Shlomo, Soloveitchik, and Slytherin (In Loving Memory of Adira Rose Koffsky, a"h) 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.

All Episodes

Machshavah Lab

Shlomo, Soloveitchik, and Slytherin (In Loving Memory of Adira Rose Koffsky, a"h)

February 02, 2026 • Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss • Season 24 • Episode 10

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!

Length: 1 hour 7 minutes
Synopsis: Last night (2/1/26), I was honored to give a shiur at Congregation Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park (West Hempstead, NY) in memory of my dear student Adira a"h, on the occasion of her third yahrzeit. As I mention in the disclaimers toward the beginning, a friend of mine was worried that it might come across as "a wackadoodle shiur," on account of its eclectically ambitious scope and agenda. I didn't care. My goal was to give over the type of Torah that represented Adira, and that she would have enjoyed.

The shiur might alternatively be titled “The Slytherin Path to Torah,” and is my attempt to demonstrate that such a path exists. If that doesn’t mean anything to you - or if, as Adira’s mom joked, you’re prone to mistaking “Salazar Slytherin” for the name of a Chasidish rebbe you’re not familiar with - don't worry. I provide the necessary background information at the beginning of the shiur.

One more disclaimer I feel obligated to repeat. In the shiur, I draw upon my personal takeaways from Lawrence Kaplan’s introduction to Maimonides: Between Philosophy and Halakhah, based on notes taken by Rabbi Gerald Homnick on the lectures given by the Rav (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt”l) on the Guide for the Perplexed at Bernard Revel Graduate School (1950–1951). My takeaways should not be regarded as authoritative. In fact, my one regret is that I made a last-minute decision to omit an entire portion of the Rav’s argument, which I subsequently realized was critical for the level of clarity I was aiming for. Oh well. If you’re interested in a fuller understanding of the abstract ideas toward the end of the shiur, you should read at least Kaplan’s introduction to this work.

You can find my eulogy for Adira here.
And my reflection on her shivah here.
And my attempt to process my own grieving here.
-----
מקורות:
פאה א:א
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר זמנים, הלכות מגילה וחנוכה ד:יד
אבות ב:ט
רס"ג - הקדמה לפירוש משלי
תמיד דף לב עמוד א
משלי א:יז-יט; גיג-טז; ח:יב-כא; י:ד; יא:יז; יד:לד
מצודת דוד - משלי כה:כא-כב
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:נג-נד
ירמיהו ט:כב-כג
Lawrence Kaplan, "Maimonides: Between Philosophy and Halacha" (pp.36,49-50,53)
ירושלמי מכות ג:יג
רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תלמוד תורה ה:יג
Bruce Lee's writings
-----

The Torah content for the month of February is sponsored by the Koffsky family in memory of Adira Rose Koffsky a”h, whose third yahrzeit is on the 11th of Shvat. Adira was a gifted writer, a deep thinker, and an exceptionally kind soul. I am grateful to have been able to call her my student.תְּהֵא נִשְׁמָתָהּ צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים (May her soul be bound up in the bundle of life.)

-----
Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/
YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss
YouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss
Instagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com
"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Tefilah Podcast":