Machshavah Lab

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...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This is the same shiur I uploaded to my Tefilah podcast, but since more people subscribe to Machshavah Lab, I wanted to upload it here as well. About an hour before I was scheduled to give shiur tonight (5/26/22), I received the terrible news that my rebbi - Rabbi Moskowitz (Meir ben Esther Malka) - will no longer be able to continue dialy...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (5/25/22), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we began concluded (for now) our learning of the Abravanel's hidden miniature treatise (in Parashas Shelach) on kareis, in which he surveys all the views of his predecessors and expresses his objections to them. In this final installment we learn through the A...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/20/22), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, I gave an experimental shiur about hashgachah. It would be great to give a shiur on how hashgachah pratis, reward and punishment, and Divine justice work. The problem is that these topics are WAY too broad and WAY too deep and WAY too beyond my knowledge level. How...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (5/18/22), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we began continued learning the Abravanel's hidden miniature treatise (in Parashas Shelach) on kareis, in which he surveys all the views of his predecessors and expresses his objections to them, and then presents his own view. After reviewing opinions #1-3, we...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/13/22), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, we had an experimental shiur on the topic of "emunas chachamim." First we defined the quality of emunas chachamim based on R' Yitzchak Kanpanton's methodology sefer. We then compared and contrasted his approach to some of the ideas written about...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (5/11/22), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we began learning the Abravanel's hidden miniature treatise (in Parashas Shelach) on kareis, in which he surveys all the views of his predecessors and expresses his objections to them, and then presents his own view. Tonight we made it through the first three...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/8/22), in my last YBT Sunday Shiur of the season, I shared three "new" (to me) explanations for why the Torah commands us to count the omer. I found all three explanations in a commentary which is not widely learned, which is why I'm fairly confident that these ideas will be new to others as well. In addition...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (5/6/22), in our "Machshavah Lab" series for women, we went over three insights I recently had into birkas ha'zman (i.e. shehecheyanu). The first is a basic but beautiful pshat from the Kuzari. The second is an insight I had over Pesach into the unique role played by the shehecheyanu we say at the end of kiddush...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 56 minutes Synopsis: This evening (5/4/22), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we continued our analysis of the Torah's initial presentation of the shalosh regalim to Klal Yisrael. After attempting to infer whatever we could on our own, we enlisted the Ibn Ezra, the Ralbag, and the Abravanel for guidance - and...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 58 minutes Synopsis: This evening (4/27/22), in our aptly named "Chumash Exploration," we began a minor project within a major project. The major project is to understand the mitzvos related to Shavuos as presented by Torah she'bi'Chsav. We were going to start with Emor and Re'eh, where those mitzvos are st...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, Etzba Elohim: The Finger of WHICH God?  Most people assume that Egypt first acknowledged Hashem's involvement during the third plague, when Paroh's sorcerers said, "it is the finger of God!" But not everyone agrees. It all depends on who they 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, Tzfarde'a: The Plague that Lasted Forever , which examines two minority opinions on tzfarde'a - that of the Abravanel and the Sforno, both of whom learn that tzfarde'a involved crocodiles (not frogs) and that the effects of the plague were designed 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, Even If We Are All Wise, Understanding, Elders, Those Who Know Torah , which attempts to elucidate the four levels (or five?) that are referenced in Avadim Hayinu, as explained by the Rashbatz. ---------- The content on this podcast has been sponsored by my Patrons...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote entitled, Chad Gadya: A New Song with an Ancient Theme , in which I state my take on the main idea of this popular song. ---------- The content on this podcast has been sponsored by my Patrons on Patreon. The total cost of maintaining my five podcasts in 2021 amounted to ove...