Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (12/9/22), we took up an unusual and interesting topic: the halachos of fingernail cutting. "Halachos?" you say. Yes! According to the Rema in the Shulchan Aruch, we don't cut our fingernails in sequence, but instead, we cut them in a specific order -...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This morning (12/9/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed three topics: (1) When learning Chumash - or, to be honest, any other area - how do you know what to treat as a "fact" and what to treat as a "theory"? (2) How do curses from other human beings work? (3) How do berachos from other human beings work? A...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (12/8/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned a very challenging mishnah which partially overlaps with a previous mishnah in Avos and ALSO partially overlaps with a Gemara in Berachos. To make things even more difficult, most of our "go to" meforshim barely commented on anything - except for the Sfor...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled,  Vayishlach: Can We Talk About Reuven's Sin?  Did Reuven sleep with Bilhah, as the text states? If so, why would the Sages of the Talmud tell us that anyone who makes such a claim is mistaken? How could so many commentators ignore this warning? If you’re inte...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Note: Today's YBT Sunday Shiur (12/4/22) is a  "Take #2" of a shiur I gave on 5/20/22 as part of my "Machshavah Lab" series for women. Synopsis: It would be great to give a comprehensive shiur about how hashgachah pratis, reward and punishment, and Divine justice work. The problem is that these topics are WAY too b...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This morning (12/2/22), in a SPECIAL session of Friday Q&A in lieu of our usual Machshavah Lab shiur for women, we addressed eight topics: (1) How do you know when you're ready to push your own limits and/or take on stringencies? (2) What obligation do we have to bring about the geulah? (3) What do I do if I notice that...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This morning (12/2/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed five topics: (1) What kavanah should a person have during the kedushah in the repetition of the amidah? (2) What is the purpose of halacha, and why does it have to be so complex? (3) How can you tell if you are improving or declining in your relationship with Torah? (4)...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (12/2/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned our next mishnah which is all about yokes: the yoke of Torah, the yoke of malchus, and the yoke of derech eretz. The teaching in the mishnah presents itself in a stark, binary, transactional language - as if these are the terms of the deal which we can either take...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Vayeitzei: The Eyes of Leah in the Eyes of Three Schools of Commentary .  What does the Torah mean when it describes Leah's eyes as "soft" and why does it inform us of this fact? In this 1-page article we reflect on the 13 answers given by three sch...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This morning (11/25/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed three topics: (1a) What is the advised course of action when starting a sugya in Gemara? (1b) What methodological differences are there between iyun in Tanach and iyun in Gemara? (2) What are the guidelines for maintaining one's own halachic integrity in the presen...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Toldos: Does God Judge Our Prayers Based on Our Parents?   One would think the answer is "no" were it not for the challenge posed by a Gemara. This article provides a possible answer and - more importantly - an important principle of midrash methodology....

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/23/22), in our Wednesday night Tehilim/Tefilah shiur which fell out on Erev Thanksgiving, it would be apropos to take up "inyanei d'yoma" as it were. Since this perek is only five pesukim long, I was fairly confident we might be able to get at least one main idea tonight, and - despite what seemed like a sca...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/18/22), we approached a broad topic via a narrow focus. Everyone agrees that the Torah shows concern for Tzaar Baalei Chayim (animal suffering), but the parameters and implications are far from simple. This shiur was prompted by an incident that happened in yeshi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/18/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed three topics: (1) Is belief/emunah a choice? (2) If we can't have any positive knowledge of Hashem and all the praise we say in davening is, strictly speaking, blasphemy, then what's the difference between our tefilah and the tefilah of an idolater? (3) Is there a way t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Chayei Sarah: The Pshat of "Place Your Hand Under My Thigh." Is Rashi's commentary always pshat? What if the majority of other commentators claim that THEIR explanation is the real pshat? Should we ban publications which present non-Rashi commentari...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/17/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned our next mishnah which, despite the ambiguity in the clauses, proved to be much more straightforward than the last two. We learned three radically different approaches to the mishnah, at least two of which are eminently practical.  ----- מקורות: אבות ג:ה רבינו יונ...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/11/22), we took up a topic I've been asked about by countless high school students: "Is it prohibited to stare at a rainbow? If so, why?" This shiur represents my current best attempt at answers to those two questions. ----- מקורות: שולחן ערוך אורח...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/11/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed four topics: (1) Is Judaism conducive to Stoicism? (2) How can the Torah command us to feel things, like joy? (3) What is the secret to maximizing the productive use of one's time in a healthy manner? (4) How am I supposed to choose what to learn if there is SO MUCH TORAH? I...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Vayeira: Don't Deviate from the Minhag: XTREME Edition . How could the angels who visited Avraham eat what he served them? DID they even eat? And either way, what are we supposed to learn from this? ----- This week's Torah content has been sponsored anon...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/10/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up a somewhat famous mishnah about saying words of Torah at a meal. I'm not gonna lie: I did NOT think we'd arrive at any real ideas tonight. My chavrusa and I struggled with this mishnah and all I had when we started shiur was a good lead. But thanks to th...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/4/22), we answered SOME of the questions we raised in Part 1. Although not all the ideas came to full fruition, I'm satisfied with the approaches we developed. Note: towards the beginning of the shiur I mention that I intended to open a can of worms. I decid...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Lech Lecha: Is Circumcision "Mutilation"?   The answer may surprise you ... Be sure to check out my new substack at rabbischneeweiss.substack.com ! ----- This week's Torah content has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder....

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/4/22), in our shorter-than-usual Friday Q&A, we discussed two questions: (1) What do we say about a case in which you had a REALLY meaningful tefilah, but weren't yotzei due to a halachic "technicality"? (2) Is there a way to effectively simulate the conditions for the "darcho shel Torah" of &q...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/3/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next mishnah in chapter 3. Specifically, we analyzed the first part of the mishnah which talks about the difference between those who sit and exchange words of Torah and those who don't. The mishnah makes it seem like the difference is extreme, but once we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Beur Tefilah: Who is the "Aleinu" in Sim Shalom? If you, like me, never even noticed this question before, then I encourage you to take a moment to think about how you would answer it before reading or listening to my approach. Let me know what you think...