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The Tefilah Podcast
My name is Rabbi Matt Schneeweiss, and this is the hub for all of my shiurim (classes) on Tefilah (Prayer) and related topics, such as Tehilim (Psalms) and Berachos (Blessings)! The shiurim I upload here are given in a variety of formats with different lengths and intended for different audiences. The common theme which unites all of these shiurim is our focus on strengthening our relationship with Hashem through Avodah she'ba'Lev (Service of the Heart). If you have any questions feel free to email me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail. Thanks for listening!
Episodes
222 episodes
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 8) E-l Elyon, Gomel Chasadim Tovim, v'Koneh ha'Kol
Length: 1 hour 13 minutesSynopsis: This past Friday morning (3/28/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we began with a review/relearning of our E-l Elyon analysis, which led to a nice sharpening of points. We then mo...
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Season 16
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Episode 18
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1:13:57
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Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 7) Review + Gomel Chasadim Tovim
Length: 1 hour 12 minutesSynopsis: This past Friday morning (3/21/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we began with a review of the ideas we've learned for each phrase in the first berachah up until now. We re-learn...
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Season 16
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Episode 17
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1:12:29
Tehilim 42: Maskil li'Bnei Korach (Part 1 - Translation)
Length: 57 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (3/19/25), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we began learning the perek before the one we did last time. We had seen opinions that 43 is part of 42, and the proof definitely seems to be in the puddin...
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Season 16
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Episode 16
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58:12
Insights from Esther's Tefilah (Targum Rishon to Esther 5:1)
Length: 56 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (3/12/25), in lieu of our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we took up a Purim-related tefilah topic: Esther’s tefilah! "But wait," you might object, "where in the Megillah does it say that Esther davened?" ...
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Season 16
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Episode 15
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57:06
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 6) Atoh
Length: 1 hour 4 minutesSynopsis: This Friday morning (3/7/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we resumed our analysis of berachos. After reviewing and slightly expanding upon our explanation of what kavanah to have...
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Season 16
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Episode 14
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1:04:22
Tehilim 43: Shofteini Hashem ve'Rivah Rivi (Part 3)
Length: 56 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (3/5/25), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we successfully and SMOOTHLY "landed the plane"! Not only did we get the main idea and purpose of the perek, but we explained nearly every phrase in the per...
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Season 16
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Episode 13
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56:45
Tehilim 43: Shofteini Hashem ve'Rivah Rivi (Part 2)
Length: 59 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (2/26/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we continued our analysis of the short perek we began last time. After reviewing our translation, our pivot point theories, and our questions, we came up w...
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Season 16
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Episode 12
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59:27
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 5) "Hashem" and "Baruch"
Length: 1 hour 7 minutesSynopsis: This morning (2/21/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we resumed our analysis of the first berachah of the shemoneh esrei ... well, of ALL berachos! We began by reviewing what we c...
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Season 16
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Episode 11
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1:07:26
Tehilim 43: Shofteini Hashem ve'Rivah Rivi (Part 1)
Length: 58 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (2/19/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we began a new and (to us) unknown chapter towards the beginning of Book II. I chose it because it was unfamiliar, short, and looked like it might help us ...
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Season 16
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Episode 10
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58:57
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 4) - Who is Hashem?
Length: 57 minutesSynopsis: This morning (2/14/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, I decided on a last-minute change of plans. After reviewing the main ideas and takeaways we've developed so far, we went back to the...
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Season 16
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Episode 9
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57:40
Tehilim 65: "To You, Silence is Praise" (Part 3)
Length: 58 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (2/12/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we attempted to "land the plane" - and I believe we succeeded! We reviewed our analysis from last time, honed in on the key questions we intended to resolv...
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Season 16
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Episode 8
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59:01
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 3)
Length: 1 hour 18 minutesSynopsis: This morning (2/7/25), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we continued our analysis of the first berachah of the Amidah. Since it's been a while, we began by reviewing what we covered ...
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Season 16
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Episode 7
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1:18:29
Tehilim 65: "To You, Silence is Praise" (Part 2)
Length: 56 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (2/5/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we continued our analysis of the perek we began last week. Day 2 of learning a new perek is like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to ge...
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Season 16
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Episode 6
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57:10
Tehilim 65: "To You, Silence is Praise" (Part 1)
Length: 57 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (1/29/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we began a new perek! I chose this one because of the famous opening line (which is central to the Rambam's writings about praising Hashem). As usual, we s...
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Season 16
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Episode 5
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57:20
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 2)
Length: 1 hour 16 minutesSynopsis: This morning (1/10/24), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we continued our analysis of the first berachah of the Amidah. Due to personal circumstances and a reconsideration of halachi...
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Season 16
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Episode 4
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1:16:55
Does Hashem Love Us Unconditionally? (Part 2)
Length: 1 hourSynopsis: Tonight (1/8/24), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we continued our analysis of what we mean when we say that Hashem loves us. We began by reviewing the essence of what we covered last time, but in a much slower...
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Season 16
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Episode 3
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1:00:45
Amidah Analysis: Avos (Part 1)
Length: 1 hour 17 minutesSynopsis: This morning (1/3/24), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we began a new series: an analysis of the berachos in the amidah! What, exactly, does this entail? That's what we spent the fi...
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Season 16
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Episode 2
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1:18:01
Does Hashem Love Us Unconditionally? (Part 1)
Length: 1 hourSynopsis: Tonight (1/1/24), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we took up a question that was sparked by a debate I had on Facebook about whether Hashem loves us unconditionally which, itself, was sparked by the popular Isr...
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Season 16
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Episode 1
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1:00:32
Modim (Part 4: Tying Up Loose Ends)
Length: 58 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (12/18/24), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we attempted to "land the plane" - or at least, to tie up some loose ends. After a brief review of last time, I tried yet again to say over the idea that ...
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Season 15
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Episode 11
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58:43
The Nature of Nusach (Liturgy) Part 3: Rambam's Position (WARNING: Highly Technical)
Length: 1 hour 14 minutesSynopsis: This morning (12/13/24), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we attempted to understand the Rambam's view, as expressed in a pair of seemingly contradictory halachos. We learned through...
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Season 15
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Episode 10
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1:14:31
Modim (Part 3: The Living Bow to the Living)
Length: 57 minutesSynopsis: Whoops! I forgot to upload last week's tefilah shiur. Last Wednesday (12/11/24), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we continued our analysis Modim. After reviewing and refining what we covered last time, we a...
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Season 15
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Episode 9
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58:09
The Nature of Nusach (Liturgy) Part 2: The Big Nusach Myth vs. the Historical and Halachic Truth
Length: 1 hour 13 minutesSynopsis: This morning (12/6/24), in our tefilah-focused Machshavah Lab series for women, we continued our exploration of the nusach ha'tefilah. After reviewing what we covered in Part 1, we busted what I call "The ...
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Season 15
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Episode 8
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1:14:45
Modim (Part 2: "Modim Anachnu Lach")
Length: 58 minutesSynopsis: This evening (12/4/24), in our Wednesday night tefilah shiur, we continued our analysis Modim. After reviewing our updated translation, going over a few insights I accrued since last week, and examining three anc...
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Season 15
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Episode 7
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59:17
Modim (Part 1: Reading and Translation)
Length: 57 minutesSynopsis: This evening (11/27/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim/Tefilah shiur on Erev Thanksgiving, we commenced our in-depth analysis of the blessing of thanksgiving: Modim! We began with a 15-minute review of my "MMMMM...
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Season 15
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Episode 6
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57:41
Tehilim 23 REDUX: The Lord is My Shepherd (Part 3)
Length: 58 minutesSynopsis: Tonight (11/13/24), in our Wednesday night Tehilim shiur, we successfully "landed the plane"! Last time we ran through the Radak to get the big picture and I shared the core of my theory. This time we read throug...
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Season 15
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Episode 5
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58:38