Coding With the Masters

1 minute read

Talmud and Code

Someone recently shared an awesome speech with me. It’s a keynote by Yitzchak Willroth (A.K.A coderabbi) given at Midwest.io 2015

The talk is titled Talmudic Maxims to Maximize Your Growth as a Developer, subtitled Everything that I really needed to know I learned in rabbinical school.

The talk is fascinating. Rabbi Willroth, who is an accomplished PHP developer, shares many lessons he learned during his years studying in Yeshiva, and how he applied them to his career as a programmer.

Famous Talmudic adages are cast in a new light. So Cultivate for yourself a mentor and acquire for yourself a colleague (Avos 1:6) is actually advice for us to apprentice by someone who can mentor us to improve ourselves, while at the same time taking time to get some pair-coding with others and learn from them.

From my students I have learned most of all (Ta’anis 7a) teaches us to always try to teach others, not only because it will benefit them but because it will benefit you. The best way to learn, the sages teach us, is by teaching others.

There’s much more in the half-hour talk, and I highly recommend you watch it. Enjoy it here:

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