It is impossible to come to authentic Torah without a connection with the Gra. Each tzadik has his special area.

 I don't think  any saint/tzadik comes into the world for the same  reason as another. We try to define these people in certain ways and fit them into some pre-defined category.
But they cant be defined because each one receives a different ray of light from the Divine source.

What makes this confusing is the are the charlatans that .act the act and  other types that get their powers from the dark side.

But in any case the concept of a tzadik is a great conceptual tool--especially because there were in the past some people that fit the bill.
There were prophets that received one kind of ray of divine light. sometimes prophecy. sometimes miracles.there were people like the Ari that had a different kind of divine light. The Gra had his kind of special connection with Torah. It is impossible to come to authentic Torah without a connection with the Gra. Each tzadik has his special area.

I am looking for an argument that can justify learning Torah for its own sake. (When I say Torah I mean authentic Torah. Not what is always presented nowadays as Torah. By "real Torah" I mean the Old Testament and the פירוש המקובל--the traditional books that actually explained the written law according to the way the had been understood--that is the two Talmuds). You can bet that nowadays when ever you hear about someone giving a class in Torah that it is never about authentic Torah. It is always pseudo Torah.

In any case I am still looking for an argument to present here to justify learning Torah for its own sake.--That is to learn Torah without being paid for it. As we find by a guard of a lost object that when he receives  a monetary reward for it it is not a mitzvah. That is I am not trying to justify kollels. But I am also not trying to attack kollels.

Consequential-ism claims an act is justified if its consequences are good. But that is not what  I am looking for here. I want to claim learning Torah is good- regardless of consequences. This can be hard to say. Do I think even if it has bad consequences that it is still overriding? That seems a bit too far to go. Still what you see in the Gra and his disciple Reb Chaim from Voloshin is that Torah for its own sake is the highest of all mitzvot. 
What I am suggesting is that learning Torah for its own sake is, in fact, the highest mitzvah, but that making yeshivas might not be. For all we know someone might be learning Torah for money or some other reason. And that makes it not Torah for its own sake.  But if you are learning Torah at home and not for money, then you know why you are doing it. 

What is also possible to to take the local place where people congregate, and to make it  a place of Torah. That means to set it aside for authentic Torah. 
The religious world believes in in its superiority because stringent adherence to rituals but in the meantime forgetting  what Torah is actually about.

Cults are a direct result of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment point of view was that the scientific method could be applied to human problems to obtain solutions as rigorous and exact as mathematics. This idea lead to the development of pseudo sciences like psychology.
When people start to ask questions about the meaning of life it is almost inevitable for them to to be approached by cults.


Cults are relatively easy to spot. If it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck then it probably is  a duck. One of the most telling ways is the emphasis on the  appearance of being a part of a legitimate religion and the rituals.

False Leaders מנהיגים של שקר

leaders that lead people astray are very common.  they have spiritual power to hurt people that do not want to be their followers.
You can see this idea illustrated most clearly in the events surrounding Adi Da [a guru]. He was one of the best examples. He had great spiritual powers and was also a jerk and quite evil. One of his closest disciples broke away and exposed the events that were going on there.  That disciple was killed in a plane crash a short time after that.

How do people get involved in cults? There are consciousness traps. There is some idea that get inside one's head and acts like a seed. It grows and absorbs collects all the surrounding material and it grows.

I don't have a general answer for this cult problem. And I also do not even know the general conditions for an answer. However I might as well explain my own approach that is my own answer to the cult problem. My approach is that which you can find in authentic Lithuanian yeshivas. That is Talmud with traditional books of Musar. This path is connected to the path of the Gra. It is holistic. It encompasses everything about a human being.

 This is not a blank check for Litvak yeshivas . It is just my own approach and also I suggest this to others. But I mean this suggestion  in a tentative way. I know that in complex human relationships and change of variables is bound to have unforeseen consequences.

 I think today learning Jewish Philosophy is very important. [That mean medieval Jewish philosophy, Saadia Gaon, Maimonides, etc. However the actual book of the Rambam in philosophy I found too hard. But David Hartman wrote a great introductory text.]

I should mention that Lithuanian yeshivas were tailor made to be safe havens from cults. That explains the reason they are so ready to throw out anyone that does not fit into the mold. They are not just into learning and teaching authentic Torah. They rigorously exclude pseudo Torah. And the more successful they are in excluding pseudo false Torah to that same degree they succeed in learning and keeping authentic Torah, This is the reason why Ponovitch is the top yeshiva in the world, Rav Shach would not stand any nonsense.

 The trouble with Litvak yeshivas is the aspect of depth. To stick with Torah one needs some kind of justification that goes beyond Jewish philosophy. That is one needs more that intellectual justification. It has to be holistic. The trouble with philosophy especially after the Middle Ages is that it is all about "I" (the self). It's entire domain is the region between the empirical I and the abstract metaphysical "I". And God is a reasonable postulate. God is the beginning and end, the first cause and the final teleological cause. And the existence of the "I" is a reasonable postulate.

I wanted to re-post this about my Dad. I wanted to put in on my site here on his yarzeit but better late than never.

I know I should have posted something about my fathers military record on June 6, D-day. I am sorry I did not so at least for today I am putting it here. The reason I have not mentioned it much is that it always seemed to me that what he accomplished after World War II eclipsed what he did during WWII.

He enlisted on October 12, 1942 when he was 24 years old. He attended the Yale Airplane Maintenance Engineering Class 44-33. According to his enlistment record, he was qualified in arms—carbine and was an expert with a pistol and a sharpshooter. He was an aviation cadet for maintenance engineering. He was discharged so that he could receive a commission as a second lieutenant. This record indicates that he was called to active duty on November 4, 1943.


He entered active duty on July 20, 1944, and was an aircraft engineering officer 4823. His medals were the American Campaign Medal, Army of Occupation Medal and World War II Victory Medal. He served 1 ½ years in the US and almost 8 months in Europe. He left active duty on September 29, 1946. His serial number was 0 872 281. He was promoted to captain just before he left the US Army, and served in the US Army, Headquarters and Base Service Squadron 413th Air Service Group 40th Bomb Wing United States Air Forces European Theater. In the US, he served at Great Bend , Kansas and was in charge of maintaining 6 B-29 aircraft for the unit. He supervised the work of 75 enlisted men. In Europe, he was a civilian personnel officer. He served 8 months in the European Theater of Operations (France, Germany and Switzerland ) with the 413th Air Service Group and was in charge of 1500 German civilians, supervising 1 officer and 20 civilians. He spoke German fluently at the time.
[He was responsible to decide whether to hold a German for war crimes or not. So besides the specific Germans that he was in charge of, he had to sign the release forms of thousands of Germans. That he why he decided eventually to shorten his name from Rosenbloom to Rosten. I think this was someone's idea of a great joke--to have a Jew sign the release papers of  Germans.


He had a base in France in which damaged aircraft could come in and be repaired within minutes. He trained different personal to how to check and fix only one small part of the plane. So when a plane came in with damage his whole crew swarmed over the ship and fixed it up in minutes and sent it on its way. This was the reason for one of his medals.



The most interesting time of Dad’s professional career was when he returned and was at Fort Monmouth and then his very secret work at Hycon, Ford Areospace and created the camera of the U-2, and on the highly secretive SDI Star Wars project.

Much of this information I found out after he was gone. As a father I knew him as a very simple person that loved me, my brothers and my Mother very deeply.
He never talked about his work of his WWII experiences. The peak of living for him was taking us all to the beach on Sunday, and going into the mountains of Southern California skiing once or twice a year. We could not go to the beach on Shabat because I had to spend my time learning Hebrew and Torah.

After seven years working on SDI [star wars] he left TRW and began private business and also he invested in the Stock Market.

This was the general path in those days of Torah with "Derech Eretz", (the path of the world). Torah and work as two sides of the same coin--but not  any work but some work for the benefit of others. I can't explain this but my brother used the word that I think describes it best "Balance."
A word that describes it is Yiddish is to be a "mensch"
He invented a machine called the "copy-mate" which was an extra sharp kind of zerox machine based on focusing of x rays. And he marketed it for about five years until the American military swooped down and recruited him for SDI. So from what I can tell it seems his major contributions to the American Military were night vision and focusing of infra red -- and laser communication between  satellites. He might get honorable mention for the U-2 camera, but there were two teams for that. The team of my dad made a more heaavy one but with more resolution. It wa not used as often a the camera which was lite but enough for most usage.

Israel Salanter

The main idea of Israel Salanter was to start a movement in which people would learn books of ethics (i.e specifically Medieval ethics). My complaint about this is that ethics without world view is nothing. The reason is I think what ever people do right or wrong stems from their world view. Therefore I suggest adding one ingredient to Rav Israel's program and is the books of medieval Jewish philosophy. That would be mainly Saadia Gaon's Emunot VeDeot, the Guide, Joseph Albo and Crescas's Or HaShem, Ibn Gavirol.

But this is just a suggestion. When it comes to complex situations the effect of some policy change will always be unforeseen. When policy changes are suggested it is rare to find people that hold the change to be provisional. But here I want to make it clear that this is just a suggestion. And that negative and positive effects will always result from any policy. My suggestion her is based on the idea that the benefits outweigh the risks.
Also my idea seems very obvious to me. I can't see how people can learn Talmud and Musar without having some kind of ideas about the basic justification for that system.  Or how that system applies in practical daily life.

What I have seen is that people that teach Musar supply world views that come from the crowd rather than from the Torah.
   Today I think these medieval books of Jewish philosophy are worth more than any books of mysticism or השקפה Haskafa.

Music for the glory of the God of Israel

q71   [q71 in midi] Chs  [chs in midi] Mathematics  e64 [e64 in midi] e63 [e63 in midi] e71 [e71 in midi]  e61 [e61 in midi]  e40 [e40 in midi] e58 [e58 in midi]  Black Hole  [black hole in midi]

Trust in God

The Altar of Navardok (Joseph Horvitz of Navardok, a disciple of Israel Salanter) was into making yeshivas. This was a secondary theme in his life. The major theme was trust in God with no effort.
The kinds of yeshivas he made were what you would call Lithuanian that were loosely following the path of the Gra.
The yeshiva experience is holistic. It is not just learning Torah but it is living Torah.

And it tends to be an answer to the Enlightenment. On the Enlightenment there were two approaches: for and against. And in the USA the world view is universally that of pro. That is the idea that education is the redemption of mankind. Those that were against the Enlightenment thought education is not the redemption of mankind. They used reason to argue against reason.

But the type of education they were thinking of was divorced from Faith. And that was  approach of the Enlightenment in  the Jewish world also.

The Enlightenment was largely interested in secular education.  {And it was not mostly political as Allen Bloom thought.  But it had a political element.}

Georg Hamann within the group of  German Idealism was the most powerful anti enlightenment thinker and brought out some great points.

But going back to the kind of thought we see in the Rambam and Saadia Gaon it is hard to see a conflict between Reason and revelation. Just the opposite--neither can exist without the other.
And this synthesis is what the Lithuanian yeshivas strove for. But not in an intellectual way but rather as living the Torah in a holistic way.

Given all this you would think I would recommend yeshivas. At least authentic ones. The trouble is cults. They masquerade as the real thing.  They have found it profitable to present themselves as authentic.

I try to combine reason and faith. I try to learn a little Torah and a little natural sciences every day. And I also pray to God in my own words when I need something. And when I am walking on the street I also talk with God and explain my problems to him and ask for help.
But I am not holding myself as a good example for people. If I could I would be learning Torah in Ponovitch or Brisk. But because of bad decisions I am not in the yeshiva world. [However even if I was in the Yeshiva world I would still learn Natural sciences as per the Rambam.]

Trust in God and Navardok-real Torah

I think this is the Yarzeit of Joseph Yozel Horvitz--the Altar of Navardok.
He was a disciple of Israel Salanter. It might be worthwhile mentioning a few things about him. First of all I think the Stipler Rav was his son in law. [That is the author of the Kehilat Yaakov.]
The major point of Navardok was trust in God with doing nothing to get one's needs. You can see this in the book put together by one of his students the מדרגת האדם. I  mean trust in God with no השתדלות

I know people are used to thinking of trust with effort. But the idea of Navardok was definitely opposed to this idea. The Altar of Navardok himself I think got this idea either directly from Israel Salanter or found it in an essay written by Israel Salanter where Israel Salanter attributes this idea to the Ramban.[No one knows where this Ramban is.]

But for sure there is at least one definite source for this idea--the Gra on proverbs 3:5.

What this meant for most people following this path was to learn Torah and not worry about "parnasah" [making a living]. But it does not have to mean that. It mainly means to be doing God's will as defined in the Torah and let God take care of the rest.


[I have to add that I think the main problem with the Musar movement is they did not add Jewish Philosophy along with it. That is Saadia Gaon, Rambam, Ibn Gavirol, Albo and Abarbenal. I don't think Musar works to improve character unless it comes with world view issues that are treated in these works of philosophy.

These great people represent real Torah. The sad truth is the Torah has no true representatives today. And the most dangerous and evil are those who claim to speak in the name of the Torah.

the Dark Side can impart flavor to bad things

If something is interesting does that mean it is good? Kant is not that interesting. True. And that is a negative I admit.  But I also know the Dark Side can impart flavor to bad things. Even more than they would have naturally.

What I suggest is that habit is the ruler. And that one has the knowledge and ability to direct his or hers own will towards things they know are good.
One can direct his will into learning
Math, Physics, learning Torah, etc.
But it helps if there is some kind of numinous [holy] taste in what one is doing. There is luminosity in everything. One can serve God through everything.



Appendix:
This is the quote from that site:

The sublime spiritual sterility of the texts of Kant’s philosophical maturity, for instance, could scarcely provide a more perspicuous glimpse into the personality of perhaps the single most boring man ever to darken a wigmaker’s doorway. The leaden, caliginous bombast of Hegel’s prose was a pure emanation of his grindingly pompous soul. The turgidity of Derrida’s attempts at playfulness were little more than clinical specimens of his insufferable self-infatuation. As a general rule, to put it simply, if one wanders into one’s library in search of mirth, good fellowship, or wit, one does well not to seek out the company of the philosophers.

Most of what is taught today as exact sciences are pseudo sciences

I am not a fan of pseudo sciences nor of "great books" education.
The trouble with most of what is taught today as exact  sciences are pseudo sciences. Even if they can be used for making a living they are still evil. That is psychology, and all it related fields. Obviously they can con people into giving them vast sums of money and have a strong hold over the educational system in the USA even though they have nothing of worth to offer just mirrors and delusions couched in scientific jargon.
People should learn real science and Torah. And when it gets time to get married to learn a honest vocation also. ["Real science" means mainly Physics, Chemistry, Math, Biology. But can include Engineering.] 

Torah should be learned thus: a fast session Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot, Maharsha, and Maharam--one עמוד  this one side of a page per day. Not a whole Daf. Rather a 1/2 a Daf. That is the fast session. The slow one should be with a learning partner. And that depends a lot on the particular subject.
After one finishes the Talmud then the Ari. (I Luria). But no pseudo Torah.  [All  supposedly mystic books written after the Ari are pseudo Torah. The exceptions are the books of Yaakov Abuchatzaeia and Shalom Sharabi.]
After one has gone through the Talmud once in the above way, the next thing is to do the Jerusalem Talmud in the same way with all the commentaries on the page. The main thing is to say the words and go on. You will understand much more in this way than if you stayed on every little detail. The you go through the rest of the halachic Midrashim. That is one fast session per day. That takes about 40 minutes if you do it with the Maharsha and Maharam. If you have more time you can do more than a 1/2 a Daf per day. But this seems like a lot already.
There should be another short session in the midrashei hagadah in such a way that after a few years one has finished the entire Oral and Written Law (Old Testament). Every last word. This only seems like a lot because I am not talking about reading novels. If I would say to go through a  novel by Tom Clancy  in a few days it would seem like nothing to most people. But all of a sudden when it is Torah it sounds like a momentous task.
_________________________________________________________________
The slow in depth learning I can give any kind of guidance on. The normal way of going about it is to be in a authentic Lithuanian Yeshiva. You prepare for the Rosh Yeshiva's class in the morning. Then the class is he giving over his original ideas on the Gemara. It is not just reading over some one else's  ideas. That is in any case how things were at the Mir. But to get to be able to do this yourself takes more than the regular four years. It might take twenty or more. It is like in the Middle Ages when apprenticeship could last for twenty of more years until one was  a master of the art

Bava Sali

David Abuchatzeira was murdered by Muslims on the 14th of Kislev. That is why I thought to write a few words about the Abuchatzeira family. The major thing that was special about this family was their idea of education. They had the basic approach that you would find in any Lithuanian yeshiva straight Gemara and Musar and Poskim. But their way of keeping Torah was significantly simplified..They were not reading too much Dante I should say. At at a certain point they would get into the Ari-Isaac Luria. But that went along with a good deal of fasting.
Let me mention a few things as samples of the events surrounding them. Israel Abuchatzeira once was  one  a bus going going from one town to the next. It go to be time for the afternoon prayer. {Mincha}. He told the person he was with to ask the bus driver to stop the bus so he could get out and pray. The driver laughed at such a ridiculous request.  So the fellow returned to his seat. Then Bava Sali (Israel Abuchatzeira) told him to get ready to get off the bus. Then suddenly the engine broke down. They got off to pray as the bus driver got out to see of he could fix the engine. Bava Sali took his own sweet time to pray as was his custom. After he finished they got back on the bus and he told the person his was with to tell the driver he could start the bus now. The driver  yelled at him and said can't you see I have been trying to start this thing for the last hour? So he returned to his seat. Bava Sali told him to tell the driver to just put the key in the ignition and see what happens. He did so and the bus started with no problem.

One thing you in Bava Sali--is the idea of authentic  Torah. He was not involved with "Tikunim." That is he was not taking any one particular Mitzvah. His was straight learning and keeping Torah. The oral and written law. The פירוש המקובל. That is the explanation of the Written Torah that was received by the sages of the Mishna and Talmud. Things written later are not the oral nor written law. They can at best explain some aspects of the oral or written law but do not override them and when they go off into their own explanation not based on the oral law then they are ספרים חיצוניים-books that the sages say one loses his portion in the  next world by reading them. [That means most so called Torah books today are in fact ספרים חיצוניים]. See the Rif and Rosh there on the mishna in Sanhedrin.

Bava Sali was not a fan of the "great books" education. STEM maybe but not secular education outside of the natural sciences or straight forwards learning a vocation.

Bava Sali

I thought it would be proper to say a few words about David Abuchatzeira, the older brother of Bava Sali. It is after all 14 Kislev on the Jewish Calendar.
The main phenomenon of the Abuchatzeira family was really located in Morroco.. That is where the family lived until the State of Israel was founded.
This family seemed to be blessed with ascetics. That is they would be married but they would be living the kind of life you would associate with a ascetic in other ways. It is hard to explain.
But without going into too much detail let me at least mention that their general path was what you would call straight Torah and Mitzvah. It would be the same thing as you would have in any Lithuanian Yeshiva. The only difference would be that after some member of the family would have gone through Shas a few time they would begin to learn the writings of Isaac Luria and at that point begin to go up in levels of holiness and separation from this world,--but they would still be married.

Though the charlatans called kabalists abound nowadays, still this family was different. They were the real thing. And their powers came from the side of Holiness. {There are plenty of people with powers from the Dark Side, and you need a certain degree of talent to be able to spot them.}

There was a time that you could go anywhere in Israel and just mention the name of Bava Sali and someone would have a story to tell you of how they went to him with some problem and it was magically solved afterwards.

The stories were astounding. And it seemed impossible to say they were all lying or had some agenda.

We have the Rambam in laws of accidental sacrifices 7:3 :  If one does a work on Shabat and he knows it is Shabat but he forgot that kind of work is forbidden or else he forgot the punishment then he brings a sin offering.  Even if he did all 39 he brings 39 sin offerings, Someone asked Avraham the son of the Rambam in what way did he remember it is shabat? {That is needed in order so that this does not deteriorate into a simple case when one forgot it is Shabat and he brings just one sacrifice.}

Avraham said the beginning of the halacha is not connected to the end or he remembered the branches of the work.

The  point of Rav Avraham. The end is not connected to the beginning. For all 38 kinds of work he could have forgotten both or just the עונש, but when we get up to the 39th one it can only be he forgot the עונש. If he forgot both and for all 39 works then that is שכחת שבת and he brings only on sacrifice.

The question of the Beit Yoseph of the son of the Rambam is this: Let us start out at the beginning. He he forgot a work and its punishment, or just the punishment he brings one sin offering. Keep going. He forgot 38 works and their punishment or he knew they were all forbidden but forgot the punishment. He brings 38. Then what? It is no longer symmetrical We can't have he forgot 39 and their punishments because in what way did he remember Shabat?


Later note: The question on the Rav Avraham is simple. The Rambam wrote over there in laws of Shabat [7:8] that even if one forgot all 39 kinds of work he brings 39 sin offerings.There is no scenario where he  does not know some kind of work but knows its punishment. So when the Rambam says he forgot all 39 that has to mean both the works and their punishment. This is a direct contradiction to the son of the Rambam.

_____________________________________________________________________________




We have the רמב''ם in הלכות שגגות ז:ג :  If one does a work on שבת and he knows it is שבת but he forgot that kind of מלאכה is forbidden, or else he forgot the עונש, then he brings a חטאת.  Even if he did all ל''ט he brings ל''ט חטאות, Someone asked רב אברהם the son of the רמב''ם in what way did he remember it is שבת? That is needed in order so that this does not deteriorate into a simple case when one forgot it is שבת and he brings just one חטאת.

רב אברהם said the beginning of the הלכה is not connected to the end, or he remembered the תולדות of the מלאכות.

The  point of רב אברהם. The end is not connected to the beginning. For all ל''ח kinds of work he could have forgotten both or just the עונש, but when we get up to the ל''ט  one it can only be he forgot the עונש. If he forgot both for all ל''ט מלאכות then that is שכחת שבת and he brings only one sacrifice.

The question of the בית יוסף of the son of the רמב''ם is this:
 The question on רב אברהם is: The רמב''ם wrote over there in laws of הלכות שבת ז:ח that even if one forgot all ל''ט kinds of מלאכה he brings ל''ט חטאות. There is no scenario where he  does not know some kind of מלאכה but knows its עונש. So when the רמב''ם says he forgot all ל''ט that has to mean both the מלאכות and their עונש. This is a direct contradiction to the son of the רמב''ם.


הרמב''ם הלכות שגגות ז: ג אם אחד עושה עבודה  בשבת והוא יודע את זה שהוא שבת, אבל הוא שכח  שסוג הזה של מלאכה אסור, או שהוא שכח עונש, אז הוא מביא חטאת. גם אם הוא עשה את כל הל''ט הוא מביא ל''ט חטאות. מישהו שאל רב אברהם בנו של רמב''ם באיזה אופן לא הוא זוכר את זה הוא שבת? (למה צריך את זה כך שזה לא יידרדר למקרה פשוט שאחד שכח שהוא שבת שהוא מביא רק  חטאת אחת. רב אברהם אמר שתחילת ההלכה אינה מחוברת לסוף, או שהוא זכר את תולדותיה של מלאכות. הנקודה רב אברהם. הסוף אינו מחובר להתחלה. לכל סוגים ל''ח של עבודה יכול חהיות שהוא שכח את המלאכה או רק העונש, אבל כאשר אנחנו מגיעים  לל''ט יכול להיות רק שהוא שכח את העונש. אם הוא שכח גם לכל הל''ט מלאכות, אז זה שכחת שבת והוא מביא רק קורבן אחד.

השאלה של הבית יוסף של בנו של רמב''ם היא זו
 הרמב''ם כתב  בדיני הלכות שבת ז: ח שאם אחד שכח את כל הל''ט מיני מלאכה הוא מביא ל''ט חטאות. אין תרחיש שבו הוא לא יודע איזה סוג של מלאכה אבל יודע את העונש. לכן, כאשר רמב''ם אומר שהוא שכח את כל  הל''ט זה שהוא שכח את המלאכות ועונשן. זוהי סתירה ישירה לבן של רמב''ם

I had an unusual path that took me from California to the Mir Yeshiva in NY and then to Israel. On this path I learned Torah--that is the oral and written Torah  and towards the last few years in NY I added learning the Ari to me regular sessions.

 This path  was a synthesis between Reason and Revelation. It was not faith alone. Nor reason alone. It was the kind of path you see in the Musar medieval ethic books.


my feeling is thatPhisic , Mathematic and the Talmud arethe main things to be learning. [The most other seccular subjects I am against as being pseudoscience]

There is a time in a person's life when a major life decision has to be made. and he or she knows that their entire future depends on that on decision. My idea is that when we talk about sin that this is connected to this major life decision. Though you may not know which is the right way at the time later it does become clear which way was right and which way not.

I usually think of sin as being a daily kind of thing, Lashon Hara, gossip, Bitul Torah, etc. But I think these areas of major decisions are the more determining areas in which sin is relevant.

So how does one go about making the right life decision?

I suggest trust in God can be helpful in this area. That is to make a decision based on the idea that I really do not know which path is right. There can be  a path before  a person that he thinks is right but it ends in death. So we can't depend on our own reason and logic in this area. Especially when we think we are doing a mitzvah. The areas in which we think we are doing a mitzvah are almost always the exact areas of our biggest sins.

I have areas I think are my sins. Many time I was convinced I was doing the right thing, and it turned out that I had made a disastrous decision. So I conclude that there is something about the decision making process itself that needs to be corrected in order for a me or any person to live an upright life. It can't be following reason, nor what he thinks the Torah commands. The Satan dresses up in mitzvot and seduces people by calling to them saying, "Come and do a mitzvah."

The areas that I think are my own sins have given me an amazing perspective and insight about the world. That is doing a sin and getting punished in a way that seems like a direct result of the sin or not listening to my parents because I was sure I knew better than them and finding out that they were right all along has given me more insight about the world the nature of objective morality more than any amount of book learning (even Torah learning) could ever give.

Being against the State of Israel I discovered in this way is  a terrible sin. Since then I have tried to speak for the peace of Jerusalem and Israel. There was the Satmar Rav, Joel [who was a tzadik] who was against the State of Israel. But because of this kind of reasoning I decided he was wrong. [Later I found out his objections to the State of Israel had no basis in Halacha, but were based on obscure midrashim which have no legal validity.]


I also learned how right my parents were when they were so upset that I decided not to go to university and learn a vocation. But that is not to say they were against learning Torah. Just the opposite. They themselves put me into Hebrew school on Shabat and encouraged my learning and keeping Torah. Rather the idea of going to yeshiva instead of learning a vocation they saw as wrong and time proved they were right. That is they saw I was joining the "frum world" and they knew that that has nothing to do with authentic learning and keeping Torah. Rather it has to do with joining a social club where one thinks he will do well. Ane they convince him to join because they see they cant survive without a working class slave group under them

R. Yochanan says [Shabat page 69b ] if one remembers Shabat but forgets any of the 39 types of work forbidden on Shabat or their punishment he brings a sin offering for each one. Even if he does all 39 he brings 39 sin offerings. Reish Lakish says he forgetting the punishment is regarded as doing it on purpose.
[Carrying in a public domain, lighting a fire, cooking, etc]
I mentioned the question on the Rambam that the son of the Rambam answered. This was where the Rambam [Laws of Shegagot 7:3] says forgetting all 39 kinds of work on Shabat with their punishments brings 39 sin offerings. The question was in what way then does he remember Shabat?

Before I get to the answer of Rav Avraham  and the alternative answer of Rav Shach I wanted to say the question is more severe than meets the eye. The reason is that the Gemara says why does the mishna say 39? To tell us in the case he remembered Shabat but forgot all the 39 he brings 39 sin offerings. Then the Gemara says this crucial phrase "בשלמא לרבי יוחנן" "That is fine for Rabbi Yochanan, but to Reish Lakish there is a question. If he forgot the 39 then how does he remember Shabat?"  I ask why is it fine to R. Yochanan? Because of the difference between him and Reish Lakish. If not for that difference it is clear the Gemara would think we have a question on Rabbi Yochanan also.

Just to be more clear: The Gemara thinks 39 is OK to R Yochanan because he can do all 39 and know they are forbidden, but forget the punishment. That is why it is OK. [He brings 39 sin offerings.] So the Gemara has no problem with R Yochanan because obviously he is remembered Shabat in knowing all 39 are forbidden. But when we turn to the Rambam it looks like doing all 39 and  forgetting them and their punishment still brings 39 sin offerings.

Now the son of the Rambam said the only two answers would help if not for the Rambam in laws of Shabat. One. The Rambam in the end of that halacah was not saying it in context of the beginning. Or he remembered the Toldot (branches of work). This last answer of Rav Avraham could help, but not the first because the Rambam in laws of Shabat says forgetting all 39 brings 39 sin offerings. [You can't forget something is forbidden, but know its punishment.] But even the "Toldot" (branches) is not a great answer. The best answer is that of Rav Shach, that  12 mil is forbidden from the Torah.

_______________________________________________________________________________



רבי יוחנן says if one remembers שבת but forgets any of the ל''ט types of work forbidden on שבת or their עונשן he brings a קרבן חטאת for each one. Even if he does all ל''ט he brings ל''ט חטאות sin offerings. ריש לקיש says he forgetting the עונש is regarded as doing it  מזיד.

I mentioned the question on the רמב''ם that the son of the רמב''ם answered. This was where the רמב''ם הלכות שגגות ז:ג says forgetting all ל''ט kinds of מלאכה on שבת with their punishments brings ל''ט sin offerings. The question was in what way then does he remember שבת?

Before I get to the answer of רב אברהם and the alternative answer of רב ש''ך I wanted to say the question is more severe than meets the eye. The reason is that the גמרא says why does the משנה say ל''ט? To tell us in the case he remembered שבת but forgot all the ל''ט he brings ל''ט sin offerings. Then the גמרא says this crucial phrase "בשלמא לרבי יוחנן" "That is fine for רבי יוחנן , but to ריש לקיש there is a question. If he forgot the ל''ט then how does he remember שבת?"  I ask why is it fine to רבי יוחנן? Because of the חילוק between him and ריש לקיש. If not for that difference it is clear the Gemara would think we have a question on רבי יוחנן also.

Just to be more clear: The גמרא thinks ל''ט is OK to רבי יוחנן because he can do all do all ל''ט and know they are forbidden but forget the עונש. That is why it is OK. So the גמרא has no problem with רבי יוחנן because obviously he is remembering שבת in knowing all ל''ט are forbidden. But when we turn to the רמב''ם, it looks like doing all ל''ט and  forgetting them and their עונשן still brings ל''ט sin offerings.

Now the son of the רמב''ם said the only two answers here I can think would help. One. The רמב''ם in the end of that הלכה was not saying it in context of the beginning. Or he remembered the תולדות branches of work.

 רבי יוחנן אומר שאם אחד זוכר שבת אבל שוכח כל ל''ט סוגי העבודה האסורים בשבת או עונשן הוא מביא קרבן חטאת עבור כל אחד. גם אם הוא עושה את הכל שהוא מביא ל''ט חטאות (קורבן חטאת). ריש לקיש אומר שאם הוא שוכח את העונש זה  נחשב שעושה את זה במזיד. הזכרתי את השאלה ברמב''ם שהבן של רמב''ם ענה. זה היה המקום שרמב''ם  אומר שאם שוכחים כל ה  ל''ט מינים של של מלאכה בשבת עם העונשים שלהם מביא ל''ט קורבן חטאת. (הלכות שגגות ז: ג) השאלה הייתה באיזו דרך אז הוא זוכר שבת
לפני שאני דן בתשובה של רב אברהם ותשובה חלופית של רב ש''ך, רציתי לומר השאלה היא חמורה יותר ממה שנראה לעין. הסיבה לכך היא שהגמרא אומרת מדוע המשנה אומרת ל''ט? לספר לנו במקרה שהוא נזכר שבת אבל שכח את כל הל''ט שהוא מביא ל''ט חטאות. אז הגמרא אומרת את המשפט הזה "בשלמא לרבי יוחנן, זה בסדר לרבי יוחנן, אבל לריש לקיש יש שאלה. אם הוא שכח ל''ט אז איך הוא יזכור שבת?" אני שואל למה זה בסדר לרבי יוחנן? בגלל החילוק בינו ובין ריש לקיש. אם לא ההבדל הזה ברור שהגמרא הייתה חושבת שיש לנו שאלה על רבי יוחנן גם. רק כדי להיות ברור יותר: הגמרא חושבת ל''ט הוא בסדר לרבי יוחנן משום שהוא יכול לעשות את כל  הל''ט ויודע שהם אסורות, אבל שוכח את העונשים. זו הסיבה שזה בסדר. אז  לגמרא אין בעיה עם רבי יוחנן, כי ברור שהוא זוכר שבת בידיעה שכל הל''ט אסורות. אבל כאשר אנו פונים לרמב''ם, זה נראה כמו שהוא עושה כל הל''ט ושוכח אותם ועונשן ועדיין מביא ל''ט קורבן חטאת. עכשיו בנו של רמב''ם אמר שתי התשובות שיכולות לעזור. אֶחָד. רמב''ם בסוף ההלכה לא אומר את זה בהקשר של ההתחלה. או שהוא נזכר בתולדות (הסניפים של עבודה).

Anaxagoras and Kant. Instead of things having to conform to the human mind, I think it would be a better idea to have things conform to the Mind that Anaxagoras was suggesting. This would correspond to Plotinus's three step system. First the One--the First Cause emanates the Mind. The Mind then contemplates the One and produces the world soul. [I am here leaning on my yeshiva education with Maimonides and Saadia Gaon's Neo Platonic approach. I admit this. But in any case, I think to make this kind of modification in Kant makes sense. But it does introduce a kind of Schopenhauer element into Kant. Dr. Kelley Ross would almost surely not go for this since he wants to stick with Kant's "dinge an sich" plural. Not Schopenhauer's "Ding An Sich" singular.