I don't have the book but I saw just one line from the book of the son of the Rambam that a tzadik saint is one who keeps all the commandments of God and a rasha [wicked person] is one who keeps none of them. I thought that this is amazingly clear. [The book is called מספיק לעובדי השם Enough for the servants of God. ]
What that means that there are no moral dilemmas. Everything is crystal clear. There is no hierarchy of  mitzvot. There is no set of commandments to emphasize beyond any others.[That is questions of dilemmas are already dealt with thoroughly in the Talmud and Mishna Torah. All there is is a personal decision whether to keep the Law of God or not. If it is unclear to  a person what the Law requires of him he can open up a Mishna Torah of the Rambam and if there is some question about world view he can open up a Guide for the Perplexed. That is the son of the Rambam refuses to see any ambiguity about what the Torah says or means. The implication is anyone who says or implies that there is an ambiguity is simply trying to get out of keeping some law that he finds inconvenient.

Music link for the glory of the God of Israel

q35 edited   [q35 in midi format]  q35 nwc

The insane religious world tries to pervert the Torah to be pantheistic. At a certain point I tired of seeing this and feel it is time to object.

I am not very happy with any make things in this world to be divine.  In the Torah only God is Divine and not people and not things. One major aspect of Torah is that God is One. This is in fact maybe the most famous aspect of Torah. As the Rambam explains this it means not just that he is not more than one but also he is not a composite.. He has no ingredients on the label..   He is not composed some kind of divine substance. And since he is not made of any Divine substance, nothing can be the same substance as God.

So it is not just pantheism that I am not happy with. Though pantheism might be the most extreme example of trying to make things out to be divine. But even more limited attempts  I am un-pleased with. For example claiming people's souls are Divine. This blurring of the boundary between God and Man annoys me.  We are not God and are unlikely ever to be God at any future date.
I don't know about you but I see this being attempted in all kinds of sneaky ways, all the time.

It is very often attempted with some group of people. If you are part of some group, then you can see how there is is an attempt to claim that that group is Divine. The leaders might use different terminology than how I am putting it here. But once you are aware of this, you can see through the cloud of words to see their major point. Maybe it is good for some people's self esteem to think they are God.
Often the insane religious world   say the "Jewish soul is a portion of God." [חלק אלוה ממעל] This is a kind of idolatry.

Others may pervert the Torah in different ways to make it more in accord with what they want it to say. But this issue seems to me to be worthy of attention.



It started with a loop hole. Kabalah. Whilst the kabalah of the Zohar, the Ari and the Remak is monotheistic, still the basic approach of condensation of the light, people have tried to claim implies pantheism.  When you confront people with this mistake they start to play word games.

When considering what yeshiva to join one can get deflected.

This is not all that different than if one is considering whether to go to Harvard for a business degree or some hick town, no name, liberal arts collage.

Why should this make a difference when all one wants is to learn Torah? The difference is in ones children.

This is because while in the secular world the difference between Harvard or a liberal arts collage is mainly about career, in the yeshiva world the difference is in terms of the "Shiduch."

You go to the Mir Yeshiva in Brooklyn , or Chaim Berlin, whether you will get a good shiduch is not the issue, but your children will.

This is because the Shiduch is the hidden fulcrum that everything revolves on in the frum world.
It is the hidden world of Shiduch dynamics that no one yet has mapped out.

But a few major rules are:
(1) Good families look  for good families.
(2) When a good family has a bad apple then they look for a baal teshuva to unload him or her onto.
(3) If you are however a baal teshuva and obey the rules, your children will be offered good shiduchim. [But you won't.]
There are many many more rules but these are  few.
Some of the rules have to do with character. A woman who has been divorced  and spends most of her mental energy on trying to show and prove to everyone that her husband was bad man will give her own children such a bad name that no one in their right mind will every offer to her children a decent shiduch. People associate bad character with bad news.
Some of the rules have to do with names of families. And some rules have to do with what yeshiva one is  apart of.

What is important to know here and why i bring this up is simply this. If you are part of  a good yeshiva--don't walk out. Don't leave the Mir to join some no name kollel.--or any so called kollel for that matter. Better to be part of an authentic yeshiva even as a nobody, than have a big kollel check that takes you away from an authentic Torah institution to some trash bin.

Some of the rules have to do with situation awareness. This is what fighter pilots needs when they go into combat. They need a 3-d image of what is going on around them.
The enemy is other yeshivas that try to convince you that they are top tier. Don't fall for that common trap.

Music for the glory of the God of Israel

q30

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j77


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e72

Rav Elazar Shach and the seventh year--Shemitah

The Rambam in Maasar Sheni I: 5 and I:6 says we go by the time of picking the estrog.
And also an estrog coming from year 6 to 7 is liable in maasar.
[The second law seems to indicate that we go by time of ripening. But we know that can not be true because of what the Rambam just wrote.]

I mentioned before that I have a way of understanding the rambam. But regardless of how anyone understands the rambam the fact is he is saying the same estrog will be liable in the seventh year laws and maasar/tithes also.
How is it possible to be liable in maasar for what is הפקר? Rav Shach answers it is not הפקר. Fruits of year 7 are not הפקר. If it would be then anyone could take it. That is is is not owner-less. Rather its owner is all Israel.

I have away of understanding Rav Shach. I would like the present the basic problem and my answer.

The problem is this. I don't care why the fruit of the seventh year is not liable in maasar.  I only care that it is. So while it is true the fruit of the seventh year is not הפקר owner-less still it is not liable in maasar because of a different verse that tells the Jewish people to leave the fruit of the 7th year open for all.

My answer is this: The Torah does tell us that the fruit of the 7th year is not liable in maasar. True But for what period is the Torah talking? For trees it has to be talking about the period from Tu Beshevat to Tu Beshevat because that is the seventh year for the fruit of the tree as far as maasar is concerned. It is that 7th year fruit alone that the Torah is telling us that it is not obligated in maasar.
I hope this is clear. For after all rosh hashhana for trees is tu beshevat, not rosh hashanah as far as maasar is concerned.
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The רמב''ם in מעשר שני א:ה א:ו says we go by the time of לקיטה the אתרוג.
And also an אתרוג coming from year ששית to שביעית is liable in מעשר.


I mentioned before that I have a way of understanding the רמב''ם. But regardless of how anyone understands the רמב''ם, the fact is he is saying the same אתרוג will be liable in the ביעור and מעשר also.
How is it possible to be liable in מעשר for what is הפקר?  He answers it is not הפקר. Fruits of שביעית are not הפקר. If they would be, then anyone could take them. That they are not הפקר. Rather their owner is all ישראל.

I have away of understanding רב שך. I would like the present the basic problem and my answer.

The problem is this. I don't care why the fruit of the שביעית is not liable in מעשר.  I only care that it is. So while it is true the fruit of the שביעית is not הפקר,  still it is not liable in מעשר because of a different verse that tells us to leave the fruit of the שביעית year open for all.

My answer is this: The Torah does tell us that the fruit of the שביעית year is not liable in מעשר. True But for what period is the Torah talking? For trees it has to be talking about the period from ט''ו בשבט to ט''ו בשבט because that is the שמיטה for the fruit of the tree as far as מעשר is concerned. It is that שביעית year fruit alone that the Torah is telling us that it is not obligated in מעשר.
I hope this is clear. For after all ראש השנה for trees is ט''ו בשבט, not א' תשרי as far as מעשר is concerned.

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הרמב''ם (במעשר שני א: ה א: ו) אומר שאנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של לקיטה לאתרוג. וגם אתרוג שמגיע משנה השישית לשביעית חייב במעשר.  העובדה היא שהוא אומר את אותו אתרוג יהיה חייב בביעור ומעשר גם. איך אפשר להיות חייב במעשר למה שהוא הפקר? רב שך עונה שהוא לא הפקר. פירות השביעי אינם הפקר. אם הם היו, אז כל אחד יכול לקחת אותם. אלא שהם לא הפקר. יש להם בעלים. הבעלים שלהם הוא כל ישראל.  אני רוצה להציג את הבעיה הבסיסית והתשובה שלי. הבעיה היא זו. לא אכפת לי למה הפירות של השביעית אינם חייבים במעשר. אכפת לי רק שזה עובדה. אז הגם שזה נכון שהפירות של השביעית  לא הפקרים, עדיין זה לא יהיה חייבים במעשר בגלל פסוק אחר שאומר לנו לעזוב את הפירות של השנה השביעית פתוחים לכל. התשובה שלי היא זו: התורה אומרת  לנו שהפירות של שנה השביעית אינם חייבים במעשר. נכון. אבל לאיזו תקופה מכוונת התורה? לעצים היא מדברת על התקופה מט''ו בשבט לט''ו בשבט כי זה שמיטה לפרי העץ. זה הוא תקופת השנה של השביעית  שהתורה אומרת לנו שבפירות אינם מחויבים מעשר. אני מקווה שזה ברור. לאחרי כל ראש השנה לאילנות הוא ט''ו בשבט, לא א' תשרי

I wanted to talk about speaking the truth at all cost. The thing is that this comes up in Musar.

 speaking the truth  has power. It is  the one thing that can save a person from all is enemies and troubles.

This should be taken with keeping in mind that many people do not speak the truth. Or they leave out things that change the significance. If you do commit yourself to speaking the truth you still need to be careful to stay away from liars.

is when a person is surrounded by darkness the way out towards the light is by holding to the trait of speaking the truth at all cost. In ch. 66 he refers to speaking the truth as a way of being saved from evil people.

Music for the glory of God

e33mp3  e33 midi  e33 nwc

h69mp3 h69 midi  h69 nwc

q31mp3  q31 midi q31 nwc

The Rambam in Maasaer Sheni I:5 does go like the sages in Usha that we go after picking. Then he goes like rabbi yochanan that an esrog coming from year 6 to year 7 is liable in maasar. This seems like a direct contradiction.


The Keseph Mishna says he is going לחומרא (being strict) in both cases.  This seems to be absurd since the Rambam did not said we go by the time of picking and ripening according to which one is more strict.


To me it seems simple. It is like a gravitational field and an electric field. They don't interact.
The maasaer field is from Tu BeShevat to Tu Beshevat. So even though it is the 7th year in terms of shemitah it is still the sixth year in terms of Maasar.

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The רמב''ם in מעשר שני א:ה does go like the רבותינו in אושא that we go after לקיטה. Then he goes like רבי יוחנן that an אתרוג coming from ששית  to שנה שביעית is liable in מעשר. This seems like a direct contradiction.


The כסף משנה says he is going לחומרא in both cases.  This seems to be absurd since the רמב''ם did not said we go by the time of לקיטה and חנטה according to which one is more strict.
Rav Shach wrote  "This כסף משנה is not understandable to me as much a it ought to be." He clearly was being polite.

To me it seems simple. It is like a gravitational field and an electric field. They don't interact.
The מעשר field is from ט''ו בשבט to ט''ו בשבט. So even though it is the שנה שביעית year in terms of שמיטה it is still the שנה ששית in terms of מעשר.

Though the כסף משנה is absurd you can still see why he said what he said. He was building on the גמרא where רבי עקיבא took two different kinds of מעשר from the same אתרוג because of some doubt which one it was liable to.

Also he might have considered my answer but  noted that the phrase coming from ששית to שביעית only means the חנטה was in ששית. For all we know the לקיטה might be after ט''ו בשבט.

Music files dedicated to God

n87 [n87 in midi format]


n100
[n100 in midi format]

e48 [e48 in midi format]


e34  [e34 in midi format]
exodus10 [exodus 10 in midi]

Music written for the glory of God

great title  I was a teenager when this was written;

bar yochai

written in NY


orchestra This also was when I was in High School

n3n1

written in Uman


exodus 4

This I think was written in Philadelphia on a trip back from Uman.

q30

Chaim from Voloshin-- a disciple of the Gra said that when a person accepts on himself the yoke of Torah, there is removed from him the time wasting distractions. This is really  a mishna but Reb Chaim puts a kind of emphasis on it. That is he said when one gets up in the morning and accepts on himself for that day to be involved in learning Torah, then the other time wasting and time consuming distractions are taken away from him.

This however does not mean to be in a yeshiva. Yeshivas today are very often themselves distractions. What this means in a practical vein is to get a small Talmud and to set aside a place in your home where you go through a half a page a day with Rashi, Tosphot, and the Maharsha and Maharam.

Along with this he also said that when one remembers his own sins constantly and confesses them that he will not be damaged in any way.

So here we have two valuable pieces of advice that I think provide a practical way to be saved from the many problems that plague a person.

An answer to a question in the Rambam

 ראש השנה י''ד וט''ו.רמב''ם מעשר שני פרק א' הלכה ה' ו'(
מבוא. אני רוצה לענות על שאלה ברמב''ם. הרמב''ם מחליט הלכה כמו רבותינו באושא,  היינו שהולכים לפי זמן לקיטה למעשר ולביעור. ואז בפסקה הבא [הלכה ו'] הוא מביא את הגמרא שאתרוג שנכנס משנה השישית לשנה השביעית הוא טבל אפילו אם זה היה רק בגודל של זית בשנה השישית ולאחר מכן בשנה השביעית הפך גדול כמו כיכר לחם. (לכאורה לפי מבט ראשון, זה נראה כמו שהולכים לפי חנטה בשביל מעשר.) התשובה שלי היא שהולכים לפי זמן הלקיטה אלא שאם הלקיטה הייתה בתקופה שבין ראש השנה של השנה השביעית עד ט''ו בשבט, אז זה עדיין נחשב כמו שנה הששית למעשר.

כדי לעשות את זה ברור תן לי להביא קצת רקע. (1) רבה אמר אתרוג שנכנס משישית לשביעית אינו מחויב מעשר ולא בביעור. אבל שנכנס מהשביעית לשמינית, הוא חייב בביעור. ( היינו החוקים של השנה השביעית). אביי שאל על זה.  ונראה  שאביי חושב שאנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של חנטה וכך מהשישית לשביעית היא בעיה. בכל מקרה רבה עונה לו. רב המנונה אמר שאנחנו הולכים לפי הזמן של חנטה. רשב''י (רבי שמעון בן יהודה) בשם רבי שמעון אמר השישית לשביעית והשביעית שלמינית אינו מחויב בשום דבר, כי אנחנו צריכים את זמן הגידול וזמן הלקיטה להיות במצב של חובה. הגמרא השיבה שרבה ורב המנונה הולכים כמו חמשת הזקנים (שיטת רבן גמליאל) שלביעור הולכים לפי חנטה. רבותינו נמנו וגמרו באושא שלגבי אתרוג הולכים אחר לקיטה בין למעשר בין לשביעית. ואז  רבי יוחנן אמר אתרוג שנכנס משישית לשביעית נחשב טבל--היינו מחויב מעשר.  (2) רבן גמליאל אמר לאתרוג הולכים לפי חנטה לשנה השביעית ולפי לקיטה למעשר. רבי אליעזר אמר שאנחנו הולכים לפי לקיטה לכל דבר.  (3) הראש השנה לשנת השמיטה ונטיעה הוא היום הראשון של תשרי. לאילן הוא ט''ו בשבט. (4) לא ניתן לשתול 30 ימים לפני ראש השנה של השנה השביעית כי מוסיפים מחול על הקודש. ומשהו שניטע כשמגיע לשנה הרביעית אחרי ראש השנה אסור להשאיר. ראש שנה דף י'. העובדה המפתח  היא רש''י שם, בעמוד י' שמסביר את העניין. רש''י זו היא נקודת  המוקד. לדבריו, למרות שהעץ הוא בשנתה ה -4 בגלל ראש השנה עבר, עדיין פרותיה ערלים ואסורים לנצח כי ט''ו בשבט לא בא. (5) לכן כאשר רמב''ם כותב אתרוג שנכנס משישית לשביעית מחויב מעשר, הוא מכוון  מא' תשרי לראש השנה לאילנות בט''ו בשבט. אז למרות שלמעשר הולכים לפי זמן הלקיטה, אבל עדיין  הוא לפני ט''ו בשבט והוא  שהוא נחשב עדיין להיות בשנה שעברה - שנה השישית לעניין מעשר.

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Introduction.
 I want to answer a question in the רמב''ם. In brief the רמב''ם decides the halacha like רבותינו שבאושא. and then in the next paragraph he brings the גמרא that a אתרוג going from the ששית into the שביעית year is טבל even if it was only the size of an olive in the ששית year and then in the שביעית year became as big as a loaf of bread. My answer is that he is referring to the period between ראש השנה of the שביעית year until ט''ו בשבט. That is what he means by saying it is a fruit of the ששית year that has gone into the שביעית.

 To make it clear what I mean let me try to bring some background information.

(1) רבה said an אתרוג going from ששית to שביעית is not obligated in מעשר nor ביעור.
But going from שביעית to שמינית, it is liable to ביעור the laws of the שביעית year. אביי asked on this and it seems off hand that אביי is thinking we go by the time of חנטה and so from ששית to שביעית is a problem. In any case רבה answers him. רב המנונה said we go by the time of חנטה. The רשב''י in the name of רבי שמעון said ששית to שביעית and שביעית to שמינית is not obligated in anything because we need the זמן גידול and the זמן לקיטה should be in a state of obligation. The גמרא answers that רבה and רב המנונה are going like the חמישה זקנים that for the שביעית year we go by חנטה.
Then comes the two statements of רבי יוחנן which the רמב''ם brings. The אתרוג going from ששית to שביעית is considered  טבל--obligated in מעשר. And  בת ששית לשביעית לעולם שביעית

(2) רבן גמליאל said for an אתרוג we go by חנטה for the שביעית year and by לקיטה for the מעשר,
רבי אליעזר said we go by לקיטה for everything.

(3) The ראש השנה for the שביעית year and נטיעה is the first day of תשרי. For אילן it is the ט''ו בשבט.

(4) You can't plant 30 days before ראש השנה of the שביעית year because we add from the secular onto the holy. And something planted that reaches the forth year after ראש השנה is forbidden forever. ראש השנה 10.

The key fact is theרש''י over there on page 10 that explains this last statement. This רש''י is the focal point of everything I have written here. He says even though the tree is in its 4th year because ראש השנה has passed, still its fruits are ערלה forbidden forever because ט''ו בשבט has not come.

(5) Therefore when the רמב''ם writes the אתרוג comes from ששית to שביעית is obligated in מעשר he means the first משנה that ראש השנה for trees in ט''ו בשבט. So even though for מעשר we go by the time of לקיטה, but still since it is before ט''ו בשבט it is as far as the אתרוג is concerned still the last year--that is year ששית and thus obligated in מעשר even though it in the שביעית year as far as the laws of the שביעית year is concerned.

(6) You have to consider this like two fields. One is a gravitational field and the other is an electrical field. They don't interact. You have a מעשר  field from tu beshavat to tu beshvat and another field  for shemitah from rosh hashanah to rosh hashanah

Rosh HaShanah 14-15

Introduction.
 I want to answer a question in the Rambam. In brief the Rambam decides the halacha like the sages in Usha. and then in the next paragraph he brings the Gemara that a estrog going from the 6th into the 7th year is tevel even if it was only the size of an olive in the 6th year and then in the 7th year became as big as a loaf of bread.My answer is that he is referring to the period between Rosh Hashanah of the 7th year until Tu Beshvat.

 To make it clear what I mean let me try to bring some background information.

(1) Rabah said an estrog going from 6 to 7 is not obligated in tithes nor the laws of the seventh year.
But going from 7 to 8, it is liable to the laws of the 7th year. Abyee asked on this and it seems off hand that Abyee is thinking we go by the time of ripening and so from 6 to 7 is a problem. In any case Rabah answers him. Rav HaMenunah said we go by the time of ripening --period. The Rashbi in teh name of Rabbi Shimon said 6 to 7 and 7 to 8 is not obligated in anything because we need the growth and the picking time should be in a state of obligation. The Talmud answers that Rabah and Rav HaMenunah are going like Rabban Gamiel and the Five Elders that for the 7th year we go by ripening.
The sages in Usha said we go by the time of picking for everything


The comes the two statements of Rabbi Yochanan which the Rambam brings. The estrog going from 6 to 7 is considered  tevel--obligated in tithes.

(2) Rabban Gamiel said for an estrog we go by ripening for the 7th year and by picking for the tithes,
Rabbi Eliezer said we go by picking for everything.

(3) The Rosh HaShanah for the 7th year and planting is the first day of Tishrei and for trees it is the 15th of Shevat.

(4) You can't plant 30 days before Rosh Hashanah of the 7th year because we add from the secular onto the holy. And something planted that reaches the forth year after Rosh Hashanah is forbidden forever. Rosh Hashanah 10.

The key fact is the Rashi over there on page 10 that explains this last statement. This Rashi is the focal point of everything I have written here. He says even though the tree is in its 4th year because Rosh Hashanah has passed, still its fruits are Orlah forbidden forever because Tu BeShevat has not come.

(5) Therefore when the Rambam writes the esrog comes from 6 to 7 is obligated in tithes he means the first Mishna that Rosh Hashanah for trees in Tu Beshavat. So even though for tithes we go by the time of picking, but still since it is before Tu Beshabat it is as far as the estrog is concerned still the last year--that is year 6 and thus obligated in tithes even though it in the 7th year as far as the laws of the 7th year is concerned.

Pantheism comes when stupid people learn the Ari (Isaac Luria).

Pantheism would be a great subject to into in detail because it is highly relevant nowadays. .

There has been a long progression in the attempt to change the Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism. It has only been Reform Judaism that has preserved the original faith of the Torah. I think this might be because Reform Judaism made the Guide of the Rambam to be a prime source of information about what the Torah is about.

I really have little against pantheism per se. Spinoza and the Upanishads have  a lot to say about this subject.
But I object to presenting the Torah as pantheism.

How can I show this? Well for one thing the Guide of the Rambam goes into detail about the idea that God made the world something from nothing. Now what people do to get pantheism from this is they change the meaning of those words. The problem with this is that words mean what they mean, not what you choose them to mean. Redefining a term with widespread understood usage to a specialized usage that is quite different doesn't make the usage legitimate scholarship. It marks the user as an incompetent scholar.

The path from Monotheism to Pantheism started in innocence. The Ari [Isaac Luria] got popular and from there it was a short  step from the idea of emanation into pantheism. Pantheism comes when stupid people learn the Ari.  

But to change Torah from Monotheism into Pantheism is not innocence. And you can see why the Gra would  have signed the Cherem [excommunication.](His name is the very first signature on that document.)
I guess this makes me the Grinch. For Pantheism has become in the minds of many people the most essential doctrine of Torah today. Speaking against it is like speaking against the deepest article of faith for many people.

People can get their feeling of numinosity [purpose and meaning] from all kinds of different places- many times not from good places. People can find their purpose and feelings of holiness in life from ideas that are from the Dark Side. They can believe so strongly that they can do even miracles from the Dark Side.

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Pantheism really just does not come up in the Talmud. The belief system of the Talmud is monotheism.. But this really never gets articulated until Maimonides and Saadia Gaon. And it would not even be of any interest if not for people trying to claim that the Torah is pantheistic.


In any case the discussion seems to be more relevant to philosophy than to any Talmudic or halacha issue. However this issue does seem to have some bearing on the halachic nature of idolatry. After all if "everything is godliness," then those who happen to be into some form of idolatry have a free ticket.


This discussion has some bearing on the issue of learning Musar. One advantage of the Musar movement was that they emphasized learning the basic books of medieval ethics before anyone started pushing pantheism.

Once people started pushing pantheism, it became rare to find any books that don't include pantheism of some form, and present it as authentic Torah.
What is monotheism? It is this: The world is not God. God made it; something from nothing.
The Rambam goes into this in his Guide and you can imagine that that might very well be the reason it is not a popular book.
Also just for the information I should mention that another aspect of monotheism is Divine simplicity;--God is not a composite.











 כשאני עוסק בנושא של עבודה זרה  אני חושב  שדיון על הפנתאיזם  יהיה רלוונטי. פנתאיזם אינו בתלמוד. מערכת האמונה של התלמוד היא מונותיאיזם. אבל זה לא מקבל ביטוי עד הרמב"ם וסעדיה גאון. וזה אפילו לא יהיה של כל עניין, אם לא שאנשים מנסים לטעון שהתורה היא חובקת פנתאיזם
 לנושא זה יש יחס לעבודת אלילים. אחרי הכל, אם "הכל אלוהות, אז אין עבודה זרה. יש לדיון זה יחס לנושא של לימוד מוסר. אחד היתרונות של תנועת המוסר היה שהם הדגישו לימוד הספרים הבסיסיים של תורה של ימי הביניים לפני שמישהו התחיל לדחוף פנתאיזם. ברגע שהאנשים התחילו לדחוף פנתאיזם, זה הפך נדיר למצוא ספרים שאינם כוללים פנתאיזם של צורה כלשהי ולהציג אותו כאותנטי תורה

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learning Torah

I don't know how to go about learning Torah. It seems to me the best idea --if at all possible to to get a small Talmud Bavli, [Babylonian Talmud] and set of Musar [mediaeval Ethics] books and to learn at home.
It is not that this is the best way to go about it, but rather that any other way seem to be unworkable.
Hillel's are more for fun activities. Synagogue are also for other things.

In Eastern Europe there was a concept of a place where people would go when they were off from work, and be able to go in a sit and learn Torah; but today there are no such places. Yeshivas  are private, and certainly not anyone can walk in and sit and learn. So the old concept of  a "beit midrash" is largely extinct.


Now if you have a Hillel or a Reform or Conservative Temple in your neighborhood in theory you could set aside a place inside for learning Torah alone. But that would depend on other people's desires. And you  don't want your learning Torah to be dependent on other people's desires.



What I mean by a small Talmud Bavli is the small set they used to print a few years ago. You could get the whole Talmud for about hundred dollars then. And it had the Rif in it also. I should mention that I do think the Ari is also good to learn. But Torah learning nowadays really has to be done at home unless you happen to be in the vicinity of a legitimate Lithuanian yeshiva. But those places are rare.

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There is a divide between Jewish people and Conservatives in the USA. Jews always vote for as close to Communism and Socialism as they can get. And our support of blacks can be interpreted as not so much a love of blacks, but more because they are enemies of white people.

So what I suggest to correct this situation is that people should learn Torah.
This will be helpful in two directions. One is that when Jewish people learn Torah, they will see that the Torah's values are not socialism, but rather identical with conservative values. On the other hand when Conservatives learn Torah, they will benefit by gaining a more consistent world view.

The left is so antisemitic it is a wonder to me that any decent person can associate themselves with them. My advice is thus to vote for what would be considered conservative values in the next election. And in the meantime to start learning Torah. For those who need an introduction to Torah I recommend the Horev of Shimshon Refael Hirsch--but only as an intro. At some point you need to start serious learning on your own. That is to get a Talmud Bavli and start working your way through it. . [Avraham Cook's books also are very good for an introduction in Torah.]

 mysticism is not an introduction to Torah. It is best to learn them after one has finished the Talmud at least once and also the main writings of Isaac Luria. Without that basic background the tendency is to misunderstand him.

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For  health I recommend learning Musar, [like the Duties of the Heart and the general set of books on Ethics you can find in almost any Lithuanian yeshiva. These are yeshivas which walk in the path of the Gra.]


These are books that don't deal directly with  health but rather with the world view of Torah and how to keep Torah in a practical way. But the offshoot of learning these books is one gains fear of God. And fear of God is useful in several ways, one of which is  health.
But not everything that deals with Torah ethics is accurate. Many books which claim to be teaching Torah are pseudo Torah. To get to real Fear of God one needs authentic Torah.
Now I realize that authentic Torah can be dry. This is in fact the reason why Musar and Gemara are not learned. They are hard and unless you develop a taste for them they are dry.  

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Antisemitism comes the verse כמים הפנים אל פנים כן לב אדם. As the face that appears in water is to the face that it reflects so is the heart of a man to his neighbor. So his conclusion is that antisemitism is a direct result of people learning Rashi on Chumash.

Antisemitism comes the verse כמים הפנים אל פנים כן לב אדם. As the face that appears in water is to the face that it reflects so is the heart of a man to his neighbor. So his conclusion is that antisemitism is a direct result of people learning Rashi on Chumash. [That is to say  people should instead learn the Ramban on Chumash].


 There was  a black fellow that was an anchor of a news program on TV. He heard two of his co workers mention about how blacks are prone to violence. He decided to teach them a lesson about racism and so shot them. I guess he thought that would show them how wrong they were.

My basic point was that race is how nature species one species into two. I explained that let's say you have a species of bird and you separate them. They first separate into two races. One way this happens is their color is different. Then eventually they become different species.
Or in England where you have soot. Take one species of bird and put some there. They  develop color that blends into the soot. The part of the species that was not there developed differently and eventually they became two different species.
At some point they becomes different species. Nature has already decided to separate black and white into tow different species and has started this project already. To try to revers this progression is just provoking nature to make her point all the more powerfully.

When you go to a Litvak yeshiva the first thing that happens is someone asks you to complete some minyan somewhere near by. Or they need you for some other purpose.

Many people including myself wonder if we are required to interrupt our studies for such a thing.

Rav Ovadia Joseph was asked in a more general vein about yeshiva students going to Meron on Lag Be'Omer. [He answered in the negative.]

The way I would look at this would be from the standpoint of halacha. מצווה שאי אפשר לעשות על ידי אחרים מבטלים בשבילה

But what people are really wondering about is this: Is there a specific advantage to pray in a yeshiva as opposed to a a synagogue. I would say that today most yeshivas are places of the Dark Side. The pretend to be places of Torah but most often are places of worship of some dead person. But if in fact you have in your area an authentic Lithuanian yeshiva then by all means I would say to pray there on Rosh Hashana at almost all cost.

 yeshiva meaning a place where people learn Talmud Rashi and Tosphot all day.

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Someone comes to kill you, kill them first. הקם להרגך הקדם להרגו. This is straight forward principle from the Talmud. You don't wait until they have shot at you. You shoot them immediately when their intention is clear. I should mention this right to self defense applies to Jews also. They don't need to wait until they are nuked in order to take action.

Since Iran announces their intention to wipe Israel off the map and they say every day in their radio programs exactly what they are planning on doing with the Bomb there is no need to wait until their fulfill their desires.

My basic approach is that of Israel Salanter. I go with his idea that the basic cannon of Musar books defines the Torah approach. That is to say there is something like a closed cannon. The basic ones are well known.[חובות לבבות, אורחות צדיקים, מסילת ישרים, שערי תשובה]

This concept was  never really articulated by Rav Salanter himself but it seem implicit in the basic Musar approach that developed after him.

I bring this up because I want to tell people to learn Musar right when they get up in the morning. For myself I have known that the first hours in the morning are very important, and you can see this theme in Chaim from Voloshin also."Everything goes by the beginning."


The advantage of Fear of God is that it brings to length of days. That is your days become longer. You have to spend less time wasted with trivial stuff that adds nothing to your quality of life.

Appendix: If people would learn Musar I think many issues on a personal basis and a national basis would be solved.  You can't imagine people learning Musar that would have any doubt about abortion or homosexuality. But further more the disciple of Israel Salanter Isaac Blazer wrote that Musar is a cure even for mental disease. It is רפואת הנפש ורפואת הגוף. So the solution to all your problems is right in front of you. And the solution to all the problems in the USA is right in front of them. And the solution to all the problems in Israel is right in front of us all. Learn books that instill in you fear of God right away when you get up in the morning. I mean even one page. Say it word for word.

The point is not just to learn Torah but to get in a direct way what the Torah is telling you.

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Race is actually a function of biology. It is the way nature starts to separate one species into two or more. And you can't fight nature. Nature will always win. And the more you fight it, the more forceful Nature will be in getting her way. Nature laughs at those who think they can beat her.
People are finding this out the hard way.

Ideas in Shas

I added a new idea here at the end about the Rambam in Bava Kama 19. I decided there is no way to get him to fit the Gemara and so I came up with an idea that he must have has a different version than our Gemara. I think you have to say this because the Gra said that Rambam is "אינו מובן" ("not understandable."

Also you can see I wrote some of this in Talmudic Hebrew and the more recent things in  modern Hebrew. So if there are mistakes in grammar please forgive me. I in fact assume it still needs a lot of editing. The reason I put it here is because the ideas are sound.

I also edited the middle a little. To me today it seems the Rambam may have understood outside books to mean books of idolatry. And the Rif and Rosh it means books that explain the Torah not in accordance with the Talmud.  The Rif and Rosh here have an opinion that is strict--even more than the Rambam. The reason is that almost all  "Torah" books today explain the Torah in ways not in accordance with the Talmud. They all have use  kabalistic foundations and principles to explain the Torah. That would make the entire body of Torah writings from all the major publishing houses to be ספרים חיצוניים outside books.

Personally I am not against the Kabalah. But still I think it is fair point to take note that every so called Torah book today on issues of "השקפה" [world view] takes its world view from anywhere except Talmud.