Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (10/28/22), we took up a question I had never noticed before: Why doesn't Noach have any more kids after the flood? In this shiur we build a case from Rashi's reading of the pesukim which argues that Noach INTENTIONALLY refrained from having more kids - a d...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Noach: Shadal's Radical Application of Dibra Torah ki'Lshon Bnei Adam . We're familiar with the notion that the Torah is "forced" to use anthropomorphisms when speaking about Hashem, but what about the "extreme" anthropomorphisms...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Q&A #06 - Sim Shalom ALEINU v’Al Kol Yisrael, Singular vs. Plural in Tefilah, My Current Meditation Practice, Shogeg, and pre-Ashrei Pesukim This morning (10/28/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered five questions: (1) In Sim Shalom, when we say "aleinu v'al kol Yisrael amecha," who does "aleinu" refer to? (2)...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (10/27/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next mishnah in chapter 3. If you were to take a poll of Americans at any time in recent history and ask them how they'd feel about davening for the government, it's likely that half of them wouldn't be so keen on doing so, and a percentage of t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (10/20/22), in our Friday Q&A (bumped up to Thursday because there's no shiur tomorrow), we covered five questions, depending on how you count: (1) How should one go about learning neviim and why is it so difficult? (2) What assumptions do we make about the role of hashgachah pratis in meeting people? (3) How should n...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (10/30/22) we took up a rather obscure topic: What does Judaism have to say about the four days between Yom ha'Kippurim and Sukkos? At first glance, it seems like there's not much going on here, but upon closer examination of the halachos, minhagim, and mid...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (10/6/22), in our Friday Q&A (bumped up to Thursday because I'll be leaving for Sukkos), we covered five questions, depending on how you count: (1) Why are there so many "Al Cheit"s in the Yom ha'Kippurim Vidui which pertain to speech? (2) How can one tell whether something is hashgachah pratis or not?...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I cranked out a few hours before Yom ha'Kippurim, entitled, Yom ha’Kippurim 5783: Musings on Erev Yom ha’Kippurim Anxiety. Perhaps this shouldn't have been written as a 1-page article. My hope is that I wrote it in such a manner that it will yield truth and insight regardl...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/30/22) we took up a very basic question. I can PRETTY much guarantee that if I ask you, "What is Neilah?" the answer you give will be incorrect. There are some basic facts about Neilah of which most people are unaware. In today's shiur we examined N...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (9/30/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered a number of questions relevant to the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah, including: (1) How does the judgment on Rosh ha'Shanah and Yom ha'Kippurim work? (2) Why do we stand when the Aron ha'Kodesh is open? (3) How can we live up to the seemingly impossible ideal of making use of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (9/29/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up a mishnah in Chapter 4 in hopes that it would help us to up our mitzvah and teshuvah game for the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah. We examined two approaches: an original approach inspired by the Rambam, and an attempt at understanding Rabbeinu Bachya's approach which wa...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Earlier this year I gave a three-part shiur (in my Machshavah Lab series for women) on a mishnah in Pirkei Avos about how Hashem judges the world. The question that sparked the shiur was: What is this doing HERE? Avos is a practical masechta about ethics - not metaphysics! Thankfully, we found a commentator who translates these seemingly m...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Nitzavim: Is Teshuvah/Torah REALLY That Easy? In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/23/22) we focused on a question that bothers me every year. Devarim 30:11-14 describes how easy and accessible "ha'mitzvah" is. There's a machlokess Rishonim whether "ha'mitzvah" here...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/16/22) we focused on the twelve transgressors which are singled out and "cursed" by Hashem. Our goal was to understand (1) what these twelve categories of transgressions have in common, and (2) what makes them more "curse-worthy" than others. W...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (9/16/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered four topics: (1) Are the blessings described in Ki Savo (and elsewhere) natural, hashgachic, or both? (2) If God has no emotions, and we are commanded to emulate His actions, should our actions also be emotionless? (3) What makes a question a superior or inferior question? and (4) W...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (9/15/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we began by reviewing the facts and questions from last time. After hearing some more approaches from the participants, we learned four commentaries: Rambam, Bartenura, and Rabbeinu Bachya - who all shared an approach - and Sforno, who unlocked our understanding of the main i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! I am pleased to announce that this year I'm going to record my Q&A sessions! This morning (9/9/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered three broad topics: (1) exploring the implications of Rabbeinu Bachya ibn Paquda's proofs of God's Oneness, (2) how emotions can interfere with perfection, and (3) what do we think of Emil...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! The first shiur of this year's "Machshavah Lab" series for women was a unique one, in which I attempted to convey the biggest insight from my philosophical-anthropological journey to the Crow Reservation in Montana in August 2022. The crux of this insight derived from two sources: (1) my conversation with a Crow Elder, and (...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (9/8/22), in our first Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur of the year, we began with an overview of Pirkei Avos to set the stage. We then read and translated Akavya ben Mahalalel's method of avoiding transgression, raised a bunch of questions and problems, and took a few tentative steps towards answering them. Next time (בג...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Memento Mori Musings on the First Day of Yeshiva (Koheles 7:1-2) (א) טוֹב שֵׁם מִשֶּׁמֶן טוֹב וְיוֹם הַמָּוֶת מִיּוֹם הִוָּלְדוֹ. (ב) טוֹב לָלֶכֶת אֶל בֵּית אֵבֶל מִלֶּכֶת אֶל בֵּית מִשְׁתֶּה בַּאֲשֶׁר הוּא סוֹף כׇּל הָאָדָם וְהַחַי יִתֵּן אֶל לִבּוֹ. This morning (9/6/22) we kicked off our inaugural Mishlei shiur of year with Koheles. I s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote, entitled, Rav Hirsch on Bad Biographies , in which I compare Lawrence Kaplan's critique of Hillel Goldberg's Between Berlin and Slobodka to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch's critique of Heinrich Graetz's History of the Jews , concluding with the question of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Note: This is the first time I've livestreamed a shiur on Facebook AND the first time I've had to strip the audio from a Facebook livestream using an audio extractor. If you notice any problems in the video or audio, please bring them to my attention! This morning (8/7/22), at The Island Synagogue (a.k.a. Shevet Achim) on Mercer...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Is it Permissible to Enjoy Learning on Tishah b’Av? I rarely write my articles about halacha, but after stating in an earlier article that Tishah b'Av used to be "the most enjoyable day of every summer," on account of the learning we'd do with...

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 to Make Kinnos Real , which showcases two applications of my continually evolving approach to kinnos . The Series: Part 1: The Induction of Metaphysical Trauma Part 2: The Necessity of Metaphysical Trauma for National Teshuvah Part 3: An Approach to the Blasph...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Wishful Thinking and Prophetic Interpretation, in which we examine a machlokess  between Ibn Kaspi and Rashi on how to learn Neviim and its ramifications for those who attempt to uncover the true meanings of their prophecies today. ---------- The Torah content for...