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
489 episodes
Avos 2:1 - Contemplate Three Things and You Won't Come to Sin
Length: 1 hour 21 minutesSynopsis: This morning (10/11/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women (rescheduled to Friday morning, Erev Yom ha'Kippurim), we took up the final clause of the first mishnah in chapter 2 because it me...
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Season 18
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Episode 7
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1:22:10
INCOMPLETE SHIUR: Rosh ha'Shanah 5785 - The Sweet Secret of Ha'Melech ha'Misphat
Length: 1 hour 16 minutesSynopsis: This Erev Rosh ha'Shanah morning (10/2/24), I gave an incomplete shiur on the phrase "ha'Melech ha'Mishpat" with which we conclude the 11th berachah of the Amidah during the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah. Last year...
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Season 18
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Episode 6
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1:16:58
Nitzavim/Vayeilech: Teshuvah as a Ledge
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 7 minutes 22 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/27...
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Season 18
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Episode 5
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8:19
Avos 4:6 - How to Honor and Desecrate Yourself Through Torah
Length: 1 hour 31 minutesSynopsis: 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 al...
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Season 18
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Episode 4
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1:31:28
(SHIUR) Ki Tavo: How We Know It's a Mitzvah to Have Good Middos (and Why We Should Care)
Length: 1 hour 19 minutesSynopsis: 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 ...
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Season 18
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Episode 3
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1:19:41
Shofetim: Three Philosophies of Bal Tashchis (Wasteful Destruction)
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 12 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/6/...
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Season 18
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Episode 2
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9:08
Avos 2:13 - Shema, Tefilah, and Bad Self-Image
Length: 1 hour 39 minutesSynopsis: 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 t...
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Season 18
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Episode 1
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1:47:55
Re'eh: MEAT IS MURDER!!!
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 6 minutes 14 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I originally wrote on 8/14/15, which I edited and republished on ra...
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Season 17
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Episode 14
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7:11
Eikev: When to Disregard Tznius (Modesty) and Act Like an Animal
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 44 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/23/24 titled...
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Season 17
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Episode 13
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9:40
Vaeschanan: Ayn Rand, Art, and Avodah Zarah
Length of article: 3 pagesLength of audio: 10 minutes 11 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I originally wrote on 8/4/14, which I edited and republished on ra...
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Season 17
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Episode 12
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11:08
Kinnah #20: Incline Your Ear and Hear (Tishah b'Av 5784)
Length: 1 hour 16 minutesSynopsis: 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 rela...
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Season 17
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Episode 11
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1:17:30
Tishah b’Av 5784: Does Hashem Still Listen to Our Prayers?
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 4 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/12/24 entitle...
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Season 17
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Episode 10
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9:01
Haftaras Devarim: Will Hashem Hate Our Tishah b’Av?
Length of article: 3 pagesLength of audio: 12 minutes 35 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/9/24 entitl...
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Season 17
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Episode 9
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13:31
Four Insights from a Jewish Renewal Rabbi
Length of the article: 5 pagesLength of the audio: 17 minutes 25 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 5-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 8/1/2...
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Season 17
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Episode 8
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18:21
Pinchas: The Korban Tamid as ... God's Food?
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 8 minutes 22 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/26/2...
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Season 17
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Episode 7
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9:18
Vaeira: Do You Believe in Magic?
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 6 minutes 31 secondsSynopsis: 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
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Season 17
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Episode 6
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7:28
Balak: Blaming Sins on “Sin City”
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 8 minutes 45 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/19/2...
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Season 17
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Episode 5
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9:41
Chukas: How the Deaths of Tzadikim Atone
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 8 minutes 3 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/12/24...
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Season 17
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Episode 4
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9:00
Korach: The Sexual Allegations Against Moshe Rabbeinu
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 8 minutes 1 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 7/5/24 ...
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Season 17
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Episode 3
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8:57
Shelach: Shadal’s Radical Take on the Forty Years in the Wilderness
Length of the article: 4 pagesLength of the audio: 15 minutes 31 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/28/...
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Season 17
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Episode 2
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16:27
Shelach: Challah as a Consequence of the Cheit ha'Meraglim
Length of the article: 1 pageLength of the audio: 4 minutesSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I originally published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/24/22...
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Season 17
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Episode 1
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4:56
Q&A #40: Working Hours, Freud-Ego, Waving Leviim, Blind Obedience, Self-Help, Teaching, Archaeology
Length: 52 minutesSynopsis: 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 to...
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Season 16
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Episode 23
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52:30
Behaalosecha: Moshe’s Short[ened] Tefilah
Length of the article: 2 pagesLength of the audio: 7 minutes 41 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 6/21/2...
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Season 16
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Episode 22
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8:37
Behaalosecha: Insights from the Shortest Tefilah Ever
Length: 1 hour 17 minutesSynopsis: 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, ...
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Season 16
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Episode 21
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1:18:03