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Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 21 minutesSynopsis: 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, in which he attempts to prove Iyov wrong.-----מקורות:איוב א:יג - סוף פרק גמלבי"ם - הקדמה לפרק ג; ג:כדרמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:טז Lenn E. Goodman, "The Guide to the Perplexed: A New Translation" (2024)-----This week's Torah content is sponsored by Rifka Kaplan-Peck in memory of her grandpa, Izrail Kaplan (a”h), who never forgot to look up above and appreciate another day.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 11 minutesSynopsis: 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 concluded by raising some of the most urgent questions. Next time (בג"ה), we will analyze Iyov's monologue in an effort to ascertain his beliefs.-----מקורות:איוב א:יג - סוף פרק גתרגום כתובים - איוב ב:ט-יבבא בתרא דף טו עמוד במהרש"א חידשוי אגדות שםתורה תמימה - בראשית לד:ז, הערה 5מצודת דוד - איוב לא:ב-----If you'd like to sponsor my Torah content, please let me know! Your support makes it possible for me to give free shiurim, write free articles, and continue producing a steady stream of Torah.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Welcome to our Bitachon series. We were going through Sha'ar HaBechina now, and he's bothered by why is it that we're not all jumping for joy over all the great things that are in the world, if tov Hashem lakol . And his third reason was that things don't always go right, and we don't appreciate that and therefore, we don't see the goodness. And today we'll spend some time on appreciating when things don't go right. The Ramchal in his sefer Derech Hashem , volume two, chapter eight, says, we all know that all God wants to do is good. That's why He created the world. And He loves us like a father loves his son. But this very love sometimes brings with it a need for discipline. Like the pasuk says, כי כאשר ייסר איש את בנו, like a man chastises his son, Hashem Elokecha meyasreka , God chastises you. And therefore, we have to realize, he says, that the judgment and the justice is coming from a source of love. And God is not coming like an enemy that has a vengeance, but like a father that wants the best for his son. In his sefer Da'at Tvunot , the Ramchal writes in letter 154 that because it comes for love, God's musar , even when it's done, is always softened and sweetened. It doesn't come in cruelty in an overpouring of wrath. But God tempers it in a way that it's palatable. The Reishit Chochma in the section on Anava , chapter five, quotes the pasuk in Iyov where Iyov says, Hashem natan , God gave, v'Hashem lakach , and God took. יהי שם השם מבורך, God should be blessed. And he makes a diyuk and he says, Hashem took and Hashem ... Hashem gave and Hashem took. It should say, Hashem gave, Hashem took. What do we need the 'and' for? And he says when Hashem gave, it was just He gave without any questions. When he takes, and Hashem means He and His court of judgment, which means God has a whole court of judgment to decide whether He should take. It's much harder to take than it is to give. And therefore, we have to bless Hashem and understand, in his words, משפטיו עמנו הוא לטוב לנו. All of God's judgments are for our best interest, l'taher nafshoteinu , to purify us. And he quotes our pasuk again of tov Hashem lakol . And that's why Nachum Ish Gamzu used to always say, gam zu l'tova , because he understood that even the judgment is ultimately for good when you realize that, when you realize it's coming from a good source. I want to end with something that's a little kabbalistic but it's a very nice piece. There's a sefer called Sefer Yetzirah . Some say it was written by Avraham Avinu , that goes through the 22 letters of the alphabet. And it breaks it down to the following three units. The first three letters are the unit of the mass that created the world, Alef Mem Shin , which stands for Alef , avir ; Mem is mayim , and Shin is for eish . Those are the building blocks of the world: water, wind, and fire, leaving out earth. The next letters are what he calls the seven kefulot , the seven letters that have a dagesh in them, which is beged keferet . Even when we don't have a dagesh in the Reish , the Zohar has it as that. That's my second unit, which is the seven days of the week. The third unit is the 12 months of the year. So if I subtract my Alef Mem Shin , which was the first three letters used for the mass, I subtract the next seven, ten, seven letters: Beis , Gimmel , Dalet , Chaf , Pey , Reish and Taf , I subtract the 10, I'm left with 12 letters of the alphabet, 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So I start with a Hey . That's the first letter that hasn't been used yet. And the next 12 letters, starting with the Hey , correspond to the months of the year. Hey is Nissan , Vav is Iyar , Zayin is Sivan , Ches is Tammuz , Tes is Av , Yud is Elul , Lamed is Tishrei , Nun is Cheshvan , Samech is Kislev , Ayin is Teves , Tzadi is Shvat , and Kuf is Adar . We can give a whole class on this, to whet your appetite. We know Nun , these also corresponds to the letter, the letters in Ashrei . We know there's no nun in Ashrei , because nun refers to nefila . falling. Cheshvan has no holidays, it's the nun letter. Nissan , which is a time we talk about God's greatness, Hagadol , הדר כבוד הודך ודברי נפלאותיך אשיחה we speak about the wonders of God, Haggadah shel Pesach . Now, what is Av ? Av is tet . What's what is the pasuk of Av ? Of all the psukim of Ashrei , the last thing you would think of is our pasuk we've been talking about from the beginning, טוב ה' לכל ורחמיו על כל מעשיו. The month of Av is symbolized by Tov Hashem lakol . And even the number nine is the nine days of Av , which are seen the worst nine days of the year, are really tov . They're the nine of the tet of the letter tov . Because even the worst of times, it's the month of Av . Av is our father. כאשר ייסר איש את בנו, ה' אלוקיך מיסרך like a father chastises his son. So this is the final hurdle that we have in being happy people. Either A, we always want more. B is that we we are used to the goodnesses. And C is we have the difficult challenges. And we have to overcome all three.
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 4 minutesSynopsis: 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"ה) we'll examine Iyov's reactions in greater depth, then read his monologue after his breakdown.-----מקורות:רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות: סנהדרין, הקדמה לפרק חלקאני מאמיןאיוב א:יג - ב:יגמלבי"ם-----This week's Torah content, for the week of Thanksgiving, is sponsored by me with gratitude to all my readers, viewers, and listeners — and most of all, my students. Whether you support my Torah content by engaging with it, contributing to it, or both, I appreciate you and thank you.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Welcome to our daily Bitachon series and we are now in the Sha'ar HaBechina of the Chovot HaLevavot discussing seeing God in creation. And he tells us that the second reason why people don't see God in creation is they're just used to it. They see it all the time. It doesn't talk to them, doesn't mean anything, nothing extraordinary. The Chovot HaLevavot in his Sha'ar Cheshbon HaNefesh chapter three, says that a person should never be at the point which he calls he gives up on the wow. What does that mean? That means when I see something new and exciting, I say, wow. The first time you saw a Tesla car, you said, wow, look at that. It's a car going without gas. Or the wow of anything that's strange and different, we get the wow. But then we lose the wow. And the wow is only saved for the solar eclipse, but there's no wow for the regular sun. And that's the point that he makes, that we get amazed by waterfalls, but not by rain. We get amazed by the things that change, but not the constants. And the Chazon Ish says the difference between nature and miracles is nothing more than nature is just consistent miracles.And this is an important concept which separates different types of people, the kind of people that are only triggered by the changes and the difference and the people that are don't need an outside trigger, but they themselves are the cause to contemplate. And we see this by the four sons of the Haggadah Shel Pesach . One of them is the chacham . He asks, not because he's prompted by anything special. But the tam says, mah zot , what is this? What's the, what's the, why is this called the simple son? Because this is what's this? And we have to look at the context of when he asks the question. We say we do this is in Shemot 13:11. We it's in our tefillin that when there's a firstborn donkey, you can either redeem it on a sheep or if you don't want to redeem it, then you have to chop the donkey's head off. At that point, the child says, mah zot , what is this? When something's strange, then he starts to ask, otherwise, nothing bothers him. This is a beautiful mashal I once heard of a child that goes into a cockpit of an airplane and he's looking at all the different things that are going on and he sees this big red button. He says, what's this? What's this? I mean, everything else in the cockpit you understand, all the different gauges and all the different levers make sense. Just the red button, you don't understand? And that's this tam over here that he's mah zot , what's this? What's going on? You know, I understand tefillin , I understand tzitzit , I understand all of the 612 mitzvot . The one thing that's bothering me is why you're chopping off this poor donkey's head. That's a tam . That that's you only ask questions when things are extraordinary, and the truth is, there are a lot of tams in the world. And that's why at the night of the Seder , we make changes, changes so the child should ask. But that's the child that should ask. That's the tam . That's we're not supposed to be tams . We're supposed to be the kind of people that are always thinking, always contemplating, always trying to understand.So we're just used to our bodies and used to everything that's going on with us. We don't even spend the time to look into it. Then there's an even lower level, the one אינו יודע לשאול. He doesn't even know how to ask. Even after he sees a change, he doesn't ask anything. He just keeps going. So our job is to bring ourselves up to the level of the chacham . The person that contemplates, that looks, that tries to tries to understand what's going on around him. And not just what's going on around him, but like Iyov said מבשרי אחזה אלוה, from my own skin, my own flesh and blood, I see God. Look at your body. A little simple, little simple example. If you ever look at your your knuckles and you see like there's a little extra skin by your knuckles of your hand, you can look at it right now when you bend it. Well, if you'd have knuckles, but the skin would be as tight by the knuckles as the rest of your body, they wouldn't bend. Look at the back of your shoulder. Has a similar look. Look at your knee. You have a little extra skin over there that God put in like the, you want to bend the straw, like there's that extra, you know, accordion piece at the end that you can bend the straw, otherwise it wouldn't bend well. Well, where did that come from? When do we ever notice that little extra flesh on our fingers? And there's endless examples of that, how God is doing things just for us to make life comfortable and good. And that's again, constant strengthening Tov Hashem la'kol . Hashem is good for everybody. We just don't see it because we're so used to it. And again, this is necessary, this is the backbone of bitachon , understanding Tov Hashem la'kol . He's reliable because he wants to do good for us and he's only doing good for us, but we forget about it and we're blind. And as we said, we're blind because we're used to it and we have to break that habit and that automatic way of looking at things and become excited and put the wow into something as simple.
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 27 minutesSynopsis: 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 was said. We then read through Iyov 1:6-12 at a more leisurely pace than our quick overview last time, and we concluded by reading the Malbim's and Rambam's prefaces, explaining why I will NOT be decoding the allegory of the satan until a few months from now. The plan for next time is to go over the peshat of the remainder of the prologue, which we'll analyze in the session after that.-----מקורות:איוב א:א-יברמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות עבודה זרה וחוקות הגוים ב:א-גרמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ב:ו-זמלבי"ם - איוב א:ארש"י - איוב א:ארמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:כב-----This week's Torah content is sponsored by Joey and Estee Lichter in commemoration of the yahrzeits of Joey's mother, Faiga bas Yehuda, and Estee's father, Yisroel ben R' Moshe.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 4 minutesSynopsis: 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-יבמלבי"ם - איוה א:א-ה---This week's Torah content is sponsored by Joey and Estee Lichter in commemoration of the yahrzeits of Joey's mother, Faiga bas Yehuda, and Estee's father, Yisroel ben R' Moshe.---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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Rav Schwab contrasts Avraham and Iyov.
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 17 minutesSynopsis: This morning (10/31/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we began our unit on what I call the Prologue to Sefer Iyov (1:1 - 3:1). The initial plan was to have a brief introduction, then read and translate the entire Prologue, then analyze 1:1-5. Instead, our intro led to a rant (on my part) about the Rambam's 13 ikkarim, as misunderstood by anti-Maimonideans and hyper-Maimonideans alike. I thought it was a productive discussion (many thanks to Rabbi Dr. Joshua Berman), but as a result, only managed to read and raise questions on Iyov 1:1-5. Next time (בג"ה) we'll analyze that passage then continue with the Prologue.-----מקורות:איוב א:א-הRabbi Dr. Joshua Berman, "Ani Maamin" (pp.191-195)רמב"ם - פירוש המשניות: סנהדרין, הקדמה לפרק חלק-----The Torah content for the remainder of October is sponsored by Yael Weiss in honor of her parents, and in celebration of her father's birthday (September 25 / 17 Tishrei). -----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 26 minutesSynopsis: This morning (9/26/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab series for women, we concluded (I think?) the introductory portion of our Iyov shiurim by taking up the question of when and whether Iyov lived. We read through the ten plus opinions in the Gemara, raised questions on what Chazal were trying to do, and then tried to answer them with a speculative theory (since I haven't found any satisfactory answers in the traditional or modern commentaries). We then surveyed the views of three Rishonim on whether Sefer Iyov is an allegory. When we return after the Moadim (בג"ה), we'll begin learning the text itself! -----מקורות:בבא בתרא דף טו עמוד אתלמוד ירושלמי סוטה ה:ורמב"ם - מורה הנבוכים ג:כברלב"ג - הקדמה לאיובאבן עזרא - איוב ב:יאRobert Eisen, The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy pp.114-117-----The Torah Content for the month of September is sponsored by Meir Areman in loving memory of his grandmother, Esther Chasha bas Meir Gedalya, who recently passed away on the 25th of Av. Tehei nishmasah tzerurah b'tzror ha'chayim.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 10 minutesSynopsis: This morning (9/19/25), in our Friday morning Machshavah Lab sreies for women, we began with a comprehensive review of what we covered in Part 1, adding and clarifying the points we previously discussed. It was so comprehensive, in fact, that it took up the majority of our shiur! We used the remaining time to wrap up the question of Sefer Iyov's authorship, paving the way for our next planned topic: the question of historicity. When did Iyov live, if he was even a real person?-----מקורות:בבא בתרא דף יד עמוד ברמב"ם - פירוש המשניות, חגיגה ב:ארלב"ג ביאור הפרשה - שמות לג:יטרמב"ם - משנה תורה: ספר המדע, הלכות יסודי התורה ב:זרמב"ן - הקדמה לספר איובספורנו - הקדמה לספר איובאבן עזרא - איוב ב:יאRobert Alter, Translation of the Book of Job: Preface-----The Torah Content for the month of September is sponsored by Meir Areman in loving memory of his grandmother, Esther Chasha bas Meir Gedalya, who recently passed away on the 25th of Av. Tehei nishmasah tzerurah b'tzror ha'chayim.-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 33 minutesSynopsis: This morning (9/12/25), in this year's first Friday morning Machshavah Lab shiur for women, we began our (hopefully) year-long series on Sefer Iyov! I began by recapping my prior experience with Iyov, but to my delight, this turned into a really great discussion about the various challenges of learning the sefer. We then attempted to list all the major questions that ought to asked about the sefer BEFORE learning it. The last half of shiur was spent on the question of authorship: who wrote Iyov, and what does that teach us about the sefer? We didn't quite finish answering that question, so that's where we'll pick up next time before moving on to the question of Iyov's chronology and historicity (or lack thereof). I can already tell this is gonna be a great year of learning!-----מקורות:Robert Eisen, "The Book of Job in Medieval Jewish Philosophy" (2004)בבא בתרא דף יד עמוד בשמות לג:יג-כברכות דף ז עמוד בזרחיה חן - הקדמה לספר איוב-----The Torah Content for the month of September is sponsored by Meir Areman in loving memory of his grandmother, Esther Chasha bas Meir Gedalya, who recently passed away on the 25th of Av. Tehei nishmasah tzerurah b'tzror ha'chayim.My Zoom account has been sponsored for the entire year by Isaac and Aviva Lichter, with hakaras ha'tov to Hashem in honor of Navonah's first birthday: “We couldn't have known how much joy and wonder she'd bring into our lives. רבות מחשבות בלב איש, ועצת ה' היא תקום."-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist:
Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 1 hour 48 minutesSynopsis: This evening (9/4/25), in our first Thursday night Pirkei Avos shiur for women of the 2025-2026 season, we took up a mishnah that happens to be on the same topic as Sefer Iyov, which will be a major focus of mine this year! In fact, this mishnah seems to undermine Iyov in its entirety! Thankfully, Sforno came to the rescue with a lengthy but rich commentary that answered every single question we raised on the mishnah. Not only that, but we came away with a "meta idea" that will likely set the course for our entire learning of Sefer Iyov. What a great way to begin this year of women's shiurim!-----מקורות:אבות ד:טוברכות דף ה עמוד בתענית דף כא עמוד א-----The Torah Content for the month of September is sponsored by Meir Areman in loving memory of his grandmother, Esther Chasha bas Meir Gedalya, who recently passed away on the 25th of Av. Tehei nishmasah tzerurah b'tzror ha'chayim.My Zoom account has been sponsored for the entire year by Isaac and Aviva Lichter, with hakaras ha'tov to Hashem in honor of Navonah's first birthday: “We couldn't have known how much joy and wonder she'd bring into our lives. רבות מחשבות בלב איש, ועצת ה' היא תקום."-----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-SchneeweissPatreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: 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.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Content Hub (where I post all my content and announce my public classes): https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel
This month's learning is sponsored by Linda and Jay Marcus in honor of the recent birth of their granddaughter; and the anniversaries and birthdays of their children and grandchildren during Nissan. "בניסן נגאלו ובניסן עתידין להיגאל. May we merit to see the גאולה שלמה במהרה בימינו." Today's daf is sponsored by Lisa Kolodny in honor of Nancy Kolodny's birthday! "So happy you are spending more time in Israel this year, spreading your light, your wisdom and your love to all those around you." There is a debate about whether Menashe received a portion in the World-to-Come. Rabbi Yochanan brings three drashot in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, each relating to different kings of the Judean kingdom, highlighting how far God goes to allow repentance. He also brought another drasha relating to the disgrace of the Sanhedrin at the time of the Babylonian exile. Rav Chisda says in the name of Rabbi Yirmia bar Abba three statements - one relating to the bad actions of some of the Judean kings, one relating to types of people who are not worthy of receiving the Divine Presence, and one explaining the verses in Tehillim 91:11-13 about evil not coming upon a person. Why is the letter ayin in 'reshaim' suspended above the other letters in the verse in Iyov 38:15? A braita explains that Menashe, Achav, and Yeravam all learned Torah, highlighting that their sins were worse, as they clearly understood the Torah and sinned nevertheless, with full intent. Other braitot suggest that other kings lost their portion in the World-to-Come. Descriptions are brought about some of the bad kings and how their action led to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
This month's learning is sponsored by Linda and Jay Marcus in honor of the recent birth of their granddaughter; and the anniversaries and birthdays of their children and grandchildren during Nissan. "בניסן נגאלו ובניסן עתידין להיגאל. May we merit to see the גאולה שלמה במהרה בימינו." Today's daf is sponsored by Lisa Kolodny in honor of Nancy Kolodny's birthday! "So happy you are spending more time in Israel this year, spreading your light, your wisdom and your love to all those around you." There is a debate about whether Menashe received a portion in the World-to-Come. Rabbi Yochanan brings three drashot in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, each relating to different kings of the Judean kingdom, highlighting how far God goes to allow repentance. He also brought another drasha relating to the disgrace of the Sanhedrin at the time of the Babylonian exile. Rav Chisda says in the name of Rabbi Yirmia bar Abba three statements - one relating to the bad actions of some of the Judean kings, one relating to types of people who are not worthy of receiving the Divine Presence, and one explaining the verses in Tehillim 91:11-13 about evil not coming upon a person. Why is the letter ayin in 'reshaim' suspended above the other letters in the verse in Iyov 38:15? A braita explains that Menashe, Achav, and Yeravam all learned Torah, highlighting that their sins were worse, as they clearly understood the Torah and sinned nevertheless, with full intent. Other braitot suggest that other kings lost their portion in the World-to-Come. Descriptions are brought about some of the bad kings and how their action led to the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
The pasuk in Iyov states, " אלוקים הבין דרכה והוא ידע את מקומה ". The Malbim explains that only Hashem truly understands what is happening in this world—how people are being rewarded or punished. What appears to us as a reward may, in fact, be a punishment, and what seems like a punishment may actually be a great reward. We judge based on what we see, but Hashem sees the past, present, and future all at once. Only He knows the full picture—the deeds of each person, their inner thoughts, and their intentions. However, Chazal do reveal to us one way in which Hashem interacts with the world: מדה כנגד מדה —measure for measure. With this understanding, we can sometimes catch a glimpse of Hashem's justice in action. The way we act is the way we are treated. At the end of the seven-day feast in Shushan HaBirah , on Shabbat Kodesh , King Achashverosh called for Queen Vashti to appear and display her beauty. She refused, and as a result, she was put to death. Rashi brings the Gemara in Megilla , which asks: Why didn't she come? After all, she was just as immoral as Achashverosh. The Gemara answers that Hashem struck her with tzara'at , making her appearance repulsive. Since she had been summoned to appear without clothing, she was too embarrassed to show herself. Rashi explains that Hashem caused her to develop tzara'at at that exact moment so that she would refuse the king's order and be put to death—because every Shabbat , she would force Jewish women to work in a humiliating manner, without clothing. Now, on Shabbat , she was punished in the very same way. To the human eye, it seemed like a drunken king making an irrational demand and an impulsive decision to execute his wife. But in truth, it was all hashgachah pratit . Hashem orchestrated every detail—the king's command, Vashti's affliction—because of the wickedness she displayed every Shabbat . Nothing happens randomly. Hashem is behind everything, whether we see it or not. A young man who is becoming more observant spends a few minutes each night learning emunah with a rabbi. One evening, they studied the concept of מדה כנגד מדה , how every action is noticed and valued by Hashem, and how reward and punishment always come in perfect measure. A few days later, this young man was driving when someone accidentally hit his car. After assessing the damage, he realized that the driver who hit him was a kollel student. Feeling bad about making a Torah scholar pay, and knowing that the damage wasn't critical, he decided to let him off completely. Two days later, this same young man accidentally hit someone else's car. This time, however, the other driver insisted on getting the car repaired. The damage was estimated at $1,000—his entire week's paycheck. Feeling overwhelmed, he shared what had happened with a friend, who suggested visiting a trustworthy body shop owner he knew. When they arrived, the owner took one look at the damage, grabbed his tools, and within minutes had repaired the car perfectly —without charging a single dollar. At that moment, the young man recalled the lesson he had just learned. He had let someone off, and Hashem let him off. At first, he thought the second driver would simply forgive him, just as he had forgiven the first. But Hashem, in His infinite wisdom, arranged it differently. Even though we don't always understand Hashem's calculations, we can see glimpses of מדה כנגד מדה in our lives. Everything we do matters. Hashem wants us to make the right choices so that He can reward us—both in this world and in the next.
Iyov has a strange conclusion. Does the restoration of Iyov's fortunes and the birth of 10 children mean that his prior troubles and pain have been forgotten? How might we understand the closing chapter?
Here we draw some conclusions and closing lessons from our reading of the Book of Iyov.
Our chapter speaks of the mythic "behemoth" and "leviathan" possibly a huge wild hippopotamus and whale or maybe a dragon. Why is God depicting these frightening monsters? And what do Hazal say about them?
Iyov has been asking for an audience with God.Now God appears.But rather than answers, he merely poses questions!What is going on?
Gid continues to challenge Iyov regarding his lack of understanding of the natural world. Today we speak about the animal kingdom.
Elihu's final words. In Elihu's view, just as you don't know how to predict the weather, you will never fully comprehend God.
Iyov's 4th Speech. Until now, we have seen suffering as a result of past actions. The question has been whether Iyov is guilty or innocent. But now, Elihu adjusts our perspective. Can we see suffering as future oriented?
This is Elihu's 3rd Speech. His essential argument is that God is transcendent; consequently Iyov cannot expect that God is directly manipulating and punishing him. In the course of time, justice is done. In the meantime, most people suffer the consequences of their own actions.
Elihu's 2nd Speech addresses Iyov's claim that if: a.Iyov is just, an b. Iyov is suffering, then c. God must be unjust. Elihu is outraged that Iyov is accusing God, and he gives his own approach.
Elihu's first speech explains the theory of "yissurin shel ahava" - corrective, or educational suffering.
Iyov has said his piece. The three "friends" are out of words. Enter Elihu! A young man who has sat listening to each of the arguments. He is angry. He is besides himself. He cannot hold his words inside. With great irony, in this chapter, Elihu just talks about talking, but in fact says very little. See the chart of the instances of the word "milah" in Tanakh here: https://mg.alhatorah.org/Graph/4405
In this chapter we see Iyov's plea for the defense where he lists all his virtues and appeals to God to explain why he has deserved his punishment and torture.
Yesterday, Iyov - in his closing argument - reflected on his glory days; today we hear about his fall from grace, his derision and humiliation at the hands of the lowest in society, and we hear of his physical pain.
Iyov reminsces about a time in which he had prestige, wealth, family, and he devoted his life to justice. In this podcast we focus on the phrase "I clothed myself in righteousness and it robed me" and we speak about a thorough integrated personality in which the inner self is fully expressed.
Humans can control nature; but they will never understand God! That is what Iyov says in ch.28. To who is he speaking? And what intonation should this chapter have? Is it spoken in calm resignation or in outrage?
Iyov addresses his friends for the final time. What does he say? 1. He restates his innocence 2. He accuses his friends of wickedness and warns that a litany of tragedy will befall them. But is there a problem with justifying God? With "Tzidduk Hadin"? Iyov certainly thinks so.
God's creation, we shall contend, serves as a Rorschach Test; the manner in whcih you see God's creation reflects the way that you live in this world: Is it a world of chaos or order, fear or benevolence?
This is teh final speech of Iyov's friends. After this, our "guests" will be Elihu and God himself!
Iyov depicts the slavery and oppression of the poor that he sees in the local economy. He wonders why God doesn't step in, and take the cruel and violent individuals to task.
Iyov sounds a little more agreeable and amenable in this chapter. He returns to his wish for a hearing with God, but rather than wishing his death, or proclaiming his anger, its as if he just wants to understand what God is thinking.
Eliphaz attacks Iyov with a long list of crimes. What is the basis of Eliphaz' accusations? Could Iyov be guilty of these things?
Iyov argues that - look around you - the wicked more often than not, lead wonderful peaceful lives. Even in death he sees no advantage of the righteous over the wicked. We speak about 1. The Afterlife. Why is it absent in so much of the Tanakh? 2. Midrash - Tosefta Sotah 3:2 - Is it that wicked people lead untroubled lives, or does an untroubled life lead a person to wickedness?
Tzofar gives a speech in which he asserts that even if one sees the wicked, the evil, having a good life, one shouldn't be fazed; all their blessings will be short-lived, will simply dissolve and crumble.
With no recourse neither to God nor his friends, Iyov wishes that his suffering and victimhood be recorded for eternity.
Bildad's second speech. He tears into Iyov!. And yet, the Rabbis take a line in this chapter and learn a fascinating lesson about concern for others.
Iyov continues his response. On the one hand he seems to want to die, he repeatedly speaks of his descending to his grave; on the other hand he expresses exasperation with his interlocutors and a desire to increase his strength and stamina.
Iyov barely responds to his critics. Instead he expresses that he feels God has handed him over into the hands of some evil force who is tormenting and torturing him. Moreover, he calls his gaunt scarred body and heaven and earth to serve as witnesses on his behalf before God, as he pleads his innocence.
The second round of discussions get underway. Eliphaz speaks first. In essence he will accuse Iyov that his troubles and torments are his own fault. He is a sinner. He has gotten what he deserves.
Today we tell the story of Rabbi Akiva who found faith in the future from watching water smoothing out a rock. He quoted the verse from our chapter (14:19) 'water wears away stone' . As we will see, Job speaks this verse in a dispirited lament at human fatality and futility. We might wonder what might have transpired were Iyov to have met Rabbi Akiva!
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Hyrcanus taught: Job served the Holy One, Blessed be He, only out of love, as it is stated: “Though He will slay me, still I will trust in Him” (Job 13:15). Why is Iyov the ultimate lover of God, and why does he accuse his interlocutors as being "creators of lies, healers of idols" in their defence of the Almighty?
If God is all powerful, then he must be responsible for natural disasters, for human error and the like. How can Job's friends sustain the impressions of God's power and responsibility and then also claim that he is kind and just? If he is in charge, then God must also cause pain and suffering!
The 3rd friend, Tzofar, accuses Iyov of overreach, as he thinks he understands God, but in fact God's wisdom is "longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. What audacity to think that one understands the divine!
Iyov speaks to God with a series of direct and powerful questions about the way that God is treating him. At the centre of the chapter is the challenge of the absurdity of the human situation: If God has created and formed us, he knows humans will err. How then does God subject humans to suffering and torment? Is this some sort of masochistic game?
Iyov responds to Bildad by saying that he would love justice - he would love to bring God to trial and vindicate himself. But that with the radical power disparity between humans and God, theer will be no opportunity to get a fair hearing.