Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 13 minutes Synopsis: This past Thursday night (5/8/25), in lieu of our usual Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we took up a topic in Parashas Kedoshim - arguably the most important mitzvah mentioned therein. Many people are familiar with R' Akiva's famous statement, "This is a great principle in the...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 30 minutes Synopsis: Last night (5/1/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we resumed our learning of Chapter 4, after nearly a month's hiatus. (Yes, I skipped 4:12, in case you were wondering.) This mishnah is quite short, and . We spent the bulk of the time comparing Rabbeinu Yonah's more intuit...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 39 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/25/25, titled: Tazria/Metzora: How Niddah Protected Women . What if the laws of niddah weren’t designed to oppress, but to protect? This article examines a l...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 22 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/25/25, titled: Mortimer J. Adler's Mussar for Religious Educators . This excerpt from a lecture by Mortimer Adler to Catholic educators speaks just as p...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 45 minutes Synopsis: This morning (4/24/25) we had Q&A! We discussed the following six questions: (1) If perfection of middos is a prerequisite to perfection of the intellect, how do we explain individuals like Achitophel and Doeg ha'Edomi, who were great chachamim who did evil things? (2) Anti-Israel activists have engage...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 page Length of audio: 8 minutes 40 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I co-wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/11/25, titled: Egypt Reflections as a Jew (by My Brother) . My globetrotting brother’s reflections on his trip to Egypt—poignant words that move me to tear...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 page Length of audio: 10 minutes 5 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/10/25, titled: Why WE Eat Matzah vs. Why THEY Ate Matzah . Every year we read Rabban Gamliel's explanation for why we eat matzah on Pesach, but why did t...

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 wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/4/25, titled: Mit’chilah: Defining Avodah Zarah and Avodas Hashem . How would you define avodah zarah and avo das Hashem —and how would you do it in a 500-wor...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 43 minutes Synopsis: Last night (4/4/25), in our Thursday night women's shiur, we explored a question posed to me by two of my students (shout out to Moshe and Shmarya) about a song found at the end of most Haggadot: “Is there an inherent problem with saying Adir Hu?” The concern is that, on the surface, Adir Hu seems t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 38 minutes Synopsis: This morning (3/20/25) we had a rare (this year) Q&A! We discussed the following questions: (1) How should a person use their outside-of-yeshiva "downtime" with their rabbeim: to talk about Torah or about other things? (2) What do we make of the tension between acknowledging God as the cause of ev...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 11 minutes 6 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 3/17/25, titled: Ki Tisa: Shadal’s Anti-Rationalist Rational Explanation of Ayin ha’Ra  (the Evil Eye) . What if I told you there’s an explanation of ayin ha’r...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 10 minutes 53 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 3/7/25, titled: Tetzaveh: Philosophical Pants . The most underappreciated item of the bigdei kehunah (priestly vestments) is the undergarments. In this articl...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 23 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (3/6/25), in lieu of our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we continued learning the Ralbag's toalos ("beneficial lessons") on Megilas Esther, picking up were we left off last year, at the beginning of Chapter 6. Unlike last year, in which we JUST read the Ralbag, we deci...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 52 minutes Synopsis: Thoughts of vengeance have been on the minds of Jews worldwide since October 7th. In less than two weeks, we’ll celebrate Purim — a holiday in which vengeance is a dominant theme. We are commanded to emulate Hashem’s ways, and He is explicitly described as "vengeful" throughout Tanach. Are we m...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 11 minutes 33 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/21/25, titled: Mishpatim: Judaism's Stance on (Extrajudicial) Witch Hunts . The Torah prohibits witchcraft under the penalty of death, but if you think...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 27 minutes Synopsis: This evening (2/20/25), in lieu of our regularly scheduled Pirkei Avos Shiur for women, we took up the topic that I'm currently writing about for my Friday substack article. We began by asking all the questions we could on this three-word pasuk, and by the end of the shiur, we answered all but one....

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 13 minutes 53 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 5-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/14/25, titled: Yisro: Shadal’s Unfortunate Stance on Idolatry, Belief, and the Value of Knowledge . Perhaps this article will expose me as a fool, an ignora...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 10 minutes 30 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/9/25, titled: Beshalach: What Did the Splitting of the Sea Look Like? After seeing this magnificent photo, I was inspired to write a bonus article on Beshal...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 53 minutes Synopsis: Last night (2/6/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we did something a little unusual: analyzing TWO mishnayos with only ONE commentary. When I sat down to prepare for this shiur, I noticed the parallel wording in 4:11 and 5:17. When I read the Meiri, I saw that he gave a similar inte...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 5 pages Length of audio: 17 minutes 27 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 5-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/7/25, titled: Beshalach: Moshe’s Role in the Mahn Confusion and its Implications for Teachers . This article explores one of the most perplexing narratives...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 15 minutes 29 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/16/25, titled: Shemos: Two Views of Hishtadlus . Intended to write a short dvar Torah article about Yocheved as model of bitachon (trust in Hashem), but I e...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 38 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/9/25, titled: Vayechi: How Never to Be Angry at Anyone or Hate Anyone (Part 1: Questions) . Yes, this is the second week in a row that I've written a &q...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 19 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/3/25, titled: Vayigash: Who Sent Yosef to Egypt? (Part 1: The Questions) . Yosef answers this question three times, and we assume we know what he meant, but...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 35 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (1/2/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we took up an intriguing mishnah about the effects of mitzvos and aveiros. We ended up with two solid interpretations - one that emerged during the shiur, and another based on an article I wrote back in 2012 - as well as a fundamental d...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 9 minutes 12 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/1/25, titled: The Rabbi Schneeweiss Substack Update: 66 Changes I'm Considering for January 2025 . After last year's cabin retreat, I made three wr...