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
500 episodes
Vayishlach: Bnei Yaakov at Beis-El and Bnei Yisrael at Sinai (Part 1: Questions)
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 59 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/1...
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Season 19
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Episode 11
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9:52
Avos 4:10 - Minimize Business and Busy Yourself With Torah ... and Two Related (?) Clauses
Length: 1 hour 36 minutesSynopsis: This evening (12/12/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned another mishnah about how to achieve the proper learning-work balance. This mishnah was strange in that each clause se...
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Season 19
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Episode 10
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1:36:43
Vayeitzei: Yaakov's (Scandalous?) Kiss (?)
Length of article: 3 pagesLength of audio: 12 minutes 36 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/...
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Season 19
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Episode 9
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13:29
Avos 4:9 - Devotion to Torah in Poverty
Length: 1 hour 31 minutesSynopsis: Last night (12/5/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned a mishnah about the relationship between wealth, poverty, and living a life of Torah. Even though we only fully learned o...
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Season 19
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Episode 8
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1:31:29
Bereishis: (How) Did Hashem Speak to Kayin?
Length of article: 1 pageLength of audio: 4 minutes 58 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/22...
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Season 19
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Episode 7
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5:51
Avos 4:8 - Don't Judge Alone
Length: 1 hour 21 minutesSynopsis: Last night (11/14/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we learned the next mishnah. Like the previous one, this mishnah is a warning to judges not to judge alone, no matter what their le...
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Season 19
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Episode 6
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1:37:17
Vayeira: Vox Intellectus Vox Dei (The Voice of the Intellect is the Voice of God)
Length of article: 1 pageLength of audio: 4 minutes 19 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/15...
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Season 19
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Episode 5
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5:12
Lech Lecha: Avraham Avinu – a Vial of Perfume in a Cemetery
Length of article: 3 pagesLength of audio: 10 minutes 50 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/...
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Season 19
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Episode 3
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11:43
Avos 4:7 - Why Judges Should Avoid Judging
Length: 1 hour 21 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (11/7/24), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we continued learning Chapter 4. On its surface, this mishnah is directed at judges, but the advice it gives is counterintuitive. Despi...
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Season 19
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Episode 4
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1:21:09
Sforno on the Nachash: Apikorsus or Pshat? Part 1: Methodology and Premises
Length: 1 hour 37 minutesSynopsis: This morning's YBT Sunday shiur (11/3/24) was a bit different than usual, focusing more on reading and discussing sources than in-depth analysis. This was intentional, since this shiur was intended to be a...
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Season 19
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Episode 2
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1:37:42
Noach: Why Was Noach’s Family Saved?
Length of article: 2 pagesLength of audio: 8 minutes 18 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/1...
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Season 19
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Episode 1
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9:11
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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1:22:07
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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1:16:55
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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8:15
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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1:31:24
(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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1:19:38
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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9:05
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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1:47:52
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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7:07
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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9:37
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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11:04
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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1:17:26
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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8:57