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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 • 552 episodes
Machshavah Lab
Latest Episodes
Intro to Iyov - Part 1: Challenges, Pre-Learning Questions, and Authorship
Length: 1 hour 33 minutesSynopsis: This morning (9/12/25), in this year's first Friday morning Machshavah Lab shiur for women, we began our (hopefully) year-long series on Sefer Iyov! I began by recapping my prior experience with Iyov, but ...
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Season 23
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Episode 3
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1:33:38
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Avos 4:15 - Greetings, Lion Tails, and Fox Heads
Length: 1 hour 48 minutesSynopsis: This evening (9/11/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned the next mishnah in our chapter. This one was more practical, more approachable, and less metaphysical than the last. A...
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Season 23
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Episode 2
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1:44:06
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Ki Teitzei: Ibn Kaspi's Radical Rationale for Sending Away the Mother Bird
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 28 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 9/5/...
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Season 23
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Episode 2
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9:22
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Sforno on the Prosperity of the Wicked and Suffering of the Righteous (Avos 4:15)
Length: 1 hour 48 minutesSynopsis: This evening (9/4/25), in our first Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women of the 2025-2026 season, we took up a mishnah that happens to be on the same topic as Sefer Iyov, which will be a major focus ...
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Season 23
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Episode 1
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1:49:01
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Re’eh: The Torah Temimah’s Counterintuitive Take on the Mitzvah to Live in Israel (and Rav Chaim Brisker’s Zionism)
Length of FREE article: 2 pages (PAID version is 3 pages)Length of FREE audio: 7 minutes 44 seconds (PAID version is 11 minutes 37 seconds)Synopsis: This is the audio version of the FREE version of the 2-page article I wrote and publish...
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Season 22
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Episode 13
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8:39
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