The Shmuz

Shmuz #6 It's Not Geneivah, It's Shtick (Parshas Bereishis)

October 5, 2026·55 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

You know what turns people off living an authentic Jewish life? Jews not living an authentic Jewish life. Of course, we all consider ourselves ehrliche yidden. We’d never steal. But when it comes to the government… taxes… some people “mach shtick”. It’s not geneivah, it’s “shtick”! Rashi’s first question in Chumash: Why does the Torah begin with maaseh Bereishis? To establish that Eretz Yisroel was given to us by the One who created it. We didn’t steal it. The Torah begins with integrity. Parshas Bereishis is full of fantastically deep concepts. (Ever seriously contemplated tohu v’vohu?!) But it’s also bursting with straightforward mussar lessons. Lessons to take to heart before we’re tempted to “mach shtick”.  This podcast has been graciously sponsored by JewishPodcasts.fm. There is much overhead to maintain this service so please help us continue our goal of helping Jewish lecturers become podcasters and support us with a donation: https://thechesedfund.com/jewishpodcasts/donate

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