Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 8 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/9/26), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we changed course. I explain my reasons at the beginning of shiur and justify them based on how the meforshim approach Iyov, but the upshot is that we're going to switch into high gear and cover "Round 1" of the d...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/9/26 titled: Shemos: The “Second Chumash”? No, this isn’t a reference to apocrypha. It’s a real book, and it’s the subject of the Netziv’s preface to Sefer Shemos. Read this, and you may never look at Shemos the same way a...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 34 minutes Synopsis: This evening (1/8/26), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we finally concluded our analysis of Avos 1:6. In many ways, this was a follow-up to our Rambam Shiur on friendship, both because I originally intended to cover Rabbeinu Yonah in that shiur, and because Rabbeinu Yonah complements t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 6-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/26/25 titled: Vayigash: Hulk Yehuda Threatens to Kill Yosef for Wanting Binyamin as a Sex Slave?! Despite my preference for peshat, this midrash is so wild and so against the peshat that I couldn't resist the urge to...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 12 minutes 36 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/19/25 titled: Mikeitz: And Then They Got DRUNK . Why does the Torah mention that Yosef’s brothers got drunk? Here are four distinct approaches, each with i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 21 minutes Synopsis: This morning (12/12/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we analyzed Iyov's "post-breakdown monologue" in Chapter 3 through the eyes of the Malbim and the Rambam, comparing and contrasting their approaches. Although we answered all the questions we initially asked, t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 57 minutes Synopsis: This evening (12/11/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned one of my favorite Rambam passages of all time: his mini-discourse on friendship. I can honestly say that this was the most comprehensive shiur I’ve ever given on the topic. We took the mishnah, raised every question w...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 pages Length of audio: 4 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/11/25 titled: Vayeishev: Yosef ha’Tzadik – A Role Model in Sin . In this short dvar Torah, we compare two readings of Mrs. Potiphar’s attempted rape of Yose...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 11 minutes Synopsis: This morning (12/5/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we began by reviewing the facts from last time. From there we took up a Vayishlach/Iyov side-quest, examining the midrash that Iyov’s wife was Dinah, a midrash for which I have found zero explanations. After that, we continued...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 14 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/4/25 titled: Vayishlach: Does Rashi Slander Dinah and Leah? Abravanel takes Rashi to task for blaming Dinah’s rape on Leah’s conduct. While I ordinarily sid...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 10 minutes 57 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/1/25 titled: Did Rambam Actually Praise Ibn Ezra and Trash the French Jews (for Eating Salsa)? You may have heard that the Rambam endorsed Ibn Ezra’s comme...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 4 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/21/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we had a shorter shiur in the usual. We spent the first portion clarifying some points from Part 3 - specifically, whether Ralbag would be considered a kofer (heretic) according to the Rambam. We then read through the remainde...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 16 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/21/25 titled: Toldos: How Different Were Yaakov and Eisav? I was tempted to title this "When Teaching Rashi to Children Promotes Kefirah (Heresy)"...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 27 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/14/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we continued learning through the prologue of Iyov (1:1 - 3:1). We began with a question of Iyov Methodology: Which commentaries would I recommend? This led to another important tangent (the second in three sessions!) about t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 29 minutes Synopsis: This evening (11/13/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we continued with the clause we worked on last time. We spent the first part of shiur reviewing everything we covered last time, answering the questions we left off with and sharpening some of the insights we had. Then we moved o...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 9 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/13/25 titled: Chayei Sarah: Sarah’s Years — A Peshat-Style Alternative to Rashi’s Midrashic Reading . Rashi’s drash on Sarah’s 127 years is well known and co...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 4 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/7/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we reviewed the first five pesukim and answered our questions based largely on the Malbim's commentary, setting the stage for the drama that unfolds in the remainder of Chapters 1-2. ----- מקורות: איוב א:א-יב מלבי"ם -...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 15 minutes 19 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/7/25 titled: Vayeira: Maybe Lote Wasn’t the Bad Guy Rashi Makes Him Out to Be .In Rashi’s “world of midrash,” Lote’s the bad guy—but in the “world of pesha...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 29 minutes Synopsis: This evening (11/6/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we went back and learned the beginning of the mishnah we started last week. We spent most of the time mining the depths of Rashi on the first clause-and-half. We then moved on to Rambam and Rabbeinu Yonah, attempting to compare an...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 17 minutes Synopsis: This morning (10/31/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we began our unit on what I call the Prologue to Sefer Iyov (1:1 - 3:1). The initial plan was to have a brief introduction, then read and translate the entire Prologue, then analyze 1:1-5. Instead, our intro led to a rant (on...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 45 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 10/31/25 titled: Lech Lecha: Shadal on Jewish vs. Egyptian Circumcision . Contrary to what some might assume, circumcision did not originate with Jews. It was...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 2 hours Synopsis: This evening (10/30/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we took up the famous precept of being dan l'chaf zechus. We ended up raising twenty questions total and answering most (if not all) of them through our in-depth analysis of Rambam and Rashi. If you're interested in a deep-dive i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 15 minutes 24 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 10/24/25 titled: Noach: Did All Humanity Really Speak One Language?  Though Malbim, R. Mecklenburg, and Rav Hirsch shared a common milieu and similar educatio...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 40 minutes Synopsis: This morning (10/23/25), in lieu of our usual morning Mishlei, we had a Q&A session! We discussed the following three questions: (1) According to the Rambam, if Olam ha'Ba is non-physical, and if our desires only relate to physical enjoyments, how can we desire Olam ha'Ba? (2) What do we mean in t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 5 pages Length of audio: 14 minutes 57 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 5-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 10/10/25 titled Sukkos 5778: I Hate Sukkah (In a Good Way) . Here's a newly edited version of my first (and favorite) article on Sukkos, originally publi...