Shavuos: The Forgotten Holiday

Let’s be honest: when someone you’re not a fan of gets bad news, there’s a tiny, guilty dopamine hit. We open this episode by confessing that impulse out loud and digging into what Pirkei Avot (and King Solomon) have to say about rejoicing at your enemy’s fall. Spoiler: it’s a whole thing.

In this episode, we get into:

• The ethics of Schadenfreude and what Pirkei Avot teaches about resisting that guilty satisfaction

• Shavuos 101: the forgotten major Jewish holiday, why your boss has never heard of it, and why it matters

• How the giving of the Torah turned a tribe into a nation (and why shared ancestry alone isn’t enough)

• The Sam Harris morality debate: can you have ethics without God?

• The trolley problem, Jewish style: why the Torah says you can’t pull the lever

• The Book of Ruth, the ultimate story of loyalty, conversion, and the origins of King David

Whether you’re prepping for Shavuot or just want to know if you’re a bad person for enjoying celebrity gossip, grab some cheesecake and press play. 🧀

Episode References

• Pirkei Avot 4:19

• Proverbs 24:17

• The Ten Commandments

• Book of Ruth