The Rambam uses every opportunity to say that one should not use Torah to make money. So why has it become such a bussiness? I am not sure but today i met a girl from Brazil who recently arrived in Israel who mentioned that a lot of people in Israel are having trouble with making ends meet. [making enough to get by.] So the fact that a lot of people do not work but rather use Torah to make money makes little sense.
24.2.19
One thing I saw in my first yeshiva in Far Rockaway was the opinion of the Gra that every word of Torah is worth more that all the other commandments of Torah.He brings this from the Yerushalmi Talmud. And that fact sunk deeply into me. The only thing that has changed much is that because of the opinion of Maimonides and other rishonim is that I include Physics and math in the category of Torah.
When it come to Torah I try to spend time in the local Na Nach (Breslov) group's place. That seems to be the only place I can learn Torah.
But if I could I would try to have a balance between these separate areas of study.
But when it comes to Physics i try to use the approach of Rav Nahman of just saying the words as fast as possible and going on. I would try to show this from Rav Nahman's main books but I have to go since i have no computer and I am just borrowing a friend's.
[Maimonides also includes the Metaphysics of Aristotle in the category of learning Torah but I have not been able to spend much time in that area. And modern philosophy seems to have gotten off track in that area.]
When it come to Torah I try to spend time in the local Na Nach (Breslov) group's place. That seems to be the only place I can learn Torah.
But if I could I would try to have a balance between these separate areas of study.
But when it comes to Physics i try to use the approach of Rav Nahman of just saying the words as fast as possible and going on. I would try to show this from Rav Nahman's main books but I have to go since i have no computer and I am just borrowing a friend's.
[Maimonides also includes the Metaphysics of Aristotle in the category of learning Torah but I have not been able to spend much time in that area. And modern philosophy seems to have gotten off track in that area.]
21.2.19
Where you see clearly the approach of Maimonides about the importance of Physics is in the story brought in the very last chapter of a volume in the Guide [I forget which]. Where the people around the palace of the King are the people that learn Talmud and the people in the palace are the physicists.and philosophers.
I myself had never even noticed this until I saw it quouted in a book by David Hartman
I myself had never even noticed this until I saw it quouted in a book by David Hartman
Rav Nachman emphasized not to masturbate but this can be taken too far in that people think this is worse than actual things that are forbidden in the Torah.Even though Rav Nahman was certainly right that it needs a correction to say the ten Psalms [16,32, 41, 42, 59, 77,90, 105 137, 150.] but still it is not an actual prohibition in the Torah.
The way to learn Torah is to say the words and go on.
The way Rav Nahman said to learn Torah was to say the words and go on. [See Conversations of Rav Nahman 76. Also there are places like the Le.M I perek 12 which indicate the same idea::דע כי על ידי אמצעות הדיבור יכולים לבוא לתבונות התורה לעומקה. The LeM is the major work of Rav Nahman.
This approach I found to be the only way I could learn Physics and Math also.
But it took me a long time until I stated applying this method to Physics. My parents had always been very pleased when I showed interest in Physics, but until I saw this in the חובות לבבות and also Maimonides the message did not really sink into me.
But I should add the idea of review ten times as away of doing one's in depth sessions. This I heard in Shar Yashuv by Rav Freifeld. And the in depth session should be in the morning and the fast sessions in the afternoon as they do in all Litvak yeshivot.
the mishna in Bava Kama the beginning of chapter 4.
The basic order is this you keep on dividing the amount by half. But instead of it going to the last one it always goes to the first one. In that way each Nizak (person that was damaged) keeps slipping down one notch.
[Just for background information the mishna says if an ox gores another ox then they divide [as it says in the Torah] the sum of the goring ox. So if both were 200 and the gored ox is now worth nothing, then each gets 100. If it gores again then the last one gets 100 and the two early ones get 50 each. If it gores again the last one gets 100, the earlier one50 and the last two 25 each.
The basic order is this you keep on dividing the amount by half. But instead of it going to the last one it always goes to the first one. In that way each Nizak (person that was damaged) keeps slipping down one notch.
[Just for background information the mishna says if an ox gores another ox then they divide [as it says in the Torah] the sum of the goring ox. So if both were 200 and the gored ox is now worth nothing, then each gets 100. If it gores again then the last one gets 100 and the two early ones get 50 each. If it gores again the last one gets 100, the earlier one50 and the last two 25 each.
14.2.19
The problem I think there is with philosophy is that it got involved in trivial questions. It nowadays asks how do we know stuff epistemology and metaphysics It denies completely.
Originally it was asking what is the meaning of it all?
One thing that always turned me off to philosophy is when they start talking about language. The reason I see this as a waste of time is that there is a serious difference between language and real facts.The difference is this: real facts are objective. They exist even if there were no people around to notice them. Language on the other hand is completely and absolutely subjective. The words one says and that one hears have no meaning at all except for what people attach to them. There is nothing objective about it at all.
Still there are nowadays some real remarkable thinkers in philosophy. Kelley Ross and Michael Huemer.
Hegel and Heidegger were certainly thinking about the big picture but besides Heidigger, twentieth century philosophy got to be a real wasteland of triviality.
Originally it was asking what is the meaning of it all?
One thing that always turned me off to philosophy is when they start talking about language. The reason I see this as a waste of time is that there is a serious difference between language and real facts.The difference is this: real facts are objective. They exist even if there were no people around to notice them. Language on the other hand is completely and absolutely subjective. The words one says and that one hears have no meaning at all except for what people attach to them. There is nothing objective about it at all.
Still there are nowadays some real remarkable thinkers in philosophy. Kelley Ross and Michael Huemer.
Hegel and Heidegger were certainly thinking about the big picture but besides Heidigger, twentieth century philosophy got to be a real wasteland of triviality.
Rav Shmuel Berenbaum once gave a talk in the Mir in NY that when one marries a woman there are two kinds of acquisition that happen. One is marriage and the other is monetary acquisitions.
He used this idea to asnwer some questions that I forgot. However I had a few thoughts about this. One is that this idea actually comes from the Gemara in Ketuboth itself between Abyee and Rava.
The other thought I had is to ask how can this fit with the Rambam who holds that when two people make an agreement to make partnership and have witness and sign an document that nothing happens since there is nothing upon which the acquisition can occur. אין קנין חל על דבר שלא בא לעולםץ So for a while I thought Rav Shmuel was only talking according to the opinion of the Raavad. But then it occurred to me that there are obligations that happen just because of a persons status.
I am rushing to write this so I am being too short I know. Anyway I think that the Rambam was only talking about a partnership in which there is no physical acquisitions. But with marriage there is on someone upon whom the obligations occur. It is a case of קנין דקל לפירותיו
I had a lot of thoughts about this but I have no time to write. But I did want to add just one short thought: that all the things that the husband acquires are all rabbinical laws --see Ketubotthis chapter 4 and 5. Not that this makes any difference but it is a point because perhaps one can say that kind of acquisition can occur by means of a Torah kind of Acquisition.
He used this idea to asnwer some questions that I forgot. However I had a few thoughts about this. One is that this idea actually comes from the Gemara in Ketuboth itself between Abyee and Rava.
The other thought I had is to ask how can this fit with the Rambam who holds that when two people make an agreement to make partnership and have witness and sign an document that nothing happens since there is nothing upon which the acquisition can occur. אין קנין חל על דבר שלא בא לעולםץ So for a while I thought Rav Shmuel was only talking according to the opinion of the Raavad. But then it occurred to me that there are obligations that happen just because of a persons status.
I am rushing to write this so I am being too short I know. Anyway I think that the Rambam was only talking about a partnership in which there is no physical acquisitions. But with marriage there is on someone upon whom the obligations occur. It is a case of קנין דקל לפירותיו
I had a lot of thoughts about this but I have no time to write. But I did want to add just one short thought: that all the things that the husband acquires are all rabbinical laws --see Ketubotthis chapter 4 and 5. Not that this makes any difference but it is a point because perhaps one can say that kind of acquisition can occur by means of a Torah kind of Acquisition.
Bava Metzia 115. Tosphot first words "widow" on page 115.
I have an idea on a way to answer the question the Maharasha asks on the Maharshal. The main idea is based on the statement of Shmuel on page 113 that a messenger of the court can not go into the house of the borrower to take a pledge when the time to repay the loan has come and the borrower has not yet paid. Rav Joseph asks on Shmuel from two verses about a widow and a mill stone that one can not take either and it uses the word לא תחבול "do not take the pledge of a widow". The word implies going into the house. The Gemara answers for the widow and millstone the messenger of the court transgress two prohibitions while for any other borrower only one prohibition.
The Tosphot asks why does the Gemara not ask from the mishna on pg 115? and they answer that the answer would be the same as it gives for the question of Rav Joseph.
The Maharshal says Rav Joseph is asking from two braitot. The maharsha says the question of Tosphot is not like the Maharshal thought to be on Rav Joseph but on the later Gemara that does ask from two braitot.
As you know I have no computer to be able to spend time writing this so I can only write in short my basic idea. My idea is this. That we can answer for the Maharshal thus: the Gemara would not have wanted to ask from the Mishna after the question of Rav Joseph from two verses because in fact the answer would have been the same as the answer for Rav Joseph while the question that the Gemara in fact asks later from a braita the Gemara makes progress--it discovers that there is an argumentbetween the Tenaim about the opinion of Shmuel. Therefore it makes more sense to say the question obn Tosphot is in fact on Rav josph himself.
Sorry if this is not clear enough but if you look up the Maharsha you will see easily my point here.
The Tosphot asks why does the Gemara not ask from the mishna on pg 115? and they answer that the answer would be the same as it gives for the question of Rav Joseph.
The Maharshal says Rav Joseph is asking from two braitot. The maharsha says the question of Tosphot is not like the Maharshal thought to be on Rav Joseph but on the later Gemara that does ask from two braitot.
As you know I have no computer to be able to spend time writing this so I can only write in short my basic idea. My idea is this. That we can answer for the Maharshal thus: the Gemara would not have wanted to ask from the Mishna after the question of Rav Joseph from two verses because in fact the answer would have been the same as the answer for Rav Joseph while the question that the Gemara in fact asks later from a braita the Gemara makes progress--it discovers that there is an argumentbetween the Tenaim about the opinion of Shmuel. Therefore it makes more sense to say the question obn Tosphot is in fact on Rav josph himself.
Sorry if this is not clear enough but if you look up the Maharsha you will see easily my point here.
3.2.19
book of Esther
In the book of Esther it never says to people that live in walled cities to make Purim on the 15th. All it says is Jews that live in unwalled cities make it on the 14th and then right away goes on to say that Mordecai sent letters throughout Peria to make Purim on the 14 and the 15th. It says nothing about Jews that live in walled cities. This might account for the fact that Rav Nahman of Breslov said that Shushan Purim is also Purim.
[The way I noticed this is because right after the verse saying that Jews in un-walled cities make Purim on 14th you expect it to say something about Jews in walled cities. But instead it simply skips the subject.]
[The way I noticed this is because right after the verse saying that Jews in un-walled cities make Purim on 14th you expect it to say something about Jews in walled cities. But instead it simply skips the subject.]
[a wife that refuses her husband] is not well known Mishna Ketuboth פרק אף על פי
The law of a מורדת [a wife that refuses sex to her husband] is not well known so I thought to bring some of the details.[Even though there is a lot of things in this subject that are confusing to me.] In the Mishna itself you only get the bare outlines of the subject. But in the Tur and the Shulhan Aruch of Rav Joseph Karo you get a lot more details--surprising details in fact.
The first thing that is a surprise is that this law applies to a woman that wants a divorce.
So since I have little time and no computer [except on borrowed time from a friend] I would like to write the basic ideas.
The first category is a woman that refuses her husband but wants her ketubah. and she says מאיס עלי.[That is she claims she is not able to live with him anymore because he is wasting all his money or that she simply can not have sex with him because of disgust.]
That category gets the regular law of a rebellious wife that loses her ketubah. [There is a announcement in the local synagogue that she is a rebellious wife and she will lose her ketubah for four weeks. then after 4 weeks some say she loses her whole ketubah right away and some say only after 12 months.
The next category is she does not ask for the ketubah. She still get the same law but she does not have to live with him. In the first category she is forced to work for him.
In any case this is certainly one of those areas that are sensitive and sadlly no very well known.
[During those four weeks there seems to be a degree of confusion how much she loses of her ketunah every week. Or at least I can not figure it out. It seems to be 7 dinars [a dinar equals silver of the weight of 12 barley beans. That is a dinar in the time of the Talmud. But a dinar of the Torah is 8 times more. But it seems that everyone agrees it is a dinar of the Talmud period. The problem that I am having here is the next opinion in the mishna that says she loses a "tarpik" and the Rav of Bartenura explains that to be a tarpik of the Torah. So I can not figure of if he is thinking the dinar also is of the Torah of not.]
[I had to go through this kind of thing myself and the sad thing is that my wife was talked into getting rid of me by the religious leaders that present themselves as being pro family values. So I saw first hand what a lot of people say about the Jewish religious world--that it is evil and insane and just the opposite of Torah values. Rav Nahman of Brslov already said as much but I simply did not pay attention to him until the facts presented themselves to me in the most harsh way possible. The religious make a big show of righteousness but the facts are very different.]
The first thing that is a surprise is that this law applies to a woman that wants a divorce.
So since I have little time and no computer [except on borrowed time from a friend] I would like to write the basic ideas.
The first category is a woman that refuses her husband but wants her ketubah. and she says מאיס עלי.[That is she claims she is not able to live with him anymore because he is wasting all his money or that she simply can not have sex with him because of disgust.]
That category gets the regular law of a rebellious wife that loses her ketubah. [There is a announcement in the local synagogue that she is a rebellious wife and she will lose her ketubah for four weeks. then after 4 weeks some say she loses her whole ketubah right away and some say only after 12 months.
The next category is she does not ask for the ketubah. She still get the same law but she does not have to live with him. In the first category she is forced to work for him.
In any case this is certainly one of those areas that are sensitive and sadlly no very well known.
[During those four weeks there seems to be a degree of confusion how much she loses of her ketunah every week. Or at least I can not figure it out. It seems to be 7 dinars [a dinar equals silver of the weight of 12 barley beans. That is a dinar in the time of the Talmud. But a dinar of the Torah is 8 times more. But it seems that everyone agrees it is a dinar of the Talmud period. The problem that I am having here is the next opinion in the mishna that says she loses a "tarpik" and the Rav of Bartenura explains that to be a tarpik of the Torah. So I can not figure of if he is thinking the dinar also is of the Torah of not.]
[I had to go through this kind of thing myself and the sad thing is that my wife was talked into getting rid of me by the religious leaders that present themselves as being pro family values. So I saw first hand what a lot of people say about the Jewish religious world--that it is evil and insane and just the opposite of Torah values. Rav Nahman of Brslov already said as much but I simply did not pay attention to him until the facts presented themselves to me in the most harsh way possible. The religious make a big show of righteousness but the facts are very different.]
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