Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 31 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (9/26/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we took up the next mishnah in the fourth chapter, where we left off in June. This one certainly struck us as odd, speaking of Torah almost like a voodoo doll. We raised a ton of questions and successfully learned two approaches from t...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 19 minutes Synopsis: This evening (9/19/24), in lieu of our regularly scheduled Pirkei Avos Shiur for women, we took up a question on the parashah that I'm trying to write about for this week's article. This is a good example of how, if you keep asking questions even when you think you've reached the end of th...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 39 minutes Synopsis: Last night (9/5/24), in our first Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women of the 2024-2025, we took up a tefilah-related Mishnah from chapter 2, since I've been in tefilah mode all summer and I wanted to share some ideas. If you're looking for an eye-opening perspective on tefilah filled wit...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 12 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/6/24, titled: Shofetim: Three Philosophies of Bal Tashchis (Wasteful Destruction) . Some mitzvos have well-hidden reasons. Others suffer the opposite fate: e...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 6 minutes 14 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I originally wrote on 8/14/15, which I edited and republished on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/30/24, titled: Re'eh: MEAT IS MURDER!!! P.E.T.A. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) equates slaughter...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 44 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/23/24 titled: Eikev: When to Disregard Tznius (Modesty) and Act Like an Animal . Yes, this is an article about a case in which Chazal permit us to totally disregard th...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 10 minutes 11 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I originally wrote on 8/4/14, which I edited and republished on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/14/24 entitled: Vaeschanan: Ayn Rand, Art, and Avodah Zarah . Like her or hate her, Ayn Rand's definition of art...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 16 minutes Synopsis: This morning (8/13/24), I gave my annual kinnos shiur at Shevet Achim (a.k.a. The Island Synagogue), and for the first time ever, I recorded it! I chose this kinnah because it presents itself as being related to tefilah, which has been the focus of my learning all summer. But even a surface-level examina...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 4 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/12/24 entitled: Tishah b’Av 5784: Does Hashem Still Listen to Our Prayers? One would assume the answer is "yes," but a midrash about the destruction of Mikdas...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 12 minutes 35 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/9/24 entitled: Haftaras Devarim: Will Hashem Hate Our Tishah b’Av? Some years I write a Tishah b'Av article and feel like I'm not adding anything - just sho...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 5 pages Length of the audio: 17 minutes 25 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 5-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/1/24 entitled: Four Insights from a Jewish Renewal Rabbi . I can't say I've ever written an article prompted by someone from a non-Orthodox Jewish m...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 22 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/26/24 entitled: Pinchas: The Korban Tamid as ... God's Food? How would you respond to the claim that korbanos are "God's food"? How would y...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 6 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I originally published on my old blog on 12/27/13, which I edited and republished on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/19/24 entitled: Vaeira: Do You Believe in Magic? Is magic real? There are three views amo...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 45 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/19/24 entitled: Balak: Blaming Sins on “Sin City.” When it comes to nature vs. nurture, we think of "nurture" in reference to people and one's s...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 3 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/12/24 entitled: Chukas: How the Deaths of Tzadikim Atone . I was going to call this article, "How Miriam and Aharon Died for Our Sins," but I opted fo...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 8 minutes 1 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/5/24 entitled: Korach: The Sexual Allegations Against Moshe Rabbeinu . Did you know that Korach led a nationwide smear campaign against Moshe by accusing him of...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 4 pages Length of the audio: 15 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/28/24 entitled: Shelach: Shadal’s Radical Take on the Forty Years in the Wilderness . What if I told you that Israel were not condemned to wander in the Wilde...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 1 page Length of the audio: 4 minutes Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I originally published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/24/22, which I've edited and republished on 6/27/24, entitled: Shelach: Challah as a Consequence of the Cheit ha'Meraglim . Why does the Torah introdu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 52 minutes Synopsis: This morning (6/21/24) we had a surprise Q&A as our last shiur in yeshiva of the 2023-2024 year! We took up seven questions: (1) How do we reconcile/account for the differences in the average working hours today vs. in the time of Chazal and the Rishonim, insofar as our learning is concerned? (2) What is me...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 7 minutes 41 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/21/24, entitled: Behaalosecha: Moshe’s  Short[ened] Tefilah . Why was Moshe's tefilah for Miriam so short? Was this his intent or was he forced to shorten...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 17 minutes Synopsis: This evening (6/19/24), in our last Wednesday night Tehilim/Tefilah shiur of the year, we took up a tefilah-related topic in the parashah: Moshe's short tefilah for Miriam. We raised a bunch of questions, and then set out to gain as many insights as we could. There was so much to cover that we went...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 4 pages Length of the audio: 15 minutes 3 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/18/24, entitled: Emulating Darwin: A Jewish Approach to Seeking God . I recently read some Darwin for the first time and was so impressed by the character refl...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 2 pages Length of the audio: 5 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I originally wrote on 6/20/13 which I edited and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/14/24, entitled: Naso: Shivim Panim la'Torah in Context . The idiom "Shivim Panim la'Torah" i...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of the article: 7 pages Length of the audio: 21 minutes 19 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 7-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/11/24, entitled: Shavuos is NOT About the Giving of the Torah . This article, originally published on 5/30/17, is one of the few I've written about Shavu...

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 23 minutes Synopsis: This morning (6/7/24), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab shiurim for women, we decided to do a sequel to our Megilas Esther shiurim from earlier this year. As is his style, the Ralbag concludes sections of his Biblical commentaries with "toalos" (a.k.a. lessons) in halacha, middos, and philo...