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 • 618 episodes

Machshavah Lab

Latest Episodes

Rambam on the Satan and Ra (Part 4: Theory of Ra)

Length: 1 hour 22 minutesSynopsis: This morning (4/24/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we began with a review of 3:8 and the satan, then quickly learned through 3:9 while avoiding epistemological potholes, and finally...

April 24, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 32 • 1:22:25

Rambam on the Satan and Ra (Part 3: Matter as the Cause of Ra)

Length: 1 hour 22 minutesSynopsis: This morning (4/17/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we finally began the "Moreh ha'Nevuchim" portion of our Iyov journey. After a very brief review of matter and form, we read, analy...

April 17, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 31 • 1:23:00

Shemini / Tazria / Metzora: What a REAL Rationalist Would Say About Tumah

Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 4/16/26 title:

April 16, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 30 • 13:05

Q&A #47 - Hashgachah Diagnosis, Rambam on Lashon ha'Ra, Dividing Learning Into Thirds

Length: 28 minutesSynopsis: This morning (4/16/26), in lieu of our usual morning Mishlei, we had a short Q&A session! We discussed three questions: (1) To what degree can we "diagnose" whether something in our life was hashgachah pratis...

April 16, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 29 • 29:12

Rambam on the Satan and Ra (Part 2: The Form of Man)

Length: 1 hour 7 minutesSynopsis: This Friday morning (3/20/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we were GOING to begin the section of the Rambam's Moreh ha'Nevuchim that will be our focus for the next couple of months, b...

March 20, 2026 • Season 24 • Episode 31 • 1:08:01

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