Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 3 minutes 56 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 5/19/23, entitled: Bamidbar: Moshe's Non-Biological Sons . Who were Moshe's sons? You may be tempted to answer, "Gershom and Eliezer" - but that's not what it says in Bamidbar's...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 44 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/19/23), in our Friday morning Q&A, we took up three questions: (1) What are some guidelines for tefilah in a minyan which davens faster than you prefer? (2) Is it a mitzvah to speculate? (whatever that means) (3) What are we to make of the common narrative that the Torah is the ONLY path to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 38 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (5/18/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we tackled the topic of silence according to the Rambam - learning through his treatment of silence in the Mishneh Torah and in his commentary on the Mishnah - with the aim of understanding both Avos 3:17 and Avos 1:17 (which is the first mishna...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 11 minutes 23 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of an article I re-published on 5/15/23 (originally published on Kol ha'Seridim on 5/22/20) entitled: Bamidbar: The Terminal Bachelorhood of Nadav and Avihu . The deaths of Nadav and Avihu are recorded in Shemini, but Bamidbar adds on...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 56 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/12/23), in our SECOND Friday Q&A (this time, for women), we took up five questions: (1) What guidelines should govern our decision to partake in forms of entertainment which don't line up with Torah values? (2) To what extent is it our responsibililty to correct people who are mistaken?...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/12/23), in our Friday Q&A, we took up four questions: (1) What are some ways to foster an interactive learning environment in a class, especially on Zoom? (2) How does one balance the "proper" allocation of learning time with the consideration of "a person should only learn wh...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 14 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 5/12/23, entitled: Behar: The Prohibition to Free a Canaanite Slave . The Torah permits slavery. Many (including myself) hold that Judaism is philosophically anti-slavery. If so, why are we prohibited to free...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 32 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (5/11/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we continued learning the mishnah we started last week. We began by reviewing, clarifying, and expanding upon the ideas we learned last week concerning "vows are a fence for detachment from worldly pleasures." Then we moved on to the c...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 6 pages Length of audio: 15 minutes 27 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of an article I re-published on 5/8/23 (originally published on Kol ha'Seridim on 6/3/16) entitled, Bechukosai: Why are Women Worth Less than Men? Fact: in this week's parashah, the Torah assigns greater monetary value to men tha...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 15 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/5/23), in our Machshavah Lab series for women, we learned - surprise surprise! - eight different explanations of shaatnez! We began with a simple methodological hack for learning about the reasons for mitzvos, and then we read through eight commentaries on shaatnez and attempted to extrac...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (5/5/23), in our Friday Q&A, we took up three(ish) questions: (1) To what extent should/may a rebbi - or teacher, parent, mentor, etc. - talk about their own personal struggles to help those whom they guide? (2) What are some guidelines for navigating workplace temptations involving members of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 16 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 5/5/23, entitled: Emor: Why Judaism Punishes Converts . The ending of this parashah has bothered me for years. Thanks to Sforno, Shadal, and Assyriology, I think I finally have an answer - one which sheds lig...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 41 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (5/4/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we began learning a mishnah about five types of fences. After raising questions on the whole mishnah, we decided to focus solely on the clause about nedarim, as explained by Rabbeinu Yonah and the Rambam. We took a deep dive into what, exactly, i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4.5 pages Length of audio: 11 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of an article I re-published on 4/30/23 (originally published on Kol ha'Seridim on 5/8/20) entitled, Emor: Does Hashem Hate Unibrows? The answer is: Of course not! But then why does the Torah ban a Kohen with a unibrow from serving...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 page Length of audio: 4 minutes 30 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 4/28/23, entitled: Kedoshim: Defining Rechilus (Gossip) . The prohibitions against lashon ha'ra and motzi shem ra are relatively easy to define, but the definition of rechilus has eluded me. This year I...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 35 minutes Synopsis: This morning (4/28/23), in our Machshavah Lab series for women, we took up a charged topic: arayos. The term "arayos" ("ervah" in singular) refers to the Biblically prohibited sexual relations that are liable for kareis (spiritual excision), including incest, bestiality, homosexual so...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 48 minutes Synopsis: This morning (4/28/23), in our Friday Q&A, we took up five questions: (1) In cases where you are pemitted to speak rechilus or lashon ha'ra, how can one minimize the harm to oneself? (2) What are the benefits of YBT? (3) How should one balance one's choice of work/income with learning? (4) What ar...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 30 minutes Synopsis: This evening (4/27/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned a mishnah which struck us as different from the other mishnayos we've learned, presenting itself as a mix of etiquette guidelines, workplace advice, and general advice on how to get good results from human interactions. Neve...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 4 minutes 33 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 4/21/23, entitled: Tazria: Rambam's Explanation for Why Milah is Done on the Eighth Day . In my article, Lech Lecha: Is Circumcision Mutilation?   I wrote about one facet of the Rambam's understanding of milah. This article is about...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 27 minutes Synopsis: Earlier this year, I was sent a list of questions about lashon ha'ra, and I began developing a shiur on what I think is a fundamentally different perspective of lashon ha'ra than what many of us currently have. Initially I was planning on giving that shiur today, but I realized that perhaps we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 21 minutes Synopsis: This morning (4/21/23), in our shorter-than-usual Friday Q&A (both because we started late and because I didn't record the last question), we took up three questions: (1) What's the deal with davening for a refuah for other people? (2) Why was Avraham Avinu concerned with his legacy after death, a...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 54 minutes Synopsis: This evening (4/20/23), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we tackled a mishnah which was quite intimidating in its scope and the weightiness of its topic: Olam ha'Ba, and how to lose it. In order to drown in a sea of different opinions, we focused on understanding this mishnah according to th...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 4 minutes 19 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 4/14/23, entitled: Shemini - Why Can't We Eat Bugs?   Sometimes I tackle topics that are too broad or deep for a 1-page article. This was one of those times. Still, I hope that the question and briefly stated answer at least provide food...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 4 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 4/10/23, entitled: Jewish Pedagogy: On Asking Stupid Questions . Some say "there's no such thing as a stupid question." In this article I explain why I disagree, why I think such a message is detrimental for students, and what ou...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 4 minutes 10 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 4/5/23, entitled: Memento Mori and True Human Empathy at the Seder . One of the most underappreciated themes of Pesach - and one of the most universal ones - is subtly reflected in two minhagim, both of which involve reflections on mortality a...