Trinitarian creed

The  Trinitarian creed obligates Christians to believe x=y= z but x not does equal z. [The Father= God= Son but Father does not equal the Son.]
Christians could try to solve this with predicates, but predicates have problems. I forget who noticed this but the idea was that adjectives on God if you make them somehow  part of God they have to be onto-logically first. This makes again problems with Divine simplicity.


See Boethius in his book On the Trinity. He tries to use predicates and he does use divine substance. But Jewish people do not believe that God has any substance or form. Not even spiritual substance. Or infinitely spiritual substance. God has no substance nor form. Even what is called the Infinite light the Sefer Yetzira calls "created light." That is even the light of God is a creation.


There is also the problem of assigning Divinity to a human being.

But  I didn't think that assigning divinity to a human was much of  a problem because we find this in the Talmud in Sanhedrin with the barber that gave to Sennacherib a haircut.
And we know it means it literally because it says if not for the verse then it would be impossible to say. If it was not literal  then it would be possible to say. So it has to be literal.
 But then I mentioned why Christians were forced into this quandary. They want to absorb the Son into the Godhead so as to preserve monotheism. They don't want a fluid boundary between God and his creation. Creaton has to be ex nihilo. They don't want anything to be God except God -- the one and only simple unity. The problem you get when you have neo-Platonic things like emanation is the boundary becomes blurred. And that is characteristic of polytheism.
This provides a defense at least for how Christians were forced into an untenable position. They could also resort to Kant and thus not be worried about contradictions in unconditioned realities. When  pure reason enters into unconditioned realities it encounters self contradictions because unconditioned reality is not a place where reason can go and still be valid.
So there is a defense of Christianity. Still to me it simply makes more sense to drop the Trinity. Why makes such claims? Can't they just follow someone without making him into  a god?


The problem is than anyone that follows a certain human leader tends to get into the problem of Creation ex nihilo.They may not say so but they tend to.

The best approach I think is straightforward Monotheism. God is a simple one. He is not a composite. And he made the world something from nothing. And he is not the world and the world is not him. And no person is God or a part of God. There can be holy people whom it is good and important to follow but it is best not to assign "divinity" to them. That is I think Christians bit off more than they can chew. But I am sympathetic. I realize that for human beings to be decent takes enormous effort. If anyone less than God Himself says be decent humans will always find some reason to be animals. So when they ascribe Divinity to the Son then I say fine if that it what it takes in order to listen to his advice then so be it. [The Alter of Slobadka in the beginning of his book out kindness as the most important principle of Torah. Rabbainu Yerucham of the Mir said the same. So I figure what ever it takes to get people to be decent is good.]

I realize to some people Jewsih identity is the main thing in life and they must look afoul of what I write here in defense of Christians. And I can see their point to some degree. But I concentrate more on Torah and it is vastly more important than Jewish identity.

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My approach would be to make schools based on the Rambam (Maimonides) idea of learning the written Law [Bible] the Oral Law [the Mishne Torah of the Rambam], Physics [String Theory], Metaphysics {Plato, Aristotle, Kant.} 


This seems to me better than any other schools because within Physics is contained areas that are legitimate ways of making a living--for example Mechanical Engineering. Mechanical Engineering is really just a sub-branch of Physics that at a certain point starts veering off into it own directions.
Also learning the Rambam straight was definitely the idea of the Rambam. And he said it contains the entire Oral Law. So when he says to learn the Oral Law later in the Laws of learning Torah he is not referring to Talmud but rather to the Mishne Torah itself.  However to understand the Mishne Torah today I think it is necessary to learn it with the Chidushei HaRambam of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik and the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach. [Clearly one should look up the specific place in the Talmud from where the Rambam derives his law in order to get a proper idea of what he is talking about in an in depth session. But that should be separate from a session of just reading the Mishne Torah straight.] [One should find the Kapach edition of the Rambam which is based on original manuscripts of the Rambam from Yemen from the time of the Rambam.] In effect this is what Litvak yeshivas do anyway. The morning is preparation for the shiur. The shiur (class session) then is on the Tosphot and Rambam along the lines of analysis of Reb Chaim from Brisk. That means it is in effect learning the Rambam in depth.


When the Rambam says Metaphysics he says he is talking about what the ancient Greeks called Metaphysics. I would like to add that I think he is referring specifically the the 13 volume set of Aristotle called the Metaphysics.

If the idea of the Rambam about Physics and Metaphysics would be his alone I might not take his opinion so seriously. But you can see the same opinion in the חובות לבבות Duties of the Heart. In chapter 2 of שער הבחינה and the מעלות המידות from Binyamin the doctor --another Rishon.
All schools that stemmed from the geonim held from this. The anti Rambam people however did not and that is the reason why today some people are against this. But here I am only trying to present the opinion and approach of the Rambam which I think is the right approach.


There is also an important point here. It is an idea from the Talmud about learning "דרך גירסא", in the way of just saying the words. This is how I think learning should be in general because otherwise people get bogged down.
 You need to start out your learning in the morning  saying the words and going on and then you will be able to get through the entire Written and Oral Law, not just the Rambam but also the two Talmuds and all the midrashim and rishonim and all known Physics and Math,including Abstract Algebra and String Theory--and to understand them better than if you got bogged down on every detail.

In any case I think that learning by saying the words and going on is important. This refers to both Talmud and Physics and Math.

Allen Bloom also thought the Enlightenment project had reached a crisis point in the USA.

MacIntyre  advances the notion that the moral structures that emerged from the Enlightenment were philosophically doomed from the start.
I heard this also from my learning partner. I think he heard it from his father. The idea is that once the pursuit of pleasure is legitimized  then the USA is just going on the natural path that that leads to.

Allen Bloom also thought the Enlightenment project had reached a crisis point in the USA. [In catastrophe theory that would be considered a cusp in which one can jump up or fall down but can't continue in the same path because the manifold stops there. [To jump up the USA would have to return to Judeo-Christian values and get rid of the terrorists.] I can't draw a picture of this but the idea is you have a critical point which has several points where it can veer off to. And sometimes there is no path at all but because of the momentum one is forced to a jump point. Allen Bloom thought the USA had come to such a point. He did not put it in that way but if he had known catastrophe theory I think he would have.

MacIntyre went to Aristotle and  Catholicism and Thomism. That would not be my answer. But my answer would not be far away. But my focus would be Maimonides
This is not so far from MacIntyre.  

In theory I found a few difficulties with the Catholic approach that I think Aquinas did not deal with satisfactorily. Same goes with Aristotle. Besides that I saw in my parents who were Reform Jews  an amazing level of Menschlichkeit [human decency] that would indicate to me that the Jewish approach was a better alternative (with certain limitations.) 
["Reform" but with belief in the Oral and Written Law unlike official Reform doctrine. Probably Conservative would be a better description.]


I might have mentioned this before but I saw a problem in Aristotle's Metaphysics that seemed unanswerable to me. And many other thinkers seemed to have problems. I cant even begin to name them all.   Concern for the moral implications of any social theory is also important to me. And the Kant approach where moral autonomy is central makes a lot more sense to me than system where discipline is imposed on people from some outside authority. It is the most comprehensive and logically rigorous system since Aristotle. I am a bit shocked that people in the west are not aware of it while in the USSR this school of thought was well known--(if only because it was a direct attack on Communism). But at least they did not ignore it.

My approach would be to make schools based on the Rambam idea of learning the written Law [Bible] the Oral Law [the Mishne Torah of the Rambam], Physics [String Theory], MetaPhysics {Plato, Aristotle, Kant.}

The Rambam considers Torah and Mitzvot to be an introduction to Physics and Metaphysics. And he makes it clear he means the kind of things the ancient Greeks called Physics and Metaphysics. (See the introduction to the Guide for the Perplexed.) Not Mysticism.

The Rambam considers Torah and Mitzvot to be an introduction to Physics and Metaphysics. And he makes it clear he means the kind of things the ancient Greeks called Physics and Metaphysics. (See the introduction to the Guide for the Perplexed.) Not Mysticism. For this reason I thought to say over what kind of path I think can help people in this direction. It is the idea that you see in the Talmud לעולם ליגרס אדם אף על גב דמשכח ואף על גב דלא ידע מאי קאמר. One should always be "גורס". One should always just say the words and go on even though he does not remember and even though he does not know what he is saying. This does not take the place of time and effort though.But I have found this to be helpful. You can see this idea expanded on in Sichot HaRan chapter 76.

In any case this is not to take the place of learning Gemara. The basic idea of the Rambam is this: That the fulfillment of the commandment to love and fear God is by learning Physics and Metaphysics. But one can't get to that level without first learning the Oral and Written Torah. Now in fact you could say the Rambam holds the entire Oral Law is contained his  book the Mishne Torah and you could go through it in a week easily. Fine. Do so. But still in order to understand the Mishne Torah one needs to learn the Talmud.
And this should not be taken as an excuse for Bitul Torah. [Bitul Torah means not learning Torah when one has the time to do so. It is considered a major sin Talmud. ] When one can be learning Torah he must do so. It is just that the Rambam considered these two fields to be part of the Oral Law.You can see that if you compare the beginning of Mishna Torah where he says Physics and MetaPhysics =Pardes, and the Laws of learning Torah where he says Pardes is in the category of the Oral Law.

If one has the opportunity to go to university and learn an honest profession then leaving that to go to yeshiva full time is a step down.

There are people for which going to yeshiva would be step up. There are others for whom it would be a step down.
If one has the opportunity to go to university and learn an honest profession then leaving that to go to yeshiva full time is a step down. There is no opinion that one can use the Torah to make money as modern yeshivas are. כל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטילה "All Torah that is without  a job is worthless." That is a statement from the son of Yehuda HaNasi. And I have definitely seen this in every person that is in kollel. They are a completely worthless bunch of sanctimonious jerks. Their main job is to get people to give them money. That is their major goal is to create a slave class of people that will support them. Baali Teshuva. (That is to make them depend on the community so they can't escape and to keep them down in menial jobs so they can't rise and have to support the master race, the frum from birth. ) Kollel people are stupid people pretending to be smart and then demanding to be supported for their supposed smartness. There is nothing wrong with being dumb. But fraud is wrong.


Yet in universities there is nothing for students that want to learn about the most basic questions of life: Why are we here? What should we be doing? What is it all about? For that reason learning Torah is important. For that reason learning the Guide for the Perplexed of the Rambam and Gabirol and other Jewish philosophers from the Middle Ages is important. And if the choice would be yeshiva or some cult or dishonest profession then clearly learning Torah and even accepting charity in order to be able to learn  is preferable. It really depends on what one's situation is. But f one goes to yeshiva at least it has to be a legitimate Litvak (Lithuanian) place. No cults. And if there are cults on one's area, then the first thing is to run them out of town.

The major thing seems to be that learning Torah is important but when people decide to use it for money it loses it value. And those people along with it. Jewish people are in search of the values of the Torah and there are plenty of charlatans that want to capitalize on their naivety.

One needs to be careful not to budge from the Torah. And not to use Breslov as an excuse to do so.

I know one fellow who was  a student of Rav Hutner and in Jerusalem but still went to the Breslov synagogue in Mea Shearim. Rav Hutner said to him you can't go there and come to me also. You have to choose which one you want. So he choose Breslov and you can see that he lost the whole learning Gemara thing. I saw this not just once or twice but countless of times.


 Rav Hutner had the Lekutai Moharan on his stender for  full year.
It is just that Breslov is  a consciousness trap to lure people in. And then they stop learning Torah. Note that Rav Hutner would not have had any problem with that fellow learning the Lekutai Moharan all day day. It was just joining Breslov that he objected to.
My learning partner asked him you had  a chance to be a disciple of one of the greatest sages of the generation and you turned it down to go to the shul in Mea Shearim? What were you thinking? He answered, "There is a thing about Breslov as a group." Right. And lose all desire to learn Gemara along with it. Really.

I saw two students from a Ponovitch Yeshiva


Then I told one one them about the above mentioned story and I said, "If you have already merited to be in a Ponovitch yeshiva, then you must not leave under any circumstances, but hold on for dear life."
Then he said, "We is going right back to the yeshiva in Jerusalem."
I told him, "That makes no difference. That whole story was in Jerusalem itself."

 Breslov is as fishermen use bait. This is often found in cults. They use some great teachers ideas as consciousness traps to entice people.

My father was a good Jew

 My father was a good Jew, a good father, a good husband and a good son to his parents and  a good brother. He was able to instill family values in his children in  way I have never seen anywhere else. He was an amazing husband to his wife, my mother. They never argued. He never raised his voice. He could solve differential equations, do integral Calculus, design laser satellite communications for NASA, he could fight with honor  in World War II as a captain in the USA Air Force. [ His squadron consisted of a squadron of B- 29 heavy bombers.] He  built a base in France that would take a damaged airplane and fix it and get it off the ground within hours. When he suffered the devastating loss of my mother, his wife he  got up again and started life again. He never asked for help and never complained even when down and out. He would always pick himself up and start again.  He  invented the infrared camera that was the forerunner of night vision goggles for the USA Army and now used in the James Webb Space Telescope. He invented an x ray copy machine and build the camera for the U-2. He was a patron of the Los Angeles Opera and gave generously to Israel. I should mention that none of this would have been possible without my mother. They were one in heart and spirit. And he could die standing on his two feet. Philip Rosten (Rosenblum). When the USA wanted infra red satellites they hired TRW. TRW found out my dad was the creator of the Infra Red telescope. So they hired him. When the last Infra red satellite was launched then he went to work on Laser communication between satellites. He took me to see his lab at TRW where I saw the laser.
That is my role model.




Here is a picture of the B-29.

I should mention. He never lied, he never said lashon hara [gossip or slander] and he never bragged.
Whether he was designing laser communication for NASA or what he did in WWII, I had to drag the information out of him. And he always had time for his family. He took us on many family vacations skiing on the winter break and every weekend we went on a family outing either to the beach or the mountains. [Not on Shabbat when I had to go to Hebrew School at Temple Israel. Our outings were always on Sunday.] And he always had time to spend with each one of us brother individually. and he had plenty of time to listen to me and guide me and hear my complaints and problems and doubts. I always wanted to take walks with him and he always came with me whenever I wanted, and he listened to me with amazing patience and love.
He was an expert marksman, because he was raised in a home that spoke only Yiddish he transferred that easily to German (Deutch) and after WWII was  in charge interviewing  German civilians and signing their release papers when he was convinced they were not Nazis. He was I think close to an expert skier. But I am not sure. There are three levels and I know he was close to the top level. That is either at the third level or at least close to it. He was a good sailor. He knew how to handle a sail boat. But as far as things are with me, the main thing was he knew how to be a good father. He knew when to be firm and when to be lenient. I should mention my Dad's parents were dirt poor immigrants on the Lower East Side and could not speak a word of English when they got off the boat.

All that being said what this all means is that my Dad had balance. He could balance between different areas of value well. I don't claim he could do Physics like Einstein or compose like Mozart.  But within him was contained many aspects of values that he directed and guided his children to continue on.  For learning Torah I try to learn from and emulate the Gra and my teacher at the Mir Yeshiva Reb Shmuel Berenbaum. When it comes to Music I try to study and learn from Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven.
THE sad thing is you never hear his name in connection with the Infra Red Telescope nor laser communication between satellites which is just now being used by Musk to create a array in space.

Our beliefs about morality are guided by the social group we want to fit into, the self-image we want to maintain, the desire to avoid admitting to having been wrong in the past, and so on. It is pure accident if we actually form correct beliefs. An analogy: suppose you go to the doctor, complaining of an illness. The doctor picks a medical procedure to perform on you from a hat. You would be lucky if the procedure didn’t worsen your condition.

Whom one follows is the main question in life. People are such that they need an Alpha male.
Whom one chooses to model his or her lives on is the most important question in life.

 I think what religion or politics or world view one follows is trivial and in fact makes no difference.

Therefore one ought to be extra careful about whom he or she follows since everything depends on this one question.
And it does no good to say one will be his or her's own person. Everyone gets their values from somewhere. Even people that claim to have no rules like the hippies are the most intolerant of any deviation from the norms of behavior of their communities. Values come from one's peers, parents, T.V., Movies, Religion, etc. But rarely (if ever) does one come up with his own values from scratch.



This idea is why I see people that follow a false prophet in a negative light even if their general world views are OK. And this is why I think well people following a true prophet but who may have some ideas that are mixed up. To me whom they follow is everything.


This means there is some kind of problem to work out with the Rambam who hold the major prohibition of idolatry to to serve an intermediate in order to come close to God.You could simply say serving an intermediate is forbidden but following a teacher is ok.


In any I am generally unhappy with the results I see in people following almost any charismatic leader. That includes even people I would consider to be tzadikim. You might say I am not happy with any tzadikim. Though people do follow their particular charismatic leader still, I think following God alone and  to learn and keep Torah is best. When people follow any leader they tend to fall into idolatry as fast as a speeding bullet.

Breslov I have to admit is kind of a mixture of idolatrous cults--each one with their own demigod.  their leaders are always the major object of worship of their followers.

My approach for those that are curious  is to follow the path of my father and mother as closely as I can get to it.  To me the commandment of "Honor thy father and mother" is  real and immediate and I think to myself often how many problems I would have been saved from if only I had paid attention to them. But I realize some people have bad parents and the sages of the Talmud were also aware of this fact.  So as a general rule I suggest people use common sense reason.

But common sense is not common.  Our beliefs about morality are guided by the social group we want to fit into, the self-image we want to maintain, the desire to avoid admitting to having been wrong in the past, and so on. It is pure accident if we actually form correct beliefs. An analogy: suppose you go to the doctor, complaining of an illness. The doctor picks a medical procedure to perform on you from a hat. You would be lucky if the procedure didn’t worsen your condition.

Songs for the Glory of the God of Israel

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Philip and Leila Rosten

I come from a family of ordinary Jews. My Dad was a working guy and never asked for handouts. [link] And so was all my family from as far back as there are any records. We were what you could call Goldilocks Jews--not too hot, and not too cold, but just right. We had great respect for Torah--the Oral and Written Law.
If I had decided to learn Talmud along with my regular studies in high school and university my parents would have been thrilled.  But instead I decided to spend all my time on Talmud and not prepare for any career. I certainly was not planning on using the Torah as a means of making a living.

Why I bring this up is part of my reasoning at the time was I simply found my abilities to be limited in subjects that I was interested in. And there were other subjects that I was interested in but I thought they had little value.

So what I suggest today is in fact to learn Talmud Torah but not to use them as a means to make money. And in spite of the excuses people make to use Torah for a livelihood I have found that it usually leads to the dark side.--but not always. Clearly there were great roshei yeshiva like Reb Shmuel Berenbaum-the Rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva in NY who was the genuine article--a real gaon. So to be a Rosh Yeshiva  was apparently considered as a kosher thing just like in Europe there was a job to be a rav. That was not being paid to learn or teach but give advice and take care of religious matters in town or in the yeshiva.

And as for subjects where it is allowed to make a livelihood I recommend the path of learning of  "Say the words and go on." [From the Talmud 63. לעולם לגרס איניש אע''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר Forever one should say the words and go on even though he forgets and even though he does not know what he is saying.]


I think that if I had known of this simple advice when I was younger I might have in fact been able to balance between Talmud learning and the other subjects I was interested in.

And if I had known the Rambam' opinions about learning the seven wisdoms that might have made a difference in my career choices. The Rambam holds learning Talmud is just to prepare a person to be able to learn Physics and Metaphysics. And it is by the later two that  a person comes to human perfection.

the religious world

There is a certain amount of Sitra Achra (Dark forces) that has weaseled itself into the religious world

This seems to me to be similar to something that happened with Muslims after their golden age of philosophers like Al Kindi.

חבלים נפלו לי בנעינים destroyers have fallen upon me in pleasant places.

Whenever the Sitra Achra sees something precious and wholesome, it strives to get close into it and make it unclean.
This happens when you try to go to Israel. Right when you get there something happens to take away the good flavour. Or you are learning Torah in a good authentic Lithuanian yeshiva and then the Sitra achra sens its human demons to make it uncomfortable for good people.
And once the dark forces get in, then they spread everywhere and there is no place safe. This is my reasoning why I never venture near any the religious synagogue and will pray only with Reform or Conservative Jews.

Bringing secular Jews into the religious world has been a major movement in the religious world. I think its main purpose is to create a slave class. That is to make people that are slightly religious but will never be accepted in the the religious world. The reason for this movement is that the religious world always make their living only by using the Torah to make money. And without a slave class to support them they would be out of business.

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the philosophy of the Torah.

There are a good number of books that deal with the philosophy of the Torah. They are not books of mysticism that use Torah as a jumping point for mysticism. And also they are not books about the השקפה or world view of Torah. They are actually books that deal with the philosophy of Torah. The main ones are from Saadia Gaon, Maimonides, Ibn Gavirol,, Crescas, Joseph Albo, Isaac Abrabanel, Judah Abrabanel.  You almost never see them in yeshivas. In many yeshivas they are excluded on purpose. The reason I think is that there is great fear that some yeshiva student might pick one up and discover that they all claim the worldview of Torah is Monotheism, not pantheism. What yeshivas want their students to think is that no one ever thought about worldview issues of Torah until books came along that claimed the Torah's world view is pantheism. The ironic fact is that only Reform and conservative Jews have a belief system that is in accord with the Torah--Monotheism.


There was a controversy about the idea or desirability of learning Philosophy after the Rambam came about with the Guide for the Perplexed.  The people opposed to this generally went with the more mystic kabbalist traditions. Each blamed the other for the perils of Jews in Spain.

The very fact that all philosophy [including all of the great Jewish philosophers from the Middle Ages] is excluded from all yeshivas shows where the weight of this debate came down on. That leaves only Secular and Reform Jews believing in Monotheism. You can see this fact in daily life. Often I hear some secular Jews tell a religious Jew that one must pray to God alone, not to any person. That I hear in answer to the statement of the religious Jew that the secular Jew ought to go to some tzadik and ask him for help. 

Shabat. Work on Shabat that is not intended, but it must happen.

There is an argument about doing some kind of work on Shabat that is not intended but it must happen.  There are 39 type of work on Shabat that are not allowed, e.g. sewing, lighting a fire, building etc. Many of them have to do with types of things that would go into baking bread. But that would not apply to baking with electricity which is not fire.]

In any case The Ri [Rabbainu Isaac] holds when it is a work that must happen it is forbidden even if he does not want it. The Aruch says when he does not want it is it permitted. This comes up in Tosphot in Yoma page 34 [that is the biggest Tosphot I think I have seen in a long time]. Tosphot brings this argument in Shabat also. And Joseph Karo also brings it.
This subject is also R. Akiva Eiger's object of study in one of his long essays.

What I wanted to say today just before I have to run is this. I think the Aruch makes a lot of sense. Just think about it. We are going with R. Shimon that מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה פטור. Right?  So what is going on in דבר שאינו מתכווין? It is that he is doing something else that results in the work. And let's say the work must happen. Why would that be any worse that doing the actual work itself, but with a different intention from what the work is liable in? He could be digging a pit which is actual work but if he only needs the dirt then he is not liable! I would have to say the Aruch makes a lot of sense to me. [Incidentally R. Akiva Eigger also spends his entire long pamphlet on this topic defending the Aruch.]
I brought this up with my learning partner, and he said first of all he can't see any difference between  מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה and דבר שאינו מתכווין שהוא פסיק רישא.
And he also pointed out that the Ri is in fact saying something very sensible. That דבר שאינו מתכווין שהוא פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה is forbidden by rabbinical law as a fence around the Torah. He is not claiming that it is forbidden from the Torah itself.
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There is an argument about doing some kind of מלאכה on שבת that is not מתכווין but פסיק רישא.  There are ל''ט types of work on שבת that are not allowed, e.g. sewing, lighting a fire, building etc. Many of them have to do with types of things that would go into baking bread.

In any case  ר''י רבינו יצחק  holds when it is דבר שאינו מתכווין שהוא פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה. The ערוך says פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה is  permitted.


 The ערוך makes a lot of sense. Just think about it. We are going with רבי שמעון that מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה פטור. Right?  So what is going on in דבר שאינו מתכווין? It is that he is doing something else that results in the מלאכה. And let's say the work must happen. Why would that be any worse that doing the actual work itself but with a different כוונה from what the מלאכה is liable in? He could be digging a pit which is actual מלאכה but if he only needs the dirt then he is not liable!


I brought this up with my learning partner and he said first of all he can't see any difference between  מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה and דבר שאינו מתכווין שהוא פסיק רישא.

And he also pointed out that the ר''י is in fact saying something very sensible. That דבר שאינו מתכווין שהוא פסיק רישא דלא ניחא ליה is forbidden דרבנן as a fence around the Torah. He is not claiming that it is forbidden from the Torah itself.

Music for the glory of God

q54



This I think might need some editing. It seems likely to me that it does but I am not sure.

The discipline of learning Torah.It must cease to be an activity conducted by moles and religious fanatics, each burrowing in its own hole, and become a public and co-operative enterprise.

There is a philosophical side to Torah which deals with the big questions. The trouble is people that are fit and understand Torah well enough to deal with that side of Torah are usually involved in Talmud. That leaves those areas of deep interest open to the frauds.   the religious world is a Mafia in which the almighty dollar is their god. The best approach to to dismantle their organizations and replace them with authentic Torah scholars. The religious world depends on its reputation for being authentic to be able to make money and get respect. That is why the trivial  rituals and Yiddish and dress are so important to them.


What I suggest is that one area of time of Torah study should be devoted to the philosophical side of Torah. That means I am suggesting something along the lines of Israel Salanter. he started the Musar movement which was successful in bringing the between man and his fellow man aspect of torah to the attention of many Jews--both religious and nonreligious. Now in almost all authentic Lithuanian yeshivas there are two short Musar sessions and a Musar shmoose on Thursday. What I suggest is to add the philosophical side of Torah also to yeshivas.

That is to say to have a section in the Beit Midrash with the Guide of Maimonides, Emunot VeDeot of Saadia Gaon. And the people that finished the basic set of books that compromise Jewish Philosophy-- Joseph Albo, Avudraham, Abrabenel,  Crescas, Ibn Gavirol, Duties of the Heart.

To get back and understanding of the issues they were dealing with I would also have to add the entire set of Plato, Aristotle, and Kant. Without the first two it is impossible to understand the Guide of the Rambam. And Kant is an important because of the Critique on Pure Reason. That is to know the limits of not just human reason, but to know the limits of pure reason.