Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 47 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/24/23), in our first Friday Q&A, we took up five questions: (1) Is there a halachic way to thank God for it being a nice day? (2a) Is God bound by human logic? (2b) How do we navigate discussions about God with people who hold false ideas about Him? (3) What do you do if you're confront...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (2/23/23), in lieu of our regularly scheduled Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, I gave a Chumash Exploration shiur on a topic I've been vexed by for the past two weeks: the obscure halacha stated in Parashas Mishpatim that the Mizbeach provides sanctuary for killers under specific conditions. I gave this shiur because I n...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (2/17/23), I was asked to give a shiur on techiyas ha'meisim. Since I really don't know much about the topic and don't think I have much to offer by way of chidushim (new insights), I figured I'd just present everything I know - so I did! We raise...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 49 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/6/22), in our Friday Q&A, we took up five questions: (1) What do we hold about the authorship of the "wisdom literature" in Tanach? (2) How do you know if you're using your time wisely? (3) Are food forests feasible? (4) What's the deal with matrilineal descent? (5) Why d...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 4 minutes 22 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Mishpatim: Does Hashem Reward Good Dogs?   Rambam maintains that the notion of Divine reward and punishment for animals is a non-Jewish concept. What are we to do when we encounter statements of Chazal which talk about God rewarding an...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (2/16/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next mishnah in Chapter 3. This week's mishnah was short but sweet. We learned three different approaches, each with practical applications for those on a very high level and for the rest of us. ----- מקורות: אבות א:יג רבינו יונה רשב"ץ רמב"ם - מש...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 19 minutes Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 6-page article I wrote, entitled, Spectral Clergy, Living Torah, and My Izzet Grieving Process . Instead of writing a 1-page article on the parashah, I decided to write a lengthier reflection on my grieving process over the course of these past seven days. You can decide if it c...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (2/9/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next two mishnayos (depending on how you count) in Chapter 3, since they seem to be inherently related. On account of roller-coaster of a week I had with all the deaths, I didn't feel as prepared for this shiur as I usually do, and while we may not have arr...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Beshalach: Was Miriam a Prophetess? If you think you know the answer to this question, I recommend asking yourself: "How do I know?" or "Why is this even a question?" before reading (or listening to) this article. If you enjoy these 1-page arti...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Bo: The Jewish Lunar Calendar as Anti-Egyptian Polemic .   Rambam (Moreh 3:29) maintained that knowledge of the beliefs and practices of the ancient idolatrous nations is vital for understanding the reasons for the Torah's commandments. Here is an example. If...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Shemos: Dasan and Aviram - to Blame or Not to Blame? The Torah itself only ascribes one wrongdoing to Dasan and Aviram. It is the Sages who place them at the scene of other crimes. What are we to make of this? Let us turn to Rashi and Ralbag for insight. ----- The...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 14 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/12/22) we set out to do a Q&A, but the first question turned into a 30-minute tefilah shiur, which let only 14 minutes for other questions. We still managed to get in a few interesting questions. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר זמנים, הלכות מגילה וחנוכה ד:יג-יד רמב"ם - משנה תו...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (1/11/23), in our Wednesday night Tefilah shiur, we continued and completed (for now!) our analysis of the midrash about Hashem davening to himself. The good news is that I believe we got the main idea of the midrash. The "bad" news is that we raised a powerful question on the Sefer ha'Chinuch and Rashba, which...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 21 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/6/22), in our SECOND Friday Q&A (this one for women only), we took up a bunch of topics which included many subtopics: (1a) What can we infer about the relative importance of bein adam l'makom vs. bein adam l'chaveiro mitzvos from the reasons given for the destruction of bot...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Vayechi: The Wolf as an Allegory for the Shechinah . This article is about two topics that are near and dear to my heart: the wolf (as as a subject of epistemological epiphanies) and the shechinah. What do they have to do with each other? Listen and find out!  ---...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 46 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/6/22), in our Friday Q&A, we took up four questions: (1) What do we make of the fact that so much of our Judaism has been influenced by Aristotelian thought? (2) How do I cope with the fact that so much of my time is spent doing unimportant things instead of learning? (3) What advice do you...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (1/5/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we began by reviewing what we learned last week, since last week's mishnah is so related to this week's. We then analyzed the new mishnah according to Meiri and Rabbeinu Yonah, which we supplemented with Rabbeinu Yonah's commentary on a related mishnah in chapte...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (1/4/23), in our Wednesday night Tefilah shiur, we took up an exceedingly perplexing and seemingly problematic midrash about Hashem davening and asking for berachos from human beings. The plan was to learn this midrash in accordance with the commentary of the Rashba, but we didn't want to rush things. Tonight we went over...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote, entitled, An Etymological Drash from Rav Hirsch on Jewish vs. Pagan Priests . Yes, this is a TWO page article (as opposed to the usual one page article). Yes, this is on LAST week's parashah (Mikeitz) rather than this week's parashah (Vayigash). But when I saw thi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (12/29/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we began by updating our theory on the purpose and intended audience of Pirkei Avos, in light of an observation made by Moshe Halbertal. Next, we tackled yet another short but practical mishnah about one's relationship with learning. We learned this mishnah according to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Chanukah 5783: The “Beloved” Mitzvah of Ner Chanukah. What makes Ner Chanukah a "beloved mitzvah"? My current answer to that question draws upon teachings from Rambam, the Rav, and the beautiful definition of "shechinah" given by R' Dovid...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (12/16/22) was something like a follow-up from last week's shiur on "The Meta-Halachic Implications of the Halachos of Fingernail Cutting." Although the topics of dreams, prophecy, and prophetic dreams are fraught with difficulty, they DO have an anchor in two ha...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This morning (12/16/22), in our Friday Q&A, we spent the majority of our time talking about some questions which were important, difficult, and soul-searching ... but we didn't record them, since the "off-the-record" clause was invoked. And it was a good thing, too, since it allowed us to discuss these issues f...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Vayeishev: Should this Rashi be Taught to Children? This title sounds clickbaity but I'm honestly looking for an answer to the question: Can anyone make a convincing argument that it is better to teach Rashi's explanation of Yosef's fate than Ralbag...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (12/15/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned a short but practical mishnah. After raising all the questions and problems, we actually managed to figure out the main idea by ourselves. After that, we learned three meforshim - all of whom added layers of nuance to the idea we discovered. We ended the shiur by...