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  • Shlomo, Soloveitchik, and Slytherin (In Loving Memory of Adira Rose Koffsky, a"h)
    2026/02/02

    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":

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    1 時間 8 分
  • Gam Zu l'Tovah: What does it mean and how do we live it? (Part 2 - Review, Main Idea, and Answers)
    2026/01/30

    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

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    1 時間 14 分
  • Bo/Beshalach: How Many Israelites Died in the Plague of Darkness?
    2026/01/29

    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

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    16 分
  • Gam Zu l'Tovah: What does it mean and how do we live it? (Part 1 - Facts, Questions, and Set-up)
    2026/01/23

    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

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    1 時間 28 分
  • AI-Generated Podcast on My Paywalled Rav Kook Post (WARNING: Only 70% Accurate)
    2026/01/20

    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":

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    19 分
  • Iyov Catch-up Crash Course - Part 2: Review, Bildad, and Tzofar (Ch8-14)
    2026/01/16

    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

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    1 時間 28 分
  • Vaeira: An Explanation of Hashem Hardening Paroh’s Heart You May Not Have Heard
    2026/01/16

    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

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    9 分
  • Iyov Catch-up Crash Course - Part 1: Overview, Review, Eliphaz (Ch4-7)
    2026/01/09

    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

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    1 時間 9 分