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 • 581 episodes
Machshavah Lab
Latest Episodes
Prologue to Sefer Iyov - Part 6: Analysis of Iyov's Monologue
Length: 1 hour 21 minutesSynopsis: This morning (12/12/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we analyzed Iyov's "post-breakdown monologue" in Chapter 3 through the eyes of the Malbim and the Rambam, comparing and contr...
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Season 23
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Episode 33
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1:22:37
Vayeishev: Yosef ha’Tzadik – A Role Model in Sin
Length of article: 1 pagesLength of audio: 4 minutes 31 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/1...
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Season 23
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Episode 32
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5:49
Avos 1:6 - Rambam on Friendship (Knei Lecha Chaver)
Length: 1 hour 57 minutesSynopsis: This evening (12/11/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned one of my favorite Rambam passages of all time: his mini-discourse on friendship. I can honestly say that this was the...
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Season 23
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Episode 31
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1:58:39
Did Dinah Marry Iyov? + Prologue to Sefer Iyov - Part 5: Iyov's Monologue
Length: 1 hour 11 minutesSynopsis: This morning (12/5/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we began by reviewing the facts from last time. From there we took up a Vayishlach/Iyov side-quest, examining the midrash that...
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Season 23
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Episode 30
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1:12:23
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