Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In lieu of a 1-page article, here is the audio version of the book review I wrote on Faith Shattered and Restored: Judaism in the Postmodern Age , by R' Shagar . I don't usually post my book reviews on my blog or record them as podcasts, but I felt like I had to make an exception here, for reasons which I explain in the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Masei: How to Read the Travels of Bnei Yisrael , in which we learn the Rambam's answer to the question, "Why does the Torah 'waste' so many pesukim by listing all 42 encampments of Bnei Yisrael in the Wilderness?" and discuss its implicatio...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Why Talk About Other Religions? which is a response to a series of questions asked by a friend of mine about why I made a statement comparing Judaism to other religions in one of my articles last week. Related Content: - Minhag Mythbusters: Does a Husband Sing Eish...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Sefer Mishlei's Jargon-Filled Introduction (Mishlei 1:1-6) . I recently initiated a project to learn Mishlei from the beginning again (as opposed to my usual practice of learning and teaching pesukim from Chapter 10 and on). I can't promise that I'll...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Ralbag on the Speculative Nature of Taamei ha'Mitzvos ,  in which I defend the Ralbag (using his own words) against those who take issue with his Aristotelian explanations of mitzvos. ---------- The Torah content for this week has been sponsored by Ellis and J...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Abandonment by Hashem as a Catalyst for Teshuvah ,  in which I share my new theory of how national catastrophe will lead Klal Yisrael to engage in teshuvah - a theory inspired by a passage in Amor Towles's The Lincoln Highway . ---------- The Torah content for...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled Haftaras Parashas Pinchas: Goyishe Jews . Here's my lengthy disclaimer: I wasn't in the mood to write a dvar Torah article for this Friday. I almost didn't write anything at all, but I told myself, "I'll just start writing and see if I end...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 7-page article I wrote entitled, My Rejected Kiruv Article on the Purpose of Life . I begin by providing you with the assignment I was given and the circumstances surrounding that assignment. I then read the article I wrote. After that, I share the feedback I received and my thoughts on that feedb...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, "Hump Day," Wednesday, and Yom Revii l'Shabbos , in which I explain why hearing a Starbucks customer wish the barista a "happy hump day!" made me grateful to be Jewish. ---------- The Torah content for these two weeks has been sponsored by...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, Does a Husband Sing Eishes Chayil for His Wife? , in which we answer the titular question by engaging in some "halachic archaeology" in an attempt to trace the minhag  back to its origins.   ---------- The Torah content for these two weeks has been sponso...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, The Role of Episodic Memory in the Three Weeks and Tishah b'Av , in which I attempt to articulate the current framework I'm working with as we enter into the three weeks this year. For the sake of convenience, here are the links to the audio versions of t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: In lieu of a 1-page article on Parashas Balak, here is a 4-page article I originally wrote as a Facebook post last summer, entitled 17th of Tammuz Reflections on Waikiki . The impetus for this article was Jonathan Lear's, Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation, and the insights it triggered as I observed th...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, The Pros and Cons of Postmodernist Analysis of Halacha , in which I express my approbations and objections to an example of Rabbi Shagar's postmodernist approach to Judaism. ---------- The Torah content for these two weeks has been sponsored by Judah and Naomi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, Judaism and the Benefits of EFT (Episodic Future Thinking) in which we explore of the regular opportunities we have in halacha to practice EFT and enumerate the benefits of such a practice. Note that this is a sequel to yesterday's episode , which you are advi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, EFT (Episodic Future Thinking) A Summer 2022 Project , which I hope will serve as an introduction to a concept and a practice which I suspect will dominate my thinking for the next couple of months. ---------- The Torah content for these two weeks has been sponsore...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, How Rambam Sees God in the Sunset , which examines whether the feeling of awe we experience upon seeing a beautiful sunset constitutes a "valid religious experience" according to the Rambam's views. ---------- The Torah content for these two weeks ha...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, State of the Blog: Summer 2022 , in which I state my plans for the next two weeks and the rest of the summer, as far as this blog is concerned. ---------- This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Naomi Mann in honor of Rabbi Moskowitz zt"l, whose s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, Leo Tolstoy, Eishes Chayil, and Caring What Others Think , which analyzes a quotation from the Russian novelist which parallels the final pasuk of Mishlei, showing a path to freedom from caring about the opinions of others.  ---------- This week's Torah conten...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, When Hashem Prefers Telling Lies Over Doing Miracles , which is a write-up of a basic idea about hashgachah pratis  that appears in dozens of places in the Rishonim which I happened to stumble upon in my recent learning of Sefer Shmuel. (And yes - this, too, ends i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This is a recording of the shloshim memorial event for Rabbi Morton Moskowitz zt"l which took place over Zoom on June 21, 2022 (22 Sivan 5782).  For a link to the book written by Rabbi Moskowitz and Doug Taylor, "Getting it Straight: Practical Ideas for a Life of Clarity," click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ul...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, On Reading the Rambam's Mishneh Torah Like a Love Letter , which is part PSA and part rant regarding the widespread practice to favor the standard printed editions of the Mishneh Torah over the critical editions. ---------- This week's Torah content has b...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, An Example of My Idiosyncratic Brand of Spirituality , in which I recount a spiritual experience I had this past Shabbos and describe my personal form of spirituality (without defining it or explaining it). ---------- This week's Torah content has been sponsor...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (6/10/22), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, we took up one of my "pet sugya" questions which rolls around once a year: Why does the Torah "waste" so much space writing about the twelve identical offerings brought by the princes of the twelve tribes? I would have loved to find twelve answe...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! I'm sharing this recording on all five of my podcasts, regardless of their subject matter, because Rabbi  Moskowitz is responsible for all the Torah I learn and teach. This is the audio of the eulogy I gave for my beloved rebbi, Rabbi Morton Moskowitz zt"l on Erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan 5782 (May 30th, 2022). For the video, click her...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/27/22), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, we examined the very strange dialogue between Naomi, Orpah, and Rus. The major question we had was: What was Naomi trying to accomplish here? Thanks to the Ralbag's commentary, backed by the Rambam's presentation of the halachos, we were able to make sens...