Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/18/22), we approached a broad topic via a narrow focus. Everyone agrees that the Torah shows concern for Tzaar Baalei Chayim (animal suffering), but the parameters and implications are far from simple. This shiur was prompted by an incident that happened in yeshiva a few weeks ago, and an incident that takes place in this week's parashah. Although it is by no means a comprehe...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 10Ep. 33
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/18/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed three topics: (1) Is belief/emunah a choice? (2) If we can't have any positive knowledge of Hashem and all the praise we say in davening is, strictly speaking, blasphemy, then what's the difference between our tefilah and the tefilah of an idolater? (3) Is there a way to attend "red carpet" luxury events without endangering one's "spiritual well-being"? Please feel free to leav...
Nov 18, 2022•46 min•Season 10Ep. 32
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Chayei Sarah: The Pshat of "Place Your Hand Under My Thigh." Is Rashi's commentary always pshat? What if the majority of other commentators claim that THEIR explanation is the real pshat? Should we ban publications which present non-Rashi commentaries as pshat? If these questions interest you, check out this part dvar Torah and part teaser for my reaction to the...
Nov 18, 2022•5 min•Season 10Ep. 31
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/17/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we learned our next mishnah which, despite the ambiguity in the clauses, proved to be much more straightforward than the last two. We learned three radically different approaches to the mishnah, at least two of which are eminently practical. ----- מקורות: אבות ג:ה רבינו יונה ספורנו מאירי רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות תלמוד תורה ג:יג רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות ...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 10Ep. 30
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/11/22), we took up a topic I've been asked about by countless high school students: "Is it prohibited to stare at a rainbow? If so, why?" This shiur represents my current best attempt at answers to those two questions. ----- מקורות: שולחן ערוך אורח חיים רכט:א ספר אבודרהם ברכת הראיה, שבח והודאה חגיגה פרק ב משנה א חגיגה יד:;טז. רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות חגיגה ב:א מאירי - בית הבחירה...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 43 min•Season 10Ep. 29
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/11/22), in our Friday Q&A, we addressed four topics: (1) Is Judaism conducive to Stoicism? (2) How can the Torah command us to feel things, like joy? (3) What is the secret to maximizing the productive use of one's time in a healthy manner? (4) How am I supposed to choose what to learn if there is SO MUCH TORAH? I responded only briefly to the first question, since I address it at length in the episode of The Stoic J...
Nov 11, 2022•46 min•Season 10Ep. 28
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Vayeira: Don't Deviate from the Minhag: XTREME Edition . How could the angels who visited Avraham eat what he served them? DID they even eat? And either way, what are we supposed to learn from this? ----- This week's Torah content has been sponsored anonymously. May Hashem grant a refuah shleimah to Rachel bas Rivka Chana. ----- If you have questions, comments, ...
Nov 11, 2022•5 min•Season 10Ep. 28
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/10/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up a somewhat famous mishnah about saying words of Torah at a meal. I'm not gonna lie: I did NOT think we'd arrive at any real ideas tonight. My chavrusa and I struggled with this mishnah and all I had when we started shiur was a good lead. But thanks to the superlative analysis of the participants, we were able to answer all our questions and arrive at an idea tha...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr 41 min•Season 10Ep. 27
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (11/4/22), we answered SOME of the questions we raised in Part 1. Although not all the ideas came to full fruition, I'm satisfied with the approaches we developed. Note: towards the beginning of the shiur I mention that I intended to open a can of worms. I decided to make that into a separate recording, and to not share it. If you're really interested, reach out to me and ask whe...
Nov 04, 2022•55 min•Season 10Ep. 26
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Lech Lecha: Is Circumcision "Mutilation"? The answer may surprise you ... Be sure to check out my new substack at rabbischneeweiss.substack.com ! ----- This week's Torah content has been sponsored by my friend and colleague, Rabbi Dr. Elie Feder. Rabbi Feder recently published a book called Gematria Refigured: A New Look at How the Torah Conveys Ideas Through Nu...
Nov 04, 2022•5 min•Season 10Ep. 25
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (11/4/22), in our shorter-than-usual Friday Q&A, we discussed two questions: (1) What do we say about a case in which you had a REALLY meaningful tefilah, but weren't yotzei due to a halachic "technicality"? (2) Is there a way to effectively simulate the conditions for the "darcho shel Torah" of "eat bread with salt, sleep on the ground, etc."? (3) If you encounter a wounded animal on your way to shiur, should you tend t...
Nov 04, 2022•26 min•Season 10Ep. 24
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (11/3/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next mishnah in chapter 3. Specifically, we analyzed the first part of the mishnah which talks about the difference between those who sit and exchange words of Torah and those who don't. The mishnah makes it seem like the difference is extreme, but once we arrived at an understanding of the main idea, we realized ... that the difference really IS extreme! I t...
Nov 04, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 10Ep. 23
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Beur Tefilah: Who is the "Aleinu" in Sim Shalom? If you, like me, never even noticed this question before, then I encourage you to take a moment to think about how you would answer it before reading or listening to my approach. Let me know what you think! Be sure to check out my new substack at rabbischneeweiss.substack.com ! ----- This week's Torah content has ...
Nov 02, 2022•5 min•Season 10Ep. 22
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (10/28/22), we took up a question I had never noticed before: Why doesn't Noach have any more kids after the flood? In this shiur we build a case from Rashi's reading of the pesukim which argues that Noach INTENTIONALLY refrained from having more kids - a decision which was initially endorsed by Hashem, but which ultimately led to disastrous consequences, due to Noach's inexplica...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 16 min•Season 10Ep. 21
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote, entitled, Noach: Shadal's Radical Application of Dibra Torah ki'Lshon Bnei Adam . We're familiar with the notion that the Torah is "forced" to use anthropomorphisms when speaking about Hashem, but what about the "extreme" anthropomorphisms, like how the pasuk states that "Hashem smelled the soothing fragrance" of Noach's korbanos ? Shadal offers an answer which might knoc...
Oct 28, 2022•7 min•Season 10Ep. 20
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Q&A #06 - Sim Shalom ALEINU v’Al Kol Yisrael, Singular vs. Plural in Tefilah, My Current Meditation Practice, Shogeg, and pre-Ashrei Pesukim This morning (10/28/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered five questions: (1) In Sim Shalom, when we say "aleinu v'al kol Yisrael amecha," who does "aleinu" refer to? (2) Are there examples of "legit" tefilos which we say in the singular rather than in the plural? (3) What are my current medita...
Oct 28, 2022•47 min•Season 10Ep. 19
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (10/27/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up the next mishnah in chapter 3. If you were to take a poll of Americans at any time in recent history and ask them how they'd feel about davening for the government, it's likely that half of them wouldn't be so keen on doing so, and a percentage of that half would downright refuse. Yet, the mishnah in Avos seems to be saying that we should ALWAYS daven for the go...
Oct 28, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Season 10Ep. 18
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (10/20/22), in our Friday Q&A (bumped up to Thursday because there's no shiur tomorrow), we covered five questions, depending on how you count: (1) How should one go about learning neviim and why is it so difficult? (2) What assumptions do we make about the role of hashgachah pratis in meeting people? (3) How should non-Jews relate to Rosh ha'Shanah and Yom ha'Kippurim? (4) Why is Koheles read on Sukkos, and (5) Why is M...
Oct 20, 2022•47 min•Season 10Ep. 17
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (10/30/22) we took up a rather obscure topic: What does Judaism have to say about the four days between Yom ha'Kippurim and Sukkos? At first glance, it seems like there's not much going on here, but upon closer examination of the halachos, minhagim, and midrashim, this short time period is far more important than meets the eye. I can pretty much guarantee that if you watch/listen...
Oct 07, 2022•1 hr 40 min•Season 10Ep. 16
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (10/6/22), in our Friday Q&A (bumped up to Thursday because I'll be leaving for Sukkos), we covered five questions, depending on how you count: (1) Why are there so many "Al Cheit"s in the Yom ha'Kippurim Vidui which pertain to speech? (2) How can one tell whether something is hashgachah pratis or not? (3) What does Judaism say about "the trolly problem"? (4) What are the parameters of Birkas ha'Gomel? and (5) How do we ...
Oct 06, 2022•49 min•Season 10Ep. 15
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I cranked out a few hours before Yom ha'Kippurim, entitled, Yom ha’Kippurim 5783: Musings on Erev Yom ha’Kippurim Anxiety. Perhaps this shouldn't have been written as a 1-page article. My hope is that I wrote it in such a manner that it will yield truth and insight regardless of what your premises and preconceived notions are. ---------- This week's Torah learning has been sponsor...
Oct 04, 2022•6 min•Season 10Ep. 14
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/30/22) we took up a very basic question. I can PRETTY much guarantee that if I ask you, "What is Neilah?" the answer you give will be incorrect. There are some basic facts about Neilah of which most people are unaware. In today's shiur we examined Neilah in light of those facts, and in so doing, arrived at a new - and more accurate - understanding of Ne'ilah and its place with...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Season 10Ep. 13
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (9/30/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered a number of questions relevant to the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah, including: (1) How does the judgment on Rosh ha'Shanah and Yom ha'Kippurim work? (2) Why do we stand when the Aron ha'Kodesh is open? (3) How can we live up to the seemingly impossible ideal of making use of every moment we have? (4) How do we live each as if it's our last while simultaneously planning for the future? (5)...
Sep 30, 2022•49 min•Season 10Ep. 12
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (9/29/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we took up a mishnah in Chapter 4 in hopes that it would help us to up our mitzvah and teshuvah game for the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah. We examined two approaches: an original approach inspired by the Rambam, and an attempt at understanding Rabbeinu Bachya's approach which was ALSO inspired by the Rambam, as well as the Malbim on Iyov. We didn't answer all our questions, but we ...
Sep 29, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Season 10Ep. 11
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Earlier this year I gave a three-part shiur (in my Machshavah Lab series for women) on a mishnah in Pirkei Avos about how Hashem judges the world. The question that sparked the shiur was: What is this doing HERE? Avos is a practical masechta about ethics - not metaphysics! Thankfully, we found a commentator who translates these seemingly metaphysical ideas into practical guidelines for receiving a good judgment. Whether you missed last y...
Sep 25, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 10Ep. 10
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Nitzavim: Is Teshuvah/Torah REALLY That Easy? In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/23/22) we focused on a question that bothers me every year. Devarim 30:11-14 describes how easy and accessible "ha'mitzvah" is. There's a machlokess Rishonim whether "ha'mitzvah" here refers specifically to teshuvah, or whether it's talking about the entire Torah. Either way, my question is: is it really THAT easy and accessible? T...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Season 10Ep. 9
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! In today's Friday morning "Machshavah Lab" shiur for women (9/16/22) we focused on the twelve transgressors which are singled out and "cursed" by Hashem. Our goal was to understand (1) what these twelve categories of transgressions have in common, and (2) what makes them more "curse-worthy" than others. With Hashem's help, we were able to answer those two questions with some nice ideas from the meforshim, and a whole lot more! ----------...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 43 min•Season 10Ep. 7
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This morning (9/16/22), in our Friday Q&A, we covered four topics: (1) Are the blessings described in Ki Savo (and elsewhere) natural, hashgachic, or both? (2) If God has no emotions, and we are commanded to emulate His actions, should our actions also be emotionless? (3) What makes a question a superior or inferior question? and (4) What's the deal with the popular notion of "hishtadlus"? ---------- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המ...
Sep 16, 2022•49 min•Season 10Ep. 6
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! This evening (9/15/22), in our Thursday Night Pirkei Avos shiur, we began by reviewing the facts and questions from last time. After hearing some more approaches from the participants, we learned four commentaries: Rambam, Bartenura, and Rabbeinu Bachya - who all shared an approach - and Sforno, who unlocked our understanding of the main idea, answered all our major questions, and left us with a practical take on this mishnah! ----------...
Sep 16, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Season 10Ep. 5
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! The first shiur of this year's "Machshavah Lab" series for women was a unique one, in which I attempted to convey the biggest insight from my philosophical-anthropological journey to the Crow Reservation in Montana in August 2022. The crux of this insight derived from two sources: (1) my conversation with a Crow Elder, and (2) a commentary from Rav Hirsch, supplemented by ideas from the Sefer ha'Chinuch and R' Yochai Makbili. Although to...
Sep 09, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Season 10Ep. 4
