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.

Podcasting since 2020 • 624 episodes

Machshavah Lab

Latest Episodes

Rambam on Divine Knowledge and Hashgachah (Part 1: False Views) Moreh 3:16-17a

Length: 1 hour 28 minutesSynopsis: This morning (5/15/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we moved on to the next - and last! - subseries within our overarching series on Iyov. Over the course of the next eight chapters,...

May 15, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 38 • 1:28:15

Bamidbar / Korach: What We Guard in the Mikdash

Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 5/14/26 titled:

May 15, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 37 • 9:18

Rambam on the Satan and Ra (Part 6: Three Types of Ra)

Length: 1 hour 25 minutesSynopsis: This morning (5/8/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we review what we covered last time, then learned and discussed the rest of the Rambam's Moreh ha'Nevuchim 3:12, in which he outlin...

May 08, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 36 • 1:25:40

Behar: The Torah’s Double Standard for Slave Labor

Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 7-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 5/7/26 titled:

May 07, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 35 • 26:55

Rambam on the Satan and Ra (Part 5: Intro to the Types of Ra)

Length: 53 minutesSynopsis: This morning (5/1/26), in our shorter-than-usual Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we began with an efficient review of the Rambam's theory of ra which we covered last time in 3:10. We then read and dis...

May 01, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 34 • 53:42

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