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Machshavah Lab

Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss

547 episodes

1 day ago

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 4 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/14/25, titled: Eikev: Slowing the Conquest ... For Animals? The Torah gives a bizarre reason for the slow conquest of Canaan. Two contrary explanations given by Rishonim shed light on how Hashem operates. ----- This week’s Torah Content has been sponsored...

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Religion & Spirituality,

Society & Culture,

All content for Machshavah Lab is the property of Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 4 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/14/25, titled: Eikev: Slowing the Conquest ... For Animals? The Torah gives a bizarre reason for the slow conquest of Canaan. Two contrary explanations given by Rishonim shed light on how Hashem operates. ----- This week’s Torah Content has been sponsored...

Show more...

Religion & Spirituality,

Society & Culture,

Episodes (20/547)

Machshavah Lab

Bechukosai: Does Hashem Ever Truly Loathe Israel?

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 9 minutes Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 5/23/25, titled: Bechukosai: Does Hashem Ever Truly Loathe Israel? Our gut reaction to this question is, "No!" but the verses in the blessings and the curses indicate that the answer is not so simple. ----- The Torah content from now through Isru Chag Shavuos is spon...

1 day ago

9 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Avos 4:14 - Exile Yourself to a Place of Torah

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 45 minutes Synopsis: Tonight (5/22/25), in our final Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women of the 2024-2025 season, we took up a mishnah that is relevant to us all, and is particularly appropriate as we approach Zman Matan Toraseinu. If you're someone who plans to relocate or who needs to relocate or whose relationship with Torah is in need of a boost, this mishnah is for you! ----- מקורות: אבות ד:יד רמב"ם רבינו יו...

2 days ago

1 hour 45 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Lag ba’Omer PSA: The Falsehood of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s Yahrzeit

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1.5 pages Length of audio: 5 minutes 55 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1.5-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 5/15/25, titled: Lag ba’Omer PSA: The Falsehood of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s Yahrzeit. Mark Twain said, “Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.” Rumors of Rashbi’s death on Lag ba’Omer have been greatly exaggerated. They trac...

1 week ago

6 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Kedoshim: “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” – Not the Greatest Principle in Torah

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 8 minutes 41 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 5/2/25, titled: Kedoshim: “Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself” – Not the Greatest Principle in Torah. R’ Akiva calls “Ve’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha” a great Torah principle. Ben Azzai disagrees. Wessely attempts to reconcile them with an original interpretation. -...

2 weeks ago

9 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Kedoshim: Ve'Ahavta l'Reiacha Kamocha Reexamined

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 Torah." Fewer people are familiar with Ben Azzai's disagreement, and his identification of ANOTHER pasuk as an e...

2 weeks ago

1 hour 14 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Avos 4:13 - When Mistakes in Learning are Considered Intentional

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 intuitive reading with Rashi's highly specific reading. I attempted to convey a theory about Rashi which I realiz...

3 weeks ago

1 hour 31 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Tazria/Metzora: How Niddah Protected Women

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 leading Leviticus scholar’s theory and its implications. ----- The total cost of producing my five ...

3 weeks ago

9 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Mortimer J. Adler's Mussar for Religious Educators

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 powerfully to Jewish educators. If we truly took his words to heart, Jewish education would be in a far ...

1 month ago

8 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Q&A #43: Evil Chacham, Wiki-Wars, World of Midrash, Zohar, Mind vs. Emotions, Mishleic Schadenfreude

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 engaged in malicious editing of Wikipedia articles to promote their cause. What do we think of this tactic, ...

1 month ago

46 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Egypt Reflections as a Jew (by My Brother)

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 tears every time I read them, especially going into Pesach. And yes, I started crying while making the...

1 month ago

9 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Why WE Eat Matzah vs. Why THEY Ate Matzah

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: 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 three approaches. ----- The Torah content from now until Erev Pesach has be...

1 month ago

10 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Mit’chilah: Defining Avodah Zarah and Avodas Hashem

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 avodas Hashem—and how would you do it in a 500-word dvar Torah for Jewish day school families? ----- The Torah content from now until Erev Pesach has ...

1 month ago

5 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Adir Hu: Praiseworthy Paean or Sacrilegious Screed?

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 to exemplify the type of excessive adjectival praise condemned by R’ Chanina in Berachos 33b. Our sessi...

1 month ago

1 hour 43 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Q&A #42: Downtime with Rabbeim, God Creating Evil, What Was Given at Sinai, When to Share Learning

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 evil and the Rambam's position in the Moreh that God doesn't directly cause evil? (3) What, exactly, was give...

2 months ago

39 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Ki Tisa: Shadal’s Anti-Rationalist Rational Explanation of Ayin ha’Ra (the Evil Eye)

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’ra that is neither purely rationalistic nor mystical? True to form, Shadal offers just such an ...

2 months ago

12 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Tetzaveh: Philosophical Pants

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 article, we analyze these "philosophical pants" and uncover the many Torah ideas they embody. ----- The ...

2 months ago

11 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Ralbag's Lessons from Megilas Esther: Part 4 (#36-40)

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 decided to read and discuss the pesukim this year before learning the toeles. This resulted in a slower pace, but (I...

2 months ago

1 hour 23 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Emulating a Vengeful God: ve'Halachta bi'Drachav and E-l Nekamos

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 meant to emulate Him in this regard? How does this align with the Torah’s halachic and ethical stance on rev...

2 months ago

1 hour 52 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Mishpatim: Judaism's Stance on (Extrajudicial) Witch Hunts

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 you know what that means and why, then you may be in for a surprise. ----- The Torah content for the e...

3 months ago

12 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Mishpatim: Judaism's Take on [Literal] Witch Hunting (Shiur Version)

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. The shiur itself focused on a highly disturbing minority view (expressed by only 3.5 meforshim) about ...

3 months ago

1 hour 27 minutes

Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 7 minutes 4 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/14/25, titled: Eikev: Slowing the Conquest ... For Animals? The Torah gives a bizarre reason for the slow conquest of Canaan. Two contrary explanations given by Rishonim shed light on how Hashem operates. ----- This week’s Torah Content has been sponsored...