© 2026 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
91.7 FM Bay Area. Celebrating 85 Years of KALW Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Philosophy Talk

Nachman of Breslov and the Obligation to Be Happy

Can you really fake it til you make it?

Nachman of Breslov was an 18th-century spiritual rabbinic leader, mystic, and storyteller, known particularly for his creative parables. His religious philosophy involved fostering an individual, conversational relationship with God. And he believed that being happy was not just a nice thing but a positive requirement. If you don’t feel happy, he said, you should pretend to be; genuine joy will follow. But is it really possible to make yourself happy, from the outside in? And even if it is, should we really be doing that, rather than facing a sometimes painful reality? Josh and guest-host Yonah Schiller get happy with Ariel Burger, author of Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom. Sunday, October 11 at 11 am.

Part of the Jewish Thinkers series.

Devon Strolovitch studied medieval Judeo-Portuguese manuscripts and earned a PhD in Linguistics from Cornell University before coming to KALW. He is the Senior Producer of Philosophy Talk, and since 2007 has hosted Fog City Blues, the weekly digest of Blues in the Bay Area and beyond.