V-57 G and c major  v-57 nwc

music file v65

V-65 F Major

"devekut" (attachment with God)

There is an aspect of "devekut" (attachment with God) that comes by learning Torah. And that mainly happens in the context of straight Torah. A slight deviation leaves that effect and even brings one to harm. Now by straight Torah I mean mainly Gemara Tosphot and Rishonim [Mediaeval authorities].
But it can include akhronim also like the Maharsha and the Avi Ezri.

Now why I bring this up is that we see in the Torah itself there is a commandment to be attached to God [Deuteronomy 30:20] and that leaves one wondering how to go about that.
The disciple of the Gra in the Nefesh HaHaim goes into great length showing in fact how learning Torah does bring God's light down into all the worlds. [He brings it from several places in the Chazal].
And I think most people in straight Litvak yeshivas in fact feel this devekut thought it is not talked about at all.
Perhaps the reason it is not talked about is spirituality can get easily sidetracked.
So as a side effect, devekut is certainly there in Litvak yeshivas. But because of the danger that accompanies any overt effort or open effort in spiritual directions, that aspect of learning Torah is downplayed.

I would like also to expand this idea of learning Torah to include the wisdom of God in Creation as most Rishonim say. That means the obligations of the heart and the rambam and others

devekut attachment with God connected with learning the Ari-  learning the Ari is in itself learning Torah.

I like Kant a lot and I think his questions were  good most people did not accept his answers. That left room for immediate non intuitive knowledge of Fries and Leonard Nelson.  But even Reid accepted the old world view that our mind is form without matter was not really the best approach. The questions brought up by Descartes,and Berkeley he did not really answer except to say that common sense shows our we our we do have knowledge of the objective world. I

Why electricity is allowed on Shabat

I just wanted to mention why electricity is allowed on Shabat. It is not fire which is an oxidation process. [Electricity is  a flow of electrons.] And it is not building, nor fixing a vessel. It is simply turning on a light. That is not the same thing as fixing a light.
[What the fixation of the religious is about this I have no idea. It seems that they have to defend the idea turning on a light is forbidden at all cost with no support from the Gemara or Rishonim. If only they would have the same fixation about things that the Gemara actually does say!

[ I wrote  long blog on this a long time ago in more detail. I had heard about the Chazon Ish but did not have the chance to look at his book on this issue until I got back to the Mir in NY and there looked at it. I was impressed, but then talked with Rav Nelkenbaum about it and he said  that the Chazon Ish was simply not right. I had no idea what he meant at first but then I realized what that  must have meant. That is : you have to squeeze the Chazon Ish into the Gemara. It does not come out of the Gemara itself. You have to make up your own idea why electricity must be forbidden and then try to fit it into the Gemara.]

Later someone showed to me the book of the disciple of the Chazon Ish [Rav Aurbach] that also says electricity is not building nor fixing a vessel.


The main reason why the religious are fixated about this is it makes them feel superior to others while also helping to divert attention from things that the Torah actually does require.

Sukka.

Sukka. The covering needs to be more shade than sun. But to what hour of the day does that refer? If when the sun gets up in the morning, the shade will  be vast. If at midday it will be minuscule.

Rav Ovadiah Joseph did a great thing a few years back when he noted that the sheets they use for the walls flap in the wind. So you need the three small ropes on the side lower areas  to count as walls.

obsession with religion is the primary trait of a schizoid personality.

To clarify a previous post: There is nothing wrong with being religious. Fear of God is a great thing. But there is some kind of aspect of balance of values that one needs. And that balance is what the Torah itself says.

Sapolsky [Stanford University] also mentions that obsession with religion is the primary trait of a schizoid personality.

I thought to mention that getting the right kind of orientation right away in the morning seems like a good idea to me. So to start the day with one of the classical books of Ethics like Obligations of the Heart [חובות לבבות] or any other of the books of Musar seems important to me. [That is the Mesilat Yesharim, Gates of Repentance, Ways of the Righteous etc.]
This is what I try to do myself in order to get my mind set straight right at the beginning of the day.

F Major  [V53 in nwc]

A Major  [V54 nwc]

V-55 G Minor  [V55]

Making people religious amounts to making them wicked

In the religious world there is nothing so highly valued as making other people religious. The trouble with that is that making others religious usually amounts to making them wicked. They abandon the good lessons they learned from their parents  and lose all respect for their parents and teachers and accept some idiot as their idol. [You do not need me to notice this. It is a famous and well known fact. No one becomes religious and gains in good character. These are two polar opposites.]

They will have to spend a life time doing "תשובה על תשובה" repenting on their repentance.

[On the other hand there are parents who do not deserve respect. ]

That is to say there is a hierarchy of values in Torah. Making people religious means ignoring what is essential in Torah and making up new values which are contrary to Torah and pretending as if that is authentic Torah.
The basic problem is the result of the religious world being essentially black, dark and in the total control of the Sitra Achra.

[It is a  good thing to be מזכה את הרבים--bring merit to the many--but to make people religious brings sin to the many, not merit.]
Just to be clear: One is suppose to keep Torah, but that has nothing to do with the religious world except in so far as if you do everything the exact opposite of them, you are on the right track.

Litvak Yeshiva World

One of the great things about the Litvak Yeshiva world is the emphasis on  a  few basic points. Not to speak lashon hara, to be very careful about monetary issues--to never touch that which does not belong to you, and above all --to learn Torah which is in itself the highest commandment and brings one to fulfill all the rest of the commandments.
Add to this the musar ideal of Rav Israel Slanter of trying to gain Fear of God and good traits, and you have  a very potent combination.

The system does not however work for just anyone. And I myself have encountered people, not just on the Litvak path, but even founders of famous kollels that leave a lot to be desired when it comes to being decent people.

My reaction to this is to try an concentrate on areas where I know I need to repent. I figure that in spite of everything, what ever I or anyone has suffered must be connected in some way to my own faults.
And finding my own faults was easy. It was easy to identify areas that I messed up.  This is brought in the words of the sages when a person sees problems coming on him, he should check out his own deeds. If he finds nothing he should know it is from Bitul Torah.[Bitul Torah is a sin. It means not learning Torah when you can.]

But nowadays it is hard to go through the entire Oral and Written Law as one is required. We live in the fast food age. To go through even one Tosphot thoroughly is like eating raw steak. You have to chew and chew until you get something. But learning Rav Shach's Avi Ezri is like going to Mconald's. You get the same calories and even more with the least amount of effort.

Can God create something that is not God?

I rarely have a chance to write so just a quick question --Can God create something that is not God?
I would say of course. That is the whole point of the Torah as Saadia Gaon and the Rambam make clear. So to me it seems the signature of the Gra on letter of excommunication was justified even if it had been about this one point. All the more so that time has shown the Gra to be 100% correct anyway.

For that reason it makes sense to avoid the religious world which ignores the Gra. Because they ignore the  Gra they have been basically taken over by the Sitra Achra.

[Rav Nahman I consider to be a separate issue and in fact he noted the exact same problems that the Gra was referring to. You can see hints of his in all his books but even more openly in the "השמטות"[left out parts] of Rav Shmuel Horwitz that was published by the Na Nach group. [I mean that he found original early editions of the חיי מוהר''ן  that contained Rav Nahman's views that later people decided were not politically correct.]

Since the religious world nowadays is insane the best thing to do is to learn Torah at home.[The main point of the religious world is to make a show of their religiosity in order to get money from secular Jews as the Obligations of the Heart חובות לבבות points out


[In any case the fact of Creation Ex Nihilo is stated openly in all books of the Rishonim.  But why argue with the Sitra Achra [dark side]anyway? Those that know the truth, already know.]

Repeating every paragraph twice helps to learn.

I have found that repeating every paragraph twice helps me to learn. I discovered this in my first year in Shar Yashuv yeshiva in NY. I had heard of the idea of just saying the words and going on but also in Shar Yashuv the idea of review was emphasized by Rav Freifled an his son Motti. So I arrived on this compromise. This idea also helped me later in the Mir where in depth learning was emphasized but i felt i needed to make progress. [That was in learning Gemara Hulin, Ketuboth and Yevamot.]]

This also helped me when I began to learn Physics and Mathematics.


[I have gone back and forth on this over time but this idea of doing a small amount of review and then going on seems to work best for me.]


[For some time in University I did this kind of review because I needed to pass the tests. But later I began just to say the words and go on. Nowadays I am thinking this method of minimal review makes the most sense for me. ]

[The way I originally learned Gemara was with the Soncino English-- paragraph by paragraph-with the Aramaic then English and then Aramaic. [But even then I was doing Tosphot and Maharsha] That is how I as doing Gemara in NY.  That is to say in the Mir people were way above my level. But still for some reason Rav Shmuel Berenbaum felt I could learn well enough to accept me. In any case I found that repeating each section of Gemara twice was good for me to be able to make progress but also to get the basic idea.

Later when learning with David Bronson, I saw his way of sticking on every single word of Tosphot until he would understand. And then I started seeing the same kind of learning that Rav Naftai Yeagger was doing in Far Rockaway--totally different than the path of the Mir and Rav Haim of Brisk. At that point I started this thing of reviewing each page of Gemara a whole lot of times and that is how I started writing those two books of chidushim [news ideas] on Gemara

The Musar Movement of Rav Israel Salanter

The only way that I know of to correct my own faults is to find a place in the books of Ethics (Musar) which discuss that particular fault and to say it to myself every day when I get up in the morning. This has some relation to the Musar Movement of Rav Israel Salanter in which he said that the only way to correct one's faults is by learning Musar. But I found that for me the only thing that seems effective is to do it right away in the morning.

There are faults that I have no idea how to correct, but this method seems to be the most effective for the few that I know about.

For example: In the Madragat HaAdam of the school of Navardok it is brought the statement of the Gra about trust in God. In the Nefesh HaHaim of rav Haim from Voloshin is brought a few statements about accepting the yoke of Torah an another one about judging people on the scales of merit.

I try to say them every day. But still I am aware they might be be that relevant to other faults I have of things I really need to correct. But I figure at it is a start.

The best idea is to avoid anyone who makes a show of their religiosity.That way you are more or less safe from the Dark Side.

Almost all Torah teachers nowadays teach Torah of the Sitra Achra [Torah of the Dark Side.] I would learn only authentic Torah, but that is hard to come by. I would not spent any time on the Torah lessons of the Dark Side. I would learn only Rav Shach's Avi Ezri and the two Talmuds with Tosphot and Pnei Moshe and Rav Haim from Brisk's חידושי הרמב''ם. But in fact to learn Rav Shach it is needed to find a place of study or a yeshiva that goes specifically by the path of the Gra with with compromises with the Dark Side. I would not go anywhere else because the Dark Side, once it gets inside a person's head, never comes out. It is like a circuit board that is solidified. After it gets solidified, there is no way to undo it since it is already hardwired [unless one simply tears up the whole circuit board and throws it out and starts a new one.]

[If  there is not a yeshiva on the name of the Gra in your area then I would simply go to a Reform Judaism or Conservative place. That way one is more or less safe from the Dark Side.]oid t.

It is ironic that people that are aware of the warning of Rav Nahman of Breslov to avoid teachers of the Dark Side often fall into that very trap by trying to avoid it. Not just that but also they hear he emphasized being close to a true tzadik and by that they usually fall into the trap of some teacher of the Sitra Achra. People would do a lot better if they would simply take straight Torah as their guide as it is taught in the Mir Yeshiva and Ponovitch.

The best idea is to avoid anyone who makes a show of their religiosity.That way you are more or less safe from the Dark Side.

The Gra said that to the degree that one lacks any of the seven wisdoms, he will lack in understanding of Torah a hundred fold more.

The Gra said that to the degree that one lacks any of the seven wisdoms, he will lack in understanding of Torah a hundred fold more. That statement was printed in the (Introduction to) Translation of Euclid by one of the Gra's disciples.

This refers to what was in the Middle Ages a well known set of subjects, including Math, Music and Astronomy etc.[Trivium, Quadrium]

In the חובות לבבות Obligations of the Heart [Ibn Pakuda] this same idea comes up except there in the Introduction he has Metaphysics  and only later in שער הבחינה [Gate of Reflection] he goes into the need to know Physics, Biology and human anatomy.
Plus he adds there even practical wisdom--the same kinds of things he said in the Introduction were not necessary for Torah, but then he adds them later in the Gate of Reflection as being necessary for reflection on the greatness of God.

[Rav Eliyahu Zilverman [Rosh Yeshiva of Aderet Eliyahu on the name of the Gra] said to me that Electrical Engineering is in the category of what the Gra meant and now I see the Obligations of the Heart also has that opinion.



The opinion of Saadia Gaon and the Rambam [Maimonides] I have already mentioned. The Rambam specifically wrote about the importance of Physics and Metaphysics as these subjects were understood by the ancient Greeks. He was not referring to mysticism.

[This is not meant to replace learning the regular curriculum of Torah--the two Talmuds with Tosphot, the Avi Ezri, Rav Haim from Brisk's חידושי הרמב''ם known as the Hidushei Rav Haim]

[Learning Torah I did myself for reasons.  It leads to good character traits and fear of God and even eventually to "Devekut." Devekut is attachment with God as is brought in Deuteronomy 30:20. That is the highest goal is to be attached and one with God.]
That is in Shar Yashuv and the Mir I only learned Torah. But eventually I decided that the path of balance was better.--that is Torah with Physics an Math.

So now I want tell people how it is possible to learn Physics even if you do not think you understand.
That is from the Gemara in  tractate Avoda Zara ""Always a person ought to be גורס (just say the words and go on.) even though he forgets and even thought he does not know what he is saying.
After one has finished the whole book, then to go back and review. i believe people ought to have two sessions of learning, one in the morning for in depth learning with lots of review. the other in the afternoon for fast learning--saying the words in order and going on. plus listening to classe in each subject from someone that knows it well.   

The subject of Rav Avraham Abulafia was known to people even before his books were published in Jerusalem and are being sold in Mea Shearim book stores. Mainly the reason is that Professor Moshe  Idel made his PhD thesis about Rav Abulfia and later published  a whole series of books on him and on ecstatic kabala. The attitude of Rav Abulafia towards Yeshua was contained in his PhD thesis.

But some people knew anyway. Rav Avigdor Miller knew. I asked him if he was aware of Rav Abulfia and he said, "Yes". One reason he is not known is that kabalah took a different track after the Middle Ages. Now it is almost synonymous with Zohar. But to me that seems to be a mistake. Even though the Ari himself merited to great levels of Divine Spirit, it seems to me that whatever was based on the Zohar itself does not have much merit.
 Mystics in general were not lacking. There were plenty of Jewish Mystics that had revelations. But when they base themselves on the Zohar, it seems to me they get off track.

[The main problem I see with the Zohar is עם כל דא a translate of עם כל זה. And עם כל זה was made as a phrase to substitute for אף על גב or אף אל פי--"even though". But this phrase על כל זה was invented by the Ibn Tibon family. So what is it doing in the Zohr which was supposedly written a thousand years before the phrase was invented?

Rav Avraham Abulafia was a figure shrouded in mystery.

Rav Avraham Abulafia was a figure shrouded in mystery.  He was one of the most famous mystics of the Middle Ages and he had a definite positive attitude towards Yeshua (Jesus of Nazeret). But that is not what made him subject to scrutiny. It was rather his mystic approach. 

The Rashba definitely was against him and also Yehuda the Tailor. [Yehuda Hahayat]. Yehuda Hahayat was the one who collected all the writings that were  thought to be part of the Zohar that were scattered in his time.[The way the Zohar was a originally published by Moshe De Leon was that he would sell page by page of it for a high price. So it was never put together until much later by Yehuda the Tailor.

These two people were very much against Rav Abulafia.

The major reason that Rav Abulafia got to be considered important and kosher was that the later mystics like Rav Moshe of Cordoba quotes him extensively in his Pardas and also Rav Haim Vital quotes him at length in his שערי קדושה חלק רביעי
The Chida [Rav Haim David Azulay] brings this whole controversy. He wrote a book listing all the great sages [Shem Hagedolim], and he brings Rav Abulafia. And there he says "The Rashba was against him, but I do not know why because he as in fact a great man."

Now I can say what I think Rav Abulafia was thinking. It is clear he held Yeshua [Jesus] was what is called in the Talmud, "messiah son of Joseph." But that does not mean anything like the Trinity. Rather the idea is more along the lines that you find in Rav Nahman's books [of Breslov] about the ideal of "believing in a true tzadik." That is he would be thinking of Jesus more than what we would call a saint, but less than what Christians think about the Trinity.  That is a "tzadik emet" a true tzadik is one whom by means of believing in him-there is imparted to one's soul a certain amount of the holiness of that tzadik.

I might mention that the Ari clearly held the same opinion as Rav Abulafia as you can see in the end of Genesis where he discusses Joseph [HaTzadik] ben Jacob. [There are three books from the Ari which discuss the verses of Torah, and in all three of them he mentions this. However it is well known that the Ari himself did not do the actual writing, but it was Rav Haim Vital who wrote, and then Rav Shmuel Vital (his son) who organized the whole thing into the famous Eight Gates שמנה שערים


What makes this such an emotional issue to people is beyond me. It seems to me simple that once Rav Abulafia and the Ari have expressed their opinion concerning this matter, that would be the end of the discussion.


The reason I ought to add why this does not imply the Trinity is well explained in the Obligations of the Hearts about the difference between אחד האמת The true One and something that is one  by accident--very Aristotelian concepts.
Simply that means God is not a composite, and that he is the true One in that his essence is oneness.

Learning Torah requires saying the words-not just reading them

Learning Torah by saying the words is brought in the Talmud as the only legit way of learning. Just reading is not thought to be in the category of learning Torah at all. אין התורה מתקיימת אלא למוצאיהם בפה

Once I got the idea from Maimonides [Rambam] about the importance of learning Physics and Metaphysics as these subjects were understood by the ancient Greeks, I began to apply the same idea to learning Physics.

Furthermore I saw in the אורחות צדיקים [a mediaeval book of Ethics/ Musar] the importance of just saying the words and going on and not to worry if I understand or not. [But combined with this one should also have a separate time to review --ten times every paragraph.]

Not that this takes the place of learning regular Torah. So what I think is that one ought to divide his time in such a way that he gets through the two Talmuds, the Midrashim, Rif, Rosh, Tur, the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach -- plus the basic set of Physics and Math up until and including String Theory.

[The importance of Rav Shach's Avi Ezri is that it is the best representation of a kind of learning that was implicit since the commentaries on the Rambam but began to be more explicit in Rav Haim Soloveitchik's Hidushei HaRambam.] That is to bring to light the reasoning of the Rambam and its place among the other Rishonim [mediaeval writers especially Tosphot.] This approach of Rav Haim of Brisk is now the golden standard in all Lithuanian type of yeshivas



[I think the idea of learning fast by just saying the words and going further was also brought down in בנין עולם  a book printed in Bnei Brak a few years ago that brought this idea from a lot of great people in Torah thought.]

In the Obligations of the Hearts,  [Hovot Halevavot], Rav Ibn Pakua brings the obligation to learn Aristotle's Metaphysics as necessary for Torah in his introduction [on the very first page]. But at that point he does not sound like he thinks the same about Aristotle's Physics or Biology. But later in שער הבחינה it is clear that he is thinking of the natural sciences as brought in Aristotle's also as obligations but for a different reason.  The first--the Metaphysics he understands as being necessary in order to understand Torah properly. The second--the natural sciences-he understands as the way to fulfill
 coming to love and fear of God.
[The fact that the Hovot Levavot and the Rambam have the same opinion here is I think because they are both depending on Saadia Gaon . ]

[If the Obligations of the Heart had been written in Christian Spain, we would not know what he was talking about. For Christian Europe only had limited books of Aristotle. But the fact that he was writing in Muslim Spain makes it clear. Also he does not mention specifically Aristotle because these subjects had been developed by later people like Al Kindi and Farabi--so Ibn Pakuda wanted to make clear he meant the whole subject matter, not just the actual writings of Aristotle.]

Two arrows of time and two arrows of entropy.

Feynman thought his diagrams reflected an actual reality. So what are the particles that travel backwards in time? Are they not tachyons? Is that not what Relativity implies? The faster a particles goes, the slower it goes in time. So going faster than light means going backwards in time. And now we see in String Theory that the structure of D-branes of dimension 24 are made of tachyons.

[I would imagine that eventually there will be found a dimension in which entropy also goes backwards because for some reason or other the equations of motion with just backwards time do not reveal anything of interest as Feynman noticed in his 1948 paper. But putting negative entropy along with time going backwards does result in very interesting things.

But outside of a small circle of legitimate things most of what passes for Kabala is pure Sitra Achra [powers of darkness.]Especially people known kabalistic expertise are certainly all from the Dark Side sent to make innocent people unclean

The main place where the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] gets it façade of legitimacy from is Kabalah.
But there are some authors there that  are legitimate, and even worthwhile to learn like Shalom Sharabi's Nahar Shalom, Rav Yaakov Abuchatzeira, Issac Luria and the books of the Gra on Kabalah.[Also Rav Luzato. the author of the Mesilat Yesharim on Kabala are very good.] But outside of a small circle of legitimate things, most of what passes for Kabala is pure Sitra Achra [powers of darkness.] Especially people of known kabalistic expertise are certainly all from the Dark Side sent to make innocent people unclean. This is the reason one ought to run from the religious world as far away as possible since the whole shebang was taken over  long time ago, and they use their supposed religiosity to hide their inner rot and fungus revelations


[I ought to add that Rav Nahman's ideas were from the realm of holiness, but when taken without the straight Litvak context, tend to get people off track.]

In any case, to actually see and learn the wonders of God in his creation , I think it makes more sense to do Physics and Math. This idea is certainly that of the Rishonim [mediaeval authorities]before the Zohar was published as you can see in all books of Musar that were written before the Zohar was made known.

Even before the Sitra Achra became totally entwined with kabalah, it was still hard not to get sidetracked. All the more so nowadays, it just is not worth it to endanger one's soul for the sake of the delusional "high" that Kabala gives one.

To make yeshivas on the name of the Gra and Rav Shach would be in the category of "bringing merit to many."

There is a yeshiva in the old city of Jerusalem that goes by the Gra totally. That is the Aderet Eliyahu of the Zilverman's. But it seems to me that to start study halls in other places in the world especially Israel makes sense. The reason is that the regular Litvak path, while fairly decent, still lacks that emphasis on the Gra that would save a lot of people from the Sitra Achra (Dark Side).
this is not meant to disparage the great ideas of Rav Nahman of Breslov, but rather to help people come to straight authentic Torah. With the context of straight Torah, many of Rav Nahman's ideas can be very helpful. But when taken outside that context, it usually gets people off track.


[The idea here is that sometimes it happens that one is not able to learn Torah as much as he should. if at least he or she could help contribute the creating places of study that go by the Gra specifically, this would at least be a step in the right direction.]


Besides that it would be good for me if there was a study hall or yeshiva in my area on the name of the Gra so that I would be able to learn a little bit of Torah. As things stand today I am afraid of walking into any religious place because the Sitra Achra has taken over most of them. But places on the name of the Gra or which go by the straight Litvak path are safe. 

I also noticed the Obligations of the Heart says all you can use reason for about God is that he exists and is One and eternal; but after that, we can only know Him by his works. All other questions about God are not knowable to Rav Ibn Pakuda [the author.] (note 1) But even more so. He says thinking about God any further that those three facts makes one insane. And that it clearly why the religious world is in fact insane in a collective way.

(note 1) The concept of location does not apply to God. Rav Ibn Pakuda makes a point of this fact. Asking, "Where is God?" is like talking about the color of air. He is not in space or time at all but also space and time are not empty of Him. Place is simply not applicable.

But this is really just one example of the problem that Rav Nahman of Breslov goes into concerning the issue of Torah scholars that are demons that falsify the teachings of Torah. Thus it came about that the entire religious world is built on false Torah [ Or as Rav Nahman puts it "Torah of the Sitra Achra."] because of this problem with Torah scholar demons.

To find authentic Torah is not easy unless you just want to get the basic books yourself and learn at home. Obviously the great Litvak yeshivas of NY and also Ponovitch get the closest to the real authentic light of Torah.

The problem is that it is almost impossible to find any place to study Torah that has not been infiltrated by the Dark Side.

I met one fellow who had blue threads on his garment [tzitzis]  and and asked if that was of the Gra or Breslov. He said of the Gra. How was I surprised! [That is to say the blue thread they make in Efrat is different from the one they use in Breslov. This led to a short conversation and he suggested that it would be  a good idea to make study halls or yeshivas on the name of the Gra and Rav Shach in Israel.[That means places that would specifically go by the path of the Gra with no compromises.]
I was pleased to hear that there are people interested in the Gra besides the Silvermans in the Old City of Jerusalem.

From my point of view, it would be great to have a study hall nearby that would be going by the Gra so that I could start to learn authentic Torah. The problem is that it is almost impossible to find any place to study Torah that has not been infiltrated by the Dark Side. So to have a place nearby that would go by the Gra and Rav Shach would be for me a great joy.


[The type of blue that is use in Breslov seems to me to be not from the original Khilazon [the kind of creature that was used to make the dye], but rather the kind used by the people that go with the Gra. I had looked into this some years ago and that was my conclusion.] The Gra kind of blue thread is made from a fish. The Breslov one is not from a fish but a kin of small octopus. 

There are some commandments that are ignored.

There are some commandments that are ignored. One is honor of one's parents. Though there are plenty of cases where reason dictates that one's parents are not worthy of honor or respect because they are crazy, still there are lots of cases in which one's parents are good people and still the commandment  is ignored.

Living in Israel is another one.  The Ramban' (Nachmanides) counts it as one of the 613.
The Rambam (Maimonides) does not count it, but it might still be a branch of the command to conquer the Land of Canaan.

Bitul Torah [not learning Torah when one is able] is certainly one of the most wide spread problems.

But one that I would like to include is Physics and Metaphysics as brought by Maimonides. Somehow that opinion of the Rambam is ignored even thought it is more or less repeated by many other Rishonim.

I also have an ambition to start a place to learn Torah on the name of the Gra and Rav Shach for I feel that there is no place where one can learn Torah nowadays that is not a den of the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] .[Unless there are already places that make it their business to walk specifically in the straight path of the Gra and Rav Shach with no compromise what so ever.] The trouble is that immediately when people want to start walking on the path of Torah, that is when the Sitra Achra gets them. And gets them for keeps.

So there is a lot of things that people do that they think are mitzvot that they actually will have to repent on.

Music for the Glory of God [These are all in midi format since i could not access mp3 when they were written.]

V-54 A major

V-53 (F Major)  [New version of v-53]

V-49 F Major

V-48 E Minor

V-50 A Minor

[I apologize for the fact that i can not put this into mp3 or into orchestral form. Even the amount of time I have to write this is limited nowadays.] 

People are disappointed with Post Modern Philosophy

Some people are so disappointed with Post Modern Philosophy that they decided to go back to the Middle Ages. I am thinking mainly of Dr. Feser. And to some degree this already the approach of the Litvak Yeshiva World that recognized the superiority of thought of the Rishonim. [Mediaeval sages].
And even outside of Gemara thought the whole Musar movement was based on the idea of the superiority of the Ethic of the Rishonim.

Francis Bacon paved the way for more rigorous thought in the Natural Sciences.

Faith is knowledge that is not implanted, but recognized.

The 'Rambam (Maimonides) has a very favorable attitude towards Aristotle. The Ramban' (Nachmanides) just the opposite.
The Reason with Revelation approach of the Rambam ((Maimonides)) stems mainly I think from Saadia Gaon. The approach of the Ramban  (Nachmanides) however is at least based on Rav Hai Gaon-as far as I  recall.
The fact that both approaches are considered legitimate is mainly due to the efforts of the Ramban  (Nachmanides) himself who defended the Rambam (Maimonides) rigorously and intensely, even though he did not agree with him on major points. This was pointed out to me by David Bronson who was deeply involved in learning all the writings of the Ramban (Nachmanides).

David also pointed out the mystical approach is a direct descendant of the Rambam.

I guess I have to say I go more with the Reason with Revelation approach which to me seems more sturdy. But that is not to say I ignore the importance of the Ramban and the Ari. The Gra also (I should mention) combined both approaches. He saw no contradiction between them. The reason is that there is a limit to reason as the Critique of Pure Reason makes a point of. This point ought to be expanded I think along the lines of Leonard Nelson. But at any rate the point is clear. There are areas where pure reason can not penetrate: the "ding an sich"/thing in itself. And that is where faith takes over--immediate non intuitive knowledge. Things that you know, but not by reason nor by sense perception. (Or to put it better things that you recognize as true, but not by means of manipulating definitions nor by the senses.) [That is knowledge that is not implanted, but recognized.]

There is a difference in approach towards Aristotle between the Rambam (Maimonides) and the Ramban (Nachmanides).

The Obligations of the Heart [חובות לבבות] brings in his introduction the obligation to learn a kind of science that he considers not to be Torah but to be necessary for Torah that is what was called in Arabic אלעלם אלהאהי which to my mind surely means the metaphysics of Aristotle. He was not referring to  mysticism which the Muslims in Spain in his time were not learning.
Clearly this meant to him not just the Metaphysics of Aristotle and Plotinus but also the later commentaries of Al Farabi. []

The Hovot Levavot/Obligations of the Heart also mentions this idea in the section of Service of God where he says people that know Torah but not logic [Aristotelian] will be fooled by the evil inclination to misinterpret Torah since they are not good at logical reasoning. [So we see that both Aristotle's  Logic and Metaphysics are necessary for the service of God.  This would be according to the basic approach of the Obligations of the Heart, Saadia Gaon and Rambam. The Ramban (Nachmanides) obviously would disagree.]

This is also reflected in the Rambam who holds for Torah one needs to know both Aristotelian Physics and Metaphysics.

[However along with Aristotle's Physics I think Modern Physics ought to be added. After all the Rambam did not specifically mention  Aristotle in this connection but rather the subject that the in ancient Athens was called Physics. So he means the subject matter.

The same goes for Metaphysics. I feel along with Aristotle the Rambam must have meant to subject matter.