is true in objective reality, and how much have I contributed to the problem by treating the issue as something greater than it truly is? Sure, it may be a problem, but is it really all encompassing? Joseph teaches us to allow our troubles to occupy the real estate they actually occupy and not an extra inch. The second lesson is that abundance, expansive blessing, and enduring greatness don’t grow out of thin air. There’s no magic potion, formula, program, book, or weekend retreat that can create success for you. Success and greatness are about growth. Growth, by definition, requires a starting point, a seed. You are the seed of your own future greatness. Only by discovering your roots, and working to conserve and focus the power within, can you discover that, in fact, there are no limits or borders to what you can achieve. The abundance of Joseph arises only from the focus of asaf . What’s remarkable is that all this begins before Joseph has made a single choice. It all lies in his name, in his inner potential. While Joseph’s identity and strength were unique, there’s nothing unique about this story. Every human being has an incredible and absolutely unique potential for greatness. Can we reconstruct Joseph’s path to the throne, and recreate it in our own lives? The answer, I believe, is a resounding yes! The very first thing we must do is find our inner sanctuary and guard it for all we are worth. Maybe you have a particular interest in one act of service or another? Perhaps there’s a talent waiting to be discovered that will empower you as an individual, and allow you to find your voice for the betterment of the world around you? Maybe there’s an aspect or book of ancient Torah wisdom that fascinates you? The key idea is that the starting point is in front of you. You can only begin from the present, so be mindful of where you are now. If you can ensure this tiny but most vital part of your personality remains pure, unsullied by anger, unharmed by critics, and at once strong and vulnerable, you have your seed. Then you must get to work. The seed isn’t to be protected for eternity, it is there to grow into something formidable. But the real world doesn’t allow for purity! True, but the game of life isn’t all or nothing. Even one droplet will be enough to get you going. The soul is all encompassing. It is one. By touching a part you’ve touched the whole. If, for only one moment , you manage to hear the voice of your soul, you will have your marching orders. That is only the beginning. The next step is growth. Ask, how can I expand this talent of mine. How do I ensure that I hear the whisper of my soul more often, and how do I allow it to shine its glow over more and more areas of my life? And finally, how can I spread its light to others, so that the others too can see the goodness that abounds? Experiment, act, apply, grow, and then hit the repeat button. As you grow, you will be capable of new opportunities which will in turn raise you higher up the ladder of success. For some, self-knowledge comes easily, but for others it's a challenge to discover their inner essence. One way to uncover your potential is to look deeply at where you’ve been most useful to others. Where have you had the greatest positive impact, and what do those stories say about you as a person? Joseph, the epitome of strength and self-expression, doesn't forget his fathers house. He knows that his roots begin way before his entering this planet, and extend far into the future. This man who climbed his way to the throne with his own sweat, tears, and blood, sacrificing his very life along the way, knew that he was but building on what came before him. His seed, the strength within, was also the essence of his father Jacob who had sacrificed everything to bring Joseph into the world and see him thrive. Jacob’s attribute is pure truth. (Which is why his challenge is to deal with falsehood and find a way to properly apply it). The world of his nemesis, twin brother Eisav, is one of evil fantasy. Pure truth and evil fantasy can’t meet. There’s no way for Jacob to influence or even approach Eisav. The goodness and truth of Jacob are awesome indeed, but when dealing with the enemies of good, Jacob must flee or at best contend. When, on that fateful night, Eisav’s angel manages to wound the tamchin d’oraisa (the wealthy supporters of Torah who inhabit Eisav’s realm) Jacob is hard pressed to respond (based on Zohar). Jacob alone has a difficult time in Eisav’s realm. WIth Joseph’s birth, however, Jacob feels confident facing Eisav. What happened? What changed? Jacob’s kernel of truth has been expanded. He’s given birth to a Joseph, to the one who can add. But how can one add to the truth? The answer, imagination. Joseph adds the power of imagination to Jacob’s intellect. Joseph brings Jacob’s truth to meet unusual and confusing scenarios, places where the answer is far from obvious. Via the power of imagination and visualization, Joseph extroplates. He asks, what would my father Jacob say if he were here? Now, as far as Joseph can see, Jacob never will walk in his shoes. Jacob is as far away from the scene of Egyptian decadence as possible, but Joseph can imaginatively ask, “what would it look like if Jacob were here? Upon Joseph’s arrival, Jacob is ready to grow, to develop, to conquer. The kernel of truth, perfectly preserved by Joseph’s focus, yet expanded by his imagination, contains infinite power. With Joseph’s strength Jacob needn’t fear Eisav. Joseph can translate Jacob’s truths to the world of Eisav’s falsehood. He can meet fantasy head on and win. Rachel, who pined for Joseph, “If I’m not granted a child, I’d rather be dead,” named him Joseph, “because G-d has gathered in my embarrassment.” Later, Joseph stands tall and blocks his beautiful mother from the lustful gaze of uncle Eisav. As we explained, the asaf aspect of Joseph helped him keep evil at bay. Yes, Eisav was going to be Eisav, but that didn’t mean that his lust had to affect the purity of the righteous Rachel. Joseph added to his father’s truth, and he protected and nurtured his mother’s purity. Don’t forget that the person you are to others is as fundamental a part of you as the person you are to yourself. This too is a unique quality that Joseph personified. He was a self made man, but he was just expressing his parents greatness in new ways. In many ways he was a bridge, and today we turn to him for inspiration in how to translate the Torah’s eternal truths to our ever changing world. So define your truth, protect it, nurture it, and then let it grow. Let your inner goodness, charm, and positivity overwhelm the evil disease of negativity that surrounds us from without and at times threatens to engulf us from within. You are a bridge between your past and your future. How can we expand our inner core? By truly anchoring ourselves to our moral compass we ensure that our growth, our travels along the road of life, don’t dilute our true greatness. Rather, the road we take is but a continuation of the inner truth we will never compromise on. As we apply our inner strength to new situations we discover new applications for old wisdom. In a word, we grow. But Joseph’s successes aren’t self-serving. He understood that just as he was a bridge between his potential self and his actual self, he was also to be the same bridge for others. They stand between where they are and where they could be, and if you become you, then your friends, family, and acquaintances, with you as a model, will have an easier time becoming themselves. One little shine of just one soul can and will dispel a whole lot of darkness.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Resilience and Personal Excellence: Two Paths to Greatness. #1 16:58

3 years ago16:58

16:58

The gift of life is the gift of opportunity. The choice is ours. Should we aim for greatness, or satisfy ourselves with mediocrity? Choosing to pursue greatness is only the beginning. From the start, distractions and frustration litter the road before us. How we deal with these impediments will define the type of life we build. How we respond to this question isn’t a personal matter, because the person we become for ourselves is the person we become for others. Successful leadership is simply successful living, perhaps with bigger and broader stakes. The aim of this (podcast) is to showcase two approaches to success – on a personal and leadership level. There are two pathways up the mountain: the path of focused strength, and the path of resilience. The former is the path of Yosef and the latter is the path of Yehuda and his descendant King David. Yosef was a tzadik; the paradigm of moral strength, he always managed to turn dust to gold. As a young slave, recently torn from his family, he does well enough to become head of household for an important court official. Handsome, uber successful, and lonesome at the age of seventeen, he had the inner strength and focus to resist the daily advances of his master’s wife. Yosef teaches us to set our moral compass early in life, and never waver. He knew where he wanted to go, and nothing could distract him. Yosef was a dreamer, he had ambitions, and he set out to conquer them. Calm and composed, he had an intuitive sense of who he was, and the faith to know that he would eventually arrive. Failure was simply not in Yosef’s lexicon. Yehuda and David, on the other hand, were all about resiliency. While Yosef taught us how to avoid failure, Yehuda and David taught us how to succeed despite and indeed because of failure. Yehuda was seduced by Tamar. Compounding the problem was the very difficult choice he faced: admit to it, or see an innocent woman killed. He admits to his lapse, and from this embarrassing union Mashiach is born. Resiliency isn't about recovery but about transformation. Yehuda uses a powerful formula of humility, faith and hope to bounce back from failure stronger than ever. There are the things we excel at. There are times and situations that bring out the best in us. We must grab those opportunities and soar. But there are also moments that test us, and sometimes we fail. Yosef and Yehuda, resilience and excellence, aren’t mutually exclusive. With Yosef as our guide, we discover our strengths and learn to focus our efforts where they matter most. But what happens when we fall - and if we travel the road to greatness, we will falter. It is inevitable. But - does that spell the end? Do we stop dreaming, stop trying? Yehuda and David teach us to dust ourselves off, get up, and get back to work. We will prevail because it TOO, is inevitable. One day in the future, we’ll look back at this moment, not as our greatest failure, but as the catalyst for our greatest success. Let’s see how these two approaches play out in some common scenarios. Scenario number one: A corporation achieves major success, but confidence quickly gives way to arrogance, and high standards to a stifling bureaucracy. Leadership has forgotten that the past should inform, but not define, the future. The great poet John Keats advised that we acquire 'Negative Capability'. According to Keats we need to fight the need for control. Our ego loves a nice clean explanation. It delights in saying, “I got this.” Instead, we should suspend our judgment and humbly embrace uncertainty. With humility, we sneak a peek at that which is beyond us. It puzzles us; it annoys us; it stretches us beyond our comfort zone. It challenges us to rethink our paradigms. Our deeply held beliefs, indeed our entire world, comes under careful scrutiny. Yesterday, we had a nice neat way of explaining the world, but today we’re simply confused. Initially, this process will be tedious and painful. However, with consistency and tenacity, the breakthrough WILL arrive. The brilliant flash of creative understanding, the ability to see the world with a new pair of eyes, make the journey worthwhile. This is the Yehuda/David way. However, Joseph the dreamer teaches us another way. Joseph’s dreams teach us that we don’t need to negate self to transcend. We already are transcendent; we just need to uncover our inner essence and unleash our inner power. In the world of dreams our limits disappear. Take a moment to imagine that anything was possible. What monumental goals would you focus on? You can do anything, so what’ll it be?! You can be whomever you’d like; well, who do you want to be? The purpose of this exercise isn’t fantasy but reality. The truth is we can be ‘more’, but we get stuck, we get complacent. With the power of dreams we can rediscover who we really are, we uncover our true potential. Yesterday’s reality is but a hint of who we can be tomorrow. Let’s take another example – office politics. How can we deal with being the object of the water cooler whispering, when in fact whatever they’re accusing you of, the failed contract, the botched product roll out, is entirely false? The Joseph way would be to stand above the mess. You know your self-worth, track record, and objectives. You pity this poor person who so desperately needs to play petty politics. Their arrows miss the mark, because they have shot them straight ahead, at some imagined, sea-level target, when, all this time, you’re halfway up Mt. Everest. While Joseph is miles above the attack, Yehuda/David are miles below. The attacker assumes that there is in fact a target, but, with his incredible humility, King David is nowhere in sight. In the sense of a personal benefit-ego driven sense, he never showed up to work. The David who goes to work in the world each day, is bigger than his personal interests. And so personal insults completely miss the mark with him. Two paths, two ways to be above it all: Greatness, and self-negation. Obviously, none of us will be a perfect Joseph or David, but we can reach our greatest potential by applying both of these incredible tools.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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A Tale of Two Kings 1:54

3 years ago1:54

1:54

A Tale of Two Kings

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Death and The True Meaning of Life. Ecclesiastes/Kohelet #29-final 24:56

3 years ago24:56

24:56

Death and The True Meaning of Life. After 12 chapters of describing the futility of life, Kohelet closes with a discussion of death. But once again, the lesson is about the greatness of purposeful living. Life is eternal. It is the empty pursuit of pleasure and power that is empty.

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Impactful Giving: Ecclesiastes/Kohelet ch 11. #28 25:45

3 years ago25:45

25:45

Impactful Living By Giving

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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The Reactive Cynic—Ecclesiastes/Kohelet #27 14:55

3 years ago14:55

14:55

The Reactive Cynic. Solomon's begs us to consider the following two extremes: The successful person who knows they have something unique to contribute and they go ahead and work it, until at last, success --Proactivity at its best. The other fellow says, why work if I can just talk. But eventually, feeling the emptiness of a life of idle chatter, the lazy fool, now broke, can do no better than blame everyone around him for his woes.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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The Evil House Fly: Ecclesiastes/Kohelet #26 20:50

4 years ago20:50

20:50

The Evil House Fly:

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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The Winning Strength of Quiet Wisdom Ecclesiastes/Kohelet # 25 21:07

4 years ago21:07

21:07

Why does the promised youth fail to live up to their potential? It's not for lack of talent, but for lack of understanding. Talents, like everything else, need to be managed, otherwise they can be as more liability than asset. ---Ecclesiastes/Kohelet 9:11-18 I have further observed under the sun that The race is not won by the swift, Nor the battle by the valiant; Nor is bread won by the wise, Nor wealth by the intelligent, Nor favor by the learned. For the time of mischance comes to all. And a man cannot even know his time. As fishes are enmeshed in a fatal net, and as birds are trapped in a snare, so men are caught at the time of calamity, when it comes upon them without warning. This thing too I observed under the sun about wisdom, and it affected me profoundly. There was a little city, with few men in it; and to it came a great king, who invested it and built mighty siege works against it. Present in the city was a poor wise man who might have saved it with his wisdom, but nobody thought of that poor man. So I observed: Wisdom is better than valor; but A poor man’s wisdom is scorned, And his words are not heeded. Words spoken softly by wise men are heeded sooner than those shouted by a lord in folly. Wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war, but a single error destroys much of value.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Alive Or Dead — Your Choice: Kohelet Ecclesiastes # 24 14:09

4 years ago14:09

14:09

Death happens once on the macro level, but many times on the micro level. Disappointment, failure, setbacks are all forms of micro death. Many have lost all ambition because they've been burned once too many. Life is eternal; life is ever fresh and novel, it just awaits actualization. It's time to reengage with life, and live each moment as a completely unique opportunity for creative expression.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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Access The Greatest Power -- Life Beyond Why: Ecclesiastes/Kohelet # 23 21:27

4 years ago21:27

21:27

The rules of success are universal. The marshmallow test, which displays one's ability to delay gratification, may predict a future doctor who can endure med school, who saves lives for a living, or the drug lord, who patiently ascends to power, and who may kill to earn his bread. There seem to be many paths to success. The key is simply to choose one. In the face of the prosperous wicked, why oh why should we choose the path of good? Further, how can we have confidence that what we see as good is indeed good? Enter King David. In his death he taught that the "live dog is better than the dead lion." There may be many roads to success, and there are various ways to assert oneself, but there's only one source of life. You may have sculpted your body, achieved brilliance in your field, and developed an exquisitely beautiful personality, but did you create your own life?! By focusing excessively on our own accomplishments, on our personal power, we exhaust ourselves. We move further and further from the simple, raw power of life itself.…

The Lion and the Ox: Two Modes of Jewish Leadership

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The Happiness Perspective and the Shadow of Evil: Ecclesiastes/Koheles #22 10:35

4 years ago10:35