Prologue of Sefer Iyov - Part 3: Methodology, Avoiding Heresy, and Preface to the Satan (1:6-12) Artwork

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.

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Machshavah Lab

Prologue of Sefer Iyov - Part 3: Methodology, Avoiding Heresy, and Preface to the Satan (1:6-12)

November 14, 2025 • Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss

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Length: 1 hour 27 minutes
Synopsis: This morning (11/14/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we continued learning through the prologue of Iyov (1:1 - 3:1). We began with a question of Iyov Methodology: Which commentaries would I recommend? This led to another important tangent (the second in three sessions!) about the ikkarim (fundamentals of Judaism). I'm particularly interested in what people think about what was said. We then read through Iyov 1:6-12 at a more leisurely pace than our quick overview last time, and we concluded by reading the Malbim's and Rambam's prefaces, explaining why I will NOT be decoding the allegory of the satan until a few months from now. The plan for next time is to go over the peshat of the remainder of the prologue, which we'll analyze in the session after that.
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מקורות:
איוב א:א-יב
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגוים ב:א-ג
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ב:ו-ז
מלבי"ם - איוב א:א
רש"י - איוב א:א
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:כב
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