Machshavah Lab

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

This evening (3/11/21 at YBT) I made a mistake. I had a really rough week and was super exhausted. I knew I'd be able to give my Tehilim shiur, but I seriously considered cancelling my haggadah shiur. Unfortunately, my feelings of guilt got the better of me, and I pushed ahead anyway. Bad move. I could barely think during the shiur, and after around 35 minutes, I decided to call it quits. I thought about not uploading it at all, but I decided to do so (a) because there are SOME ideas of value here, and (b) as a reminder for myself not to make the same mistake in the future. If I'm not in the proper state to give shiur, then I really shouldn't give shiur. Lesson learned, I hope. In the next shiur we'll revisit what we attempted to cover this time.
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מקורות:
פירוש הריטב"א להגדה של פסח
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

This evening (3/10/21 at YBT) we continued learning through the Ritva's commentary on the Haggadah, focusing on Avadim Hayinu and the various halachos surrounding that portion of the text.
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מקורות:
פירוש הריטב"א להגדה של פסח
תלמוד בבלי פסחים דף קטז עמוד א
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

In today's Lomdeha Friday Seminar (3/5/21) we broached a broad, deep, and nuanced topic: what to make of the elements of Torah which seem to be obsolete, or worse. The goal of this shiur was to initiate the conversation and to present my own perspective on how to address such questions and problems. My "answer" involves seven premises about Torah: four of which were discussed in Part 1, and the remaining three of which will be discussed next week in Part 2. Needless to say, there are many particular questions and problems that can be asked about particular examples of seemingly obsolete phenomena. Our goal was to develop a general approach without getting bogged down in those particulars. Perhaps we'll take those up in other shiurim.
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מקורות:
רמב"ם - הקדמה לפרק חלק
ספר החינוך - מצוה תנד
רמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:לא,לד
רמב"ם - ספר המצוות, מצות עשה קעב
רלב"ג – דברים פרקים יח-יט, התועלת הששי
רמב"ם – משנה תורה, ספר שופטים, הלכות ממרים ב:ד
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

This evening (3/3/21 at YBT) we began our hagadah preparation for the year! We've chosen to focus on the Ritva (for reasons I explain at the beginning of the video), and we began learning his commentary from the beginning. He ended up providing a non-intuitive reading of Ha Lachma Anya which certainly gave us food for thought. We briefly read his commentary on Mah Nishtanah before concluding the shiur.
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מקורות:
פירוש הריטב"א להגדה של פסח
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

I was about to sit down to reread an article I wrote on Purim two years ago (Purim 5779, 3/21/19) entitled Haman's Ancient Motive, when I thought to myself, "Why don't I just read it out loud, record it, and upload it as a podcast episode?" and so I did! If you're in the mood for 20-minute "audiobook style" shiur to get you into the mindset of Purim, here you go!

Here's a link to the written version: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/2019/03/purim-5779-hamans-ancient-motive.html
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

In today's Lomdeha Friday Seminar (2/19/21) we learned a pischa (or pesichta) - that is, a midrashic introduction to Megilas Esther. We explained the main idea of the midrash and how it serves as a thematic framework for reading the megilah, and we concluding by connecting this theme (albeit with a speculative theory) to the obligation to get drunk on Purim.

For a written version of 80% of this shiur, check out my article entitled: Human Expectations and Divine Redemption.

For the "wolf shiur" I kept on referencing, check out Of Wolves, Men, and Methodology: an Attempt to Capture and Articulate an Epistemological Upheaval.
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מקורות:
תלמוד בבלי דף י עמוד ב
ישעיהו נה:ו-יג עם פירוש הרד"ק
רמב"ם – מורה הנבוכים ג:כג
שולחן ערוך אורח חיים סימן תרצ"ה סעיף ב
רמב"ם: הלכות מגילה וחנוכה ב:טו
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

In tonight's Topics in Jewish Philosophy shiur (2/18/21 at YBT) I attempted to capture and articulate an epistemological upheaval I recently underwent, triggered by my binge-reading of Barry Lopez's award winning wildlife book "Of Wolves and Men" (1978). As I mention at the outset, I was hesitant to give this shiur because I was skeptical of how much value it would be to those who hadn't accompanied me on the wild journey of reading this book. At best, I would be able to convey the insights I gained in a meaningful way. At worst, I would come across as a lunatic raving about wolves and their connection to our learning of Torah and our practice of Judaism. I'll leave you to be the judge of my success or failure!

Please feel free to leave your questions, insights, and feedback in the comments!
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מקורות:
"Of Wolves and Men" (1978), by Barry Lopez
רלב"ג - הקדמה לתורה
ספר החינוך - מצוה צ"ה: בנין בית הבחירה
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

Note: This is essentially the same shiur I gave in my Rambam Bekius chavurah at YBT on 2/15/21, but this one is slightly shorter, due to the length of the periods at Lomdeha. Also, I didn't mistakenly refer to the Riaz as the Rid in this shiur!

This morning (2/16/21 at Lomdeha) we took up a side-quest: to defend the Rambam against a charge leveled by the Riaz (R' Yeshaya Acharon di'Trani). The Rambam famously held that one who believes that Hashem has a body or an appearance qualifies as a "min" (heretic). The Riaz, like the Raavad, disagreed with the Rambam's psak and explains his reasoning. Our defense was drawn from the best Rambam defender of them all: the Rambam himself! The Rambam reveals the mistaken premise on which the Riaz's conclusion is based. Since yesterday was Presidents Day, we then read an excerpt from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson on the topic of Jewish morality in which he relies on an "expert" historian of philosophy who commits the same error as the Riaz. Lastly, we read an excerpt from Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman's book, "Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith," which frames the errors of both men as an example of fallacious anachronistic thinking.
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מקורות:
ריא"ז - קונטרס הראיות סנהדרין דף פח עמוד ב - צ עמוד א
רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות, מנחות ד:א
Letter from Thomas Jefferson to John Adams (10/12/1813)
Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman - "Ani Maamin: Biblical Criticism, Historical Truth, and the Thirteen Principles of Faith," pp.191-193
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

Note: I initially gave this over at YBT as a Chumash Methodology shiur, but since I felt that the Lomdeha version was clearer, I replaced the earlier upload with this one.

In today's Lomdeha Friday Seminar (2/12/21) we examined the question of how the Torah commands our emotions. I am of the opinion that the Torah NEVER commands us to feel or not feel a particular emotion. My view originated with the Ralbag's Introduction to Torah, which is where tonight's shiur begins. We then look at the famous Ibn Ezra on Lo Tachmod ("do not covet"), who seems to disagree with the Ralbag - a conclusion which is reinforced by the Ralbag's commentary on Lo Tachmod. However, the Ralbag's commentary on Lo Tisaveh ("do not desire") appears to violate his own principles. Thankfully, the Rambam's explanation of both mitzvos addresses this problem with the Ralbag, might even allow us to conclude that the Ibn Ezra would agree with both of them.
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מקורות:
שמות כ:יז
דברים ה:יז
רלב"ג: הקדמה לתורה
אבן עזרא (פירוש שני) - שמות כ:יז
אבן עזרא - קהלת ב:כא
רלב"ג: ביאור הפרשה - שמות כ:ז
רלב"ג: ביאור הפרשה - דברים ה:יז
רמב"ם: משנה תורה, ספר נזקים, הלכות גזילה ואבדה א:ט-יב
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/

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

This episode is an "audiobook style" reading of an article I wrote on July 2, 2014 entitled Seltzer Theories vs. Jam Theories.  Click here to access the article  on my blog and click here for a PDF version.
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If you have questions, comments, or feedback, I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to contact me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.
----------
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/rabbischneeweiss
Blog: https://kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rmschneeweiss
"The Mishlei Podcast": https://mishlei.buzzsprout.com
"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: https://thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com
"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: https://rambambekius.buzzsprout.com
"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: https://machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com 
"The Tefilah Podcast": https://tefilah.buzzsprout.com
Our Yeshiva: https://www.yeshivabneitorah.org/
Our Women's Program: https://www.lomdeha.org/