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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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Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 17 minutes 53 seconds Synopsis: Last week (1/14/26), I published an article on my Substack titled Rav Kook: First Impressions of a New Chapter in My Learning. This was a surprisingly challenging article to write, but I’m proud of how it turned out, and I’ve received great feedback on it so far. However, I chose to keep most of it behind a paywall, for reasons I explain in the free introduction to the article. Fast ...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 28 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/16/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we concluded our catch-up crash course. After reviewing our mission and Iyov's exchange with Eliphaz, we covered Bildad's speech and Iyov's thorough response, then wrapped things up with Tzofar's speech and an even briefer summary of Iyov's response. While I would have loved to spend many more weeks taking up each of thes...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/16/26 titled: Vaeira: An Explanation of Hashem Hardening Paroh’s Heart You May Not Have Heard. Many explanations have been offered for Hashem hardening Paroh’s heart, some more satisfying than others. Here is an approach I only recently encountered that is simple yet thought-provoking. ----- The Torah content for...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 8 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/9/26), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we changed course. I explain my reasons at the beginning of shiur and justify them based on how the meforshim approach Iyov, but the upshot is that we're going to switch into high gear and cover "Round 1" of the debate between Iyov and his three friends in a broad overview fashion instead of analyzing the pesukim in-depth. ...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 34 minutes Synopsis: This evening (1/8/26), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we finally concluded our analysis of Avos 1:6. In many ways, this was a follow-up to our Rambam Shiur on friendship, both because I originally intended to cover Rabbeinu Yonah in that shiur, and because Rabbeinu Yonah complements the Rambam. We ended up building on the foundation of the previous shiur, but this one can still b...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/9/26 titled: Shemos: The “Second Chumash”? No, this isn’t a reference to apocrypha. It’s a real book, and it’s the subject of the Netziv’s preface to Sefer Shemos. Read this, and you may never look at Shemos the same way again. ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory o...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 6-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/26/25 titled: Vayigash: Hulk Yehuda Threatens to Kill Yosef for Wanting Binyamin as a Sex Slave?! Despite my preference for peshat, this midrash is so wild and so against the peshat that I couldn't resist the urge to work on it. I may not have answered all the questions, but here are my findings. ----- SPECIAL CHANUK...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 12 minutes 36 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/19/25 titled: Mikeitz: And Then They Got DRUNK. Why does the Torah mention that Yosef’s brothers got drunk? Here are four distinct approaches, each with its own methodological aim, and my take on each. ----- SPECIAL CHANUKAH DISCOUNT: For the eight day...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 21 minutes Synopsis: 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 contrasting their approaches. Although we answered all the questions we initially asked, there are some outstanding difficulties that remain to be solved. Next on the agenda is Eliphaz's first speech, i...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 1 pages Length of audio: 4 minutes 31 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/11/25 titled: Vayeishev: Yosef ha’Tzadik – A Role Model in Sin. In this short dvar Torah, we compare two readings of Mrs. Potiphar’s attempted rape of Yosef and ask which portrays him as the better role model. ----- This week’s Torah content is sponsore...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 57 minutes Synopsis: 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 most comprehensive shiur I’ve ever given on the topic. We took the mishnah, raised every question we could, then read the Rambam, raised every question we could on that, and then answered all of t...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 11 minutes Synopsis: 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 Iyov’s wife was Dinah, a midrash for which I have found zero explanations. After that, we continued reading the sefer through the end of Iyov’s “post-breakdown monologue” in Chapter 3, and we conc...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 14 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/4/25 titled: Vayishlach: Does Rashi Slander Dinah and Leah? Abravanel takes Rashi to task for blaming Dinah’s rape on Leah’s conduct. While I ordinarily side with the peshat, I’d like to show that I can learn Rashi too. ----- This week’s Torah content i...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 3 pages Length of audio: 10 minutes 57 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 12/1/25 titled: Did Rambam Actually Praise Ibn Ezra and Trash the French Jews (for Eating Salsa)? You may have heard that the Rambam endorsed Ibn Ezra’s commentaries. Maybe you even heard he made disparaging remarks about the French. Well, I have some new...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 4 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/21/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we had a shorter shiur in the usual. We spent the first portion clarifying some points from Part 3 - specifically, whether Ralbag would be considered a kofer (heretic) according to the Rambam. We then read through the remainder of the narrative about Iyov's suffering, using Malbim's commentary as our guide. Next time (בג"...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 4 pages Length of audio: 16 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/21/25 titled: Toldos: How Different Were Yaakov and Eisav? I was tempted to title this "When Teaching Rashi to Children Promotes Kefirah (Heresy)" but I decided that was too bold and relegated it to the subheading. Many thanks to Rabbi Pesach Sommer for...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! 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...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 29 minutes Synopsis: This evening (11/13/25), in our Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women, we continued with the clause we worked on last time. We spent the first part of shiur reviewing everything we covered last time, answering the questions we left off with and sharpening some of the insights we had. Then we moved on to the Meiri, who gave us several different interpretations of the first two clauses of the mis...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length of article: 2 pages Length of audio: 9 minutes 8 seconds Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 2-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 11/13/25 titled: Chayei Sarah: Sarah’s Years — A Peshat-Style Alternative to Rashi’s Midrashic Reading. Rashi’s drash on Sarah’s 127 years is well known and conveys profound ideas, but I prefer a different style of drash, one that speaks in my language: pes...
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 4 minutes Synopsis: This morning (11/7/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we reviewed the first five pesukim and answered our questions based largely on the Malbim's commentary, setting the stage for the drama that unfolds in the remainder of Chapters 1-2. ----- מקורות: איוב א:א-יב מלבי"ם - איוה א:א-ה --- This week's Torah content is sponsored by Joey and Estee Lichter in commemoration of the ya...
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Mendelssohn has nothing to do with Reform. The association is pure defamatory fantasy.