Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour Synopsis: This morning (9/22/23), in our Machshavah Lab series for women, we reviewed the halachos of interpersonal teshuvah in the Rambam and raised a bunch of questions - several of which were new to me this year. These new questions gave rise to a new theory of interpersonal teshuvah which, I believe, answers all of the q...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 2 minutes Synopsis: This morning (9/15/23), in our first Machshavah Lab series for women this season, we decided to review the Rambam's procedures for regular teshuvah and teshuvah on interpersonal sins. Even though many of us have learned this before, I certainly feel like we arrived at a greater level of clarity than...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 30 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (9/14/23), in our first Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur of the season, we tackled a long and difficult mishnah filled with mixed metaphors. TBH, I didn't have a clear understanding of the main idea when I started giving shiur. Thank God, with the help of the Meiri, we managed to successfull...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 12 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/8/23, entitled: Nitzavim: What Would Teshuvah Look Like If It Were Easy? This may very well be the most radical idea about teshuvah I've ever written abou...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 45 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/5/23, entitled: Ki Tavo: Lone Learning vs. Group Learning . In this (late) dvar Torah article, we examine a drashah from Chazal about the superiority of group-...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 6 minutes 48 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/3/23, entitled: Some Thoughts on Rabbi Moskowitz's Unveiling . I was unable to attend the Hakamas Matzeivah (Unveiling) of my rebbi, Rabbi Morton Moskowit...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 6 minutes 23 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/25/23, entitled: Ki Teitzei: Ramban - On Cruelty to Animals . What are we to make of the halachos and principles in the Torah which are geared towards the huma...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of audio: 47 minutes Synopsis: Have you been what I'll be up to this coming year?  Have you heard me allude to a MAJOR update that I said I'd announce about my professional life in the near future? Are you aware of one of these updates, but not the other? Well, if none of this interests you, then by all means, feel free to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 20 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/18/23, entitled: Shoftim: Trusting Hashem in Poverty and Jurisprudence . The last mishnah in Peah compares the bitachon of a poor person who refuses tzedakah t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 36 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/11/23, entitled: Re’eh: The Meaning of Mixing Milk and Meat for a Modern Maimonidean . According to the Rambam, there are many mitzvos which were commanded in...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 18 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/4/23, entitled: Eikev: When Avodah Zarah Works (and Why) . How does Judaism account for miracles done for and by the practitioners of other religions? My favor...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 7 minutes 51 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/28/23, entitled: Vaeschanan: Mezuzah – Caffeine for the Soul . If you're in the mood for a weird, homiletical, practical, scientific, quasi-Maimonidean ex...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This afternoon (7/27/23), immediately after my Tishah b'Av shiur on Kinnah #11, we initiated a new shiur/chavurah on a midrash about the sin that destroyed the city of Beitar. After analyzing that midrash, we compared it to the Gemara's view of which sin destroyed Beitar. We took up a few more topics and questions after that, but...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (7/27/23), after giving over my annual Tishah b'Av shiur at Shevet Achim (a.k.a. The Island Synagogue), I gave it over again on Zoom. This year's focus was Kinnah #11, which (I argue) is a contender for one of the most important kinnos, since it was instituted by none other than Yirmiyahu himself, a couple of decades...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 7 pages Length of the audio: 23 minutes 56 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 7-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/25/23, entitled:  The Sin of Columbus, Yehoyakim, and American Jewry . This article began as 4th of July musings about Columbus which illuminated my understan...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 3 pages Length of the audio: 10 minutes 2 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/23/23, entitled: Devarim: The Idolatry of Showing Favoritism in Judgment . If you think you know what the Torah means when it says, "Do not show favoritis...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 7 minutes 27 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/17/23, entitled: No Excuses in Talmud Torah: Ralbag’s Conclusion to Sefer Bamidbar . Have you ever made excuses for not  teaching or learning? I know I have. Y...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 4 pages Length of the audio: 12 minutes 32 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/12/23, entitled: Freddie Mercury, Shadal, and the Crisis of Human Finitude . What do Freddie Mercury and Shadal have in common? And what does this have to do...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 21 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/7/23, entitled: Pinchas: The Biological Kohen (and Why I Identify as a Levi) .  The article I spent all of 17th of Tammuz writing didn't come together, so...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/5/23, entitled: 17th of Tammuz 5783: Which Tamid Ceased (Part 1: Questions) . I came up with some juicy questions on this topic, but no answers. I wrote up these questi...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/3/23, entitled: Become the Best by Accepting that You Aren’t . I was recently asked how I integrate Torah and movies/TV - but that's not why I wrote this article....

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 11 minutes 5 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/30/23, entitled: Chukas: Ultra-Pure Cave Babies, Taylor Swift, and Enriched Uranium . In this article (which needed more than a single page to do it justice) we explor...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 7 pages Length of audio: 19 minutes 48 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 7-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/28/23, entitled On Why I Value 18Forty and the Orthodox Conundrum Podcasts . My two favorite Jewish podcasts are 18Forty (Rabbi David Bashevkin) and the Orthodox Conu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 7 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/23/23, entitled: Korach: To Guard and Revere the Mikdash . In my ongoing effort to mine this parashah for topics OTHER than the saga of Korach, I've decided to take...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 11 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 6/16/23, entitled: Shelach: That Time the Letter Yod Pleaded Before Hashem . I never know where an article will end up once I begin writing. This one began as an analysis of a midrash about Yehoshua's na...