Machshavah Lab
My name is Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss. My goal as a Torah educator is not merely to teach my students my OWN hashkafah. Rather, my goal is to equip them with the foundations, the methodological training, and the tools which will enable them to arrive at their OWN understanding of Judaism and cultivate their OWN relationship with Hashem and His Torah. This podcast is devoted to the shiurim I give which are geared specifically towards that end. As such, the range of topics covered here will be diverse. There will be shiurim on Jewish philosophy, Chumash methodology, aggadic midrashim, maybe even some non-Jewish philosophy as well. Merriam-Webster defines "laboratory" as a place providing opportunity for experimentation, observation, or practice in a field of study. I call this podcast "Machshavah Lab" because this is where we will conduct Torah "experiments" by exploring questions, texts, and ideas in an effort to develop our machshavah in a "hands on," exploratory, firsthand manner.
Episodes
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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 engaged in malicious editing of Wikipe...
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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 tears every time I read them, esp...
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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: Every year we read Rabban Gamliel's explanation for why we eat matzah on Pesach, but why did the Israelites in Egypt eat matzah on the night of the Exodus? Here are t...
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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 to exemplify the type of excessiv...
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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 avodas Hashem—and how would you do it in a 500-word dvar Torah for Jewish day sch...
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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 evil and the Rambam's positio...
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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’ra that is neither purely ratio...
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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 article, we analyze these "phi...
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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 decided to read and discuss the pesu...
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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 meant to emulate Him in this rega...
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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 you know what that means and...
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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. The shiur itself focused on a hi...
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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 ignoramus, a haughty dilettante—or...
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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 Beshalach - an article I've b...
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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 interpretation of both, but it was J...
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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 in Shemos, addressing a key q...
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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 ended up writing out my entire...
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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 "questions only" arti...
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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 Ibn Kaspi hints at a differen...
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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 discourse on reward and punishmen...
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