Machshavah Lab

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 2 hours Synopsis: Back in 2022, I gave a shiur on the extremely niche topic of avunculate marriage, that is, an uncle marrying his niece. Two years later, I received an email titled “Avunculate Marriage: Need Some Spiritual Guidance” from an aunt and nephew who were in love and seeking rabbinic guidance about whether their relationship would meet with Divine approval. I responded to the best of my ability. This morning (2/22/26), in our YBT Sunday shiur, I presented the answer I gave them. --- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה - ספר קדושה: כותרת; הלכות איסורי ביאה ב:יד דברים ד:ה-ו ויקרא יח:יב-יג רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר שופטים, הלכות מלכים ומלחמות ט:ה שמות ו:כ סנהדרין דף נח עמוד ב ספורנו - ויקרא יח:ו Rabbi Raphael Pelcovitz, Commentary on Sforno - Vayikra 18:6 ר' אליה די נולא - ויקרא יח:ו-יא רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:מט רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות, שמונה פרקים פרק ו שד"ל - ויקרא יח:ה ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 26 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/20/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we continued our exploration of the Rambam’s view of angels. After a brief review, a question led us on an unplanned detour through his presentation of angels in the Mishneh Torah. We then returned to the central question: Why are angels depicted as physical, and why are those depictions sometimes so wacky? We offered three answers and concluded with the Rambam’s statement about how we should relate to people who insist on believing that angels are physical. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה א:ה; ב:ב-ט רש"י - בראשית יח:א רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגוים ג:יא רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים א:מג,מט; ב:ו רש"י - ישעיהו ו:א-ג ר' אברהם בן הרמב"ם - שמות ג:ב רמב"ם - מאמר תחיית המתים ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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 2/20/26 titled: Terumah – The “Where?” “What?” and “Why?” of Shechinah. I typically rely on the Rambam's explanation of shechinah in the Moreh 1:25. This time, I'd like to showcase the explanations of two Italian chachamim which I believe are consistent with Rambam. ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 56 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/13/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, I had planned to continue our analysis of the Rambam's view of angels. Instead, we did something more important: review and clarification! We did a complete review of all the main points from last time, and raised additional questions which resulted in greater clarity. Given my preface of this shiur, which underscored the importance of taking it slow and in small doses when learning metaphysics, I'm happy with how our shiur turned out. Next time, we will NOT begin with a comprehensive review, so if you plan on joining us, make sure you're caught up! ----- מקורות: זרחיה בן שאלתיאל חן - משלי כה:טז-יז רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ז:א,ו רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ב:ו ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 3-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/13/26 titled: Mishpatim – Is there a Conflict Between Trusting in Hashem and Trusting in Doctors? The Torah unequivocally allows us to rely on physicians for healing, but should we regard that allowance as reluctant or as an endorsement? Ibn Ezra and Ibn Kaspi disagree. I side with Rabbeinu Yonah. ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 30 minutes Synopsis: This morning (2/6/26), in our Friday morning Sefer Iyov series for women, we initiated the next phase: decoding the allegory of the satan. After reviewing and raising questions about the first few pesukim of the allegory, we turned to the Rambam’s primary treatment of angels in the Moreh, summarizing and analyzing along the way. By the end, we had a clear “Maimonidean” definition of an angel, in several formulations, along with a working theory for why such a concept is necessary. There are still plenty of unanswered questions, and plenty to think about for next time. ----- מקורות: רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:כב איוב א:ו-ז רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ב:ו בראשית א:כב-כז ספורנו - בראשית א:כו רמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר קדושה, הלכות מאכלות אסורות ב:ג ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 59 minutes Synopsis: This evening (2/5/25), in our Thursday night women's shiur, we embarked toward an unknown destination, though in very specific waters. Our goal was to understand Rabbeinu Yonah’s take on bitachon (trust, or security, in God). Our journey began with his essay-like commentaries on Mishlei, chapter 3. Tonight, we learned his beautifully nuanced interpretation of Mishlei 3:5, which, in an unplanned detour, we contrasted with the jaw-droppingly abhorrent take presented in The Garden of Emuna (ימח שמו). Many of our questions were left unanswered by design, because Rabbeinu Yonah has much more to say. Still, I’m happy with where we landed in understanding his view of Mishlei’s fundamental stance on bitachon. ----- מקורות: משלי ג:א-י משלי כא:ל-לא רבינו יונה - משלי ג:ה רד"ק - ירמיהו יז:ה-ח Shalom Arush, "The Garden of Emuna: A Practical Guide to Life" (NOT intended as an endorsement, chas v'shalom) ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 2/5/26 titled: Yisro – Ralbag: On Drafting an AI Policy for a Jewish Day School. Is this a dvar Torah on the parashah, an overview of Ralbag’s theory of Torah, or a set of guidelines for drafting AI policy? The answer is: YES! I’m especially curious to hear from educators. ----- 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.) ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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":

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 13 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/30/26), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we began with a comprehensive review of the facts, questions, and steps we took last time. Then I presented my approach, which we developed with our own insights supplemented by ideas from Rabbi Chait's shiur (which I hadn't listened to, but others said was along remarkably similar lines). In the end, we emerged with a REALLY nice idea, and answers (whether definite or possible) to all the questions we raised. I'm really happy with how things turned out. This, too, was for the good! ----- מקורות: תענית דף כא עמוד א Rabbi Chait's Shiur (D195) ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Synopsis: This is the audio version of the 4-page article I wrote and published on rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ on 1/28/26 titled: Bo/Beshalach: How Many Israelites Died in the Plague of Darkness? This article spotlights a highly problematic midrash on a pasuk in Beshalach about an event in Bo which has bothered me for over a decade. Thankfully, I finally found a satisfying explanation. ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 26 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/23/26), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we took a brief interlude from our learning of Sefer Iyov to analyze the well-known slogan of Nachum Ish Gam Zu, as well as the similar but lesser known slogan of his student, R. Akiva. We went through all the facts, raised a ton of questions, and took four solid steps, developing a general approach but stopping before developing a main idea. Next time, we'll take this approach and develop it into an explanation of the two Gemaras, answering most (if not all) of our questions (בג"ה). ----- מקורות: תענית דף כא עמוד א מהרש"א - חידושי אדגות ברכות דף ס עמוד ב רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות ט:ה מצודת דוד - משלי יב:כה ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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 forward to this week. Even though I’m a die-hard ChatGPT guy, I recently learned that I have access to the paid version of Google’s Gemini and other AI tools (thanks, NEJA). I’ve been playing around with different features and have been particularly intrigued by NotebookLM, which, among other uses, allows users to upload documents and generate an AI-created podcast based on them. I decided to generate a podcast version of my paywalled article on Rav Kook. It was HILARIOUS! If I had to guess, I’d say it was about 70% faithful to the actual article. It altered much of my careful phrasing, changed the order of presentation, introduced its own analogies, and editorialized without making a clear distinction between my own views and its views. It even introduced at least one possibly antizionist sentiment, which I did NOT express! And even though the tone of my article was enthusiastic, the AI went overboard on the dramatization. And let's not talk about the consistently inconsistent mangling of pronunciations and creepy "third party laughter." Anyway, against my better judgment, I’m going to share this here. (Felt cute; might delete later.) Despite its inaccuracies, it DOES convey the general tenor of the article, and I’m hoping this will make people curious enough to check out the real thing. Plus, I want to hear what people think. If you haven’t yet listened to an AI-generated podcast, you’re in for a laugh. Will I regret sharing this? Probably. But at least it'll be ENTERTAINING! :D The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss YouTube: youtube.com/rabbischneeweiss Instagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/ "The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast":

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 these speeches in-depth, and then conducting an equally in-depth analysis on Rounds 2 and 3, I'm afraid that's not in the cards. The plan now is to return to the beginning of the book to decode the allegory of the satan, then learn through the relevant chapters in the Moreh ha'Nevuchim as preparation for The Answer towards the end of Sefer Iyov. But first, a brief interlude: tune in next week for gam zu l'tovah! ----- מקורות: מלבי"ם - איוב פרקים ח-יד איוב מב:ז תרגום אונקלוס - בראשית ב:ז תרגום אונקלוס - שמות כ:ד רש"י - בראשית ה:כב-כד ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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 the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 8 minutes Synopsis: This morning (1/9/25), 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. After going over the new plan, we did a brief review of what we covered last time (Iyov Chapter 3), then proceeded to go over Eliphaz's speech and Iyov's refutation, as explained by the Malbim. Next time (בג"ה) we'll cover Bildad and Tzofar in the same overview fashion, at which point we'll transition to our original pace as we take up the chapters in the Rambam's Moreh ha'Nevuchim which pave the way for his understanding of Sefer Iyov. ----- מקורות: מלבי"ם - איוב פרקים ד-ז איוב מב:ז ----- The Torah content for the month of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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 1/9/25 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 of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text! Length: 1 hour 34 minutes Synopsis: This evening (1/8/25), 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 be listened to as a standalone. I found Rabbeinu Yonah's focus to be a bit more practical in its orientation than the Rambam's, but if you're only gonna listen to one, it should definitely be the Rambam! ----- מקורות: אבות א:ו רמב"ם רבינו יונה יין לבנון רבינו יונה - משלי טו:כב; יז:ט ----- The Torah content for the remainder of January is sponsored by Naomi Schwartz in memory of her father, Dovid Yitzchok ben Chaim Yeruchum Fishel z”l, who dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah to countless students b’simcha. His first yahrtzeit is the 23rd of Teves. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YUTorah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

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 CHANUKAH DISCOUNT—EXTENDED THROUGH JANUARY 2026: I originally offered 50% off my paid Substack subscription for Chanukah ($5 per month, or $50 for a full year). Since I’m still finishing my Chanukah article, which will be behind the paywall, and since I’ll be heading off the grid for a solo cabin retreat next week, I’ve decided to extend the discount through the end of 2025. If the free articles, recordings, and shiurim I’ve shared this year have added real value to your learning and your life, and you’d consider them worth at least the price of a latte, this is a simple way to say “thank you.” You’re welcome to sign up, read, listen, or download whatever you’d like from behind the paywall, and then cancel so there’s no ongoing charge. Your support is what allows this work to continue at its current depth and consistency, and for that I’m genuinely grateful. ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/

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 days of Chanukah, I’m offering 50% off my paid Substack subscription, just $5 per month. If the free articles, recordings, and shiurim I’ve shared this year have added real value to your learning and your life, and you’d consider them worth at least the price of a latte, this is a simple way to say “thank you.” You’re welcome to sign up, read, listen, or download whatever you’d like from behind the paywall, and then cancel so there’s no ongoing charge. And if you’d like to support my Torah in a more sustained way, you can lock in a full year for $50 at the same 50% discount. Your support is what allows this work to continue at its current depth and consistency, and for that I’m genuinely grateful. Happy Chanukah! ----- If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you. If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone. ----- Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/ YU Torah: yutorah.org/teachers/Rabbi-Matt-Schneeweiss Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss 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 "Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com "The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.com Old Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/ WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0H Amazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel