I also got the idea that there has been a great effort to bring people from 3rd world countries into the USA and to keep out white people. I also ran into a lot of people from first world countries that would have loved to come to the USA but getting any kind of visa was virtually impossible. Someone has been trying hard to change the racial makeup of the USA.
24.8.16
OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) has nothing to do with Fear of God, but to the religious world it is the same thing. The more one focuses on rituals, is the more holy they seem..
A lot of religious motivation has more to do with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder more than with any kind of holiness. But not all.
And the system of the Ultra Religious encourages and nourishes this kind of disorder.
This happens when nothing else seems to work. A time of anxiety brings this on.
The obsessions in the Ultra Religious world are the exact same things as classic OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) , [i.e. cleanliness, food preparation, obsession with sex, holy places. numerology and gematriot.
The leaders are people that have an exaggerated version of this OCD.
And this is the basic reason why the Ultra Religious world is insane.
OCD has nothing to do with Fear of God, but to the religious world it is the same thing. The more they focus on rituals, the more holy they think they are.
So, in spite of the great thing that Reb Israel Salanter did in emphasizing Musar and Fear of God, still there is this troubling side of things in which fear of God can't be discerned or told apart from a diseased imagination.
For this reason Reb Israel Salanter himself focused on the more rational books of Musar Ethics from the Middle Ages more than the later Musar books which were all fused with kabalah and probably were written by people with this disorder. The obsession with religion is not the sign of a healthy personality, even though being true to the word of God in the Oral and Written Law is important.
[After spending time with the religious, you will start noticing this just as I did. A lot the people there simply have diseased imaginations.]
You can see why in Lithuanian kinds of Yeshivas obsessive religious behavior was rigorously excluded in order to prevent these kinds of crazy people from joining. Thus in the ultra Religious world you have people at the heads of the cults have different levels of OCD, but that is rare in the Litvak world which excludes this kind of insanity.
However to avoid people with this kind of disorder it is safer to simply join a Reform Temple. I myself went to Temple Israel and also to a Conservative place in Southern California.
This happens when nothing else seems to work. A time of anxiety brings this on.
The obsessions in the Ultra Religious world are the exact same things as classic OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) , [i.e. cleanliness, food preparation, obsession with sex, holy places. numerology and gematriot.
The leaders are people that have an exaggerated version of this OCD.
And this is the basic reason why the Ultra Religious world is insane.
OCD has nothing to do with Fear of God, but to the religious world it is the same thing. The more they focus on rituals, the more holy they think they are.
So, in spite of the great thing that Reb Israel Salanter did in emphasizing Musar and Fear of God, still there is this troubling side of things in which fear of God can't be discerned or told apart from a diseased imagination.
For this reason Reb Israel Salanter himself focused on the more rational books of Musar Ethics from the Middle Ages more than the later Musar books which were all fused with kabalah and probably were written by people with this disorder. The obsession with religion is not the sign of a healthy personality, even though being true to the word of God in the Oral and Written Law is important.
[After spending time with the religious, you will start noticing this just as I did. A lot the people there simply have diseased imaginations.]
You can see why in Lithuanian kinds of Yeshivas obsessive religious behavior was rigorously excluded in order to prevent these kinds of crazy people from joining. Thus in the ultra Religious world you have people at the heads of the cults have different levels of OCD, but that is rare in the Litvak world which excludes this kind of insanity.
However to avoid people with this kind of disorder it is safer to simply join a Reform Temple. I myself went to Temple Israel and also to a Conservative place in Southern California.
23.8.16
Math, Physics, Gemara Musar, Music, Survival Skills.
I mentioned a few times that my basic approach is Torah with Derech Eretz [manners and a vocation.]. That is Math, Physics, Gemara Musar, Music, Survival Skills. But also I wanted to add the learning these things does not depend on understanding. There is such a thing as a mitzvah to learn Torah even though you do not understand. This is not just because it is assumed that with lots of review one will eventually understand. There is also the idea that in the next world one will be reminded and understand everything he tried to understand in this world but was not able to do so.
This forms the basis of the type of fast learning that all authentic Litvak yeshivas do in the afternoon and I showed how this comes from the Talmud itself. לעולם לגרס איניש אע''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר
I mentioned this in reference to Tosphot --just to say it over day after day, even for months until you understand.[Unless you are learning with a learning partner. In that case you do this kind of learning on your own time.]
But also this applies to learning Gemara, and Tur, Beit Joseph. To put a place marker in the book and every day do one whole page in order, and the next day to go on from where you left off.
I wanted to add the idea of learning standing. This is also a great help to understanding. I remember that this was how I did a lot of the writings of the Ari(zal), Isaac Luria. I did not have "Stender" at home so I pulled out the shelf of one cabinet and stood up learning the Ari. [Not during "seder" or regular yeshiva hours 10:00-2:00 4:00-8:00]
This should not be taken as a kind of agreement with the Ultra Religious who are insane. This should only be taken as agreement with Lithuanian yeshivas where Torah is learned for its own sake. Nothing else in the religious world do I consider kosher at all. [In fact the Gra knew exactly what he was doing when he signed the Cherem and it is wrong for people to ignore it, because it relates to objective reality.] This affected the entire frum world including the yeshivas. Even the yeshivas have gotten a share of the kelipot that penetrated into them. They will make a song and dance around secular Jews that have money but treat other people like dirt.
This forms the basis of the type of fast learning that all authentic Litvak yeshivas do in the afternoon and I showed how this comes from the Talmud itself. לעולם לגרס איניש אע''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר
I mentioned this in reference to Tosphot --just to say it over day after day, even for months until you understand.[Unless you are learning with a learning partner. In that case you do this kind of learning on your own time.]
But also this applies to learning Gemara, and Tur, Beit Joseph. To put a place marker in the book and every day do one whole page in order, and the next day to go on from where you left off.
I wanted to add the idea of learning standing. This is also a great help to understanding. I remember that this was how I did a lot of the writings of the Ari(zal), Isaac Luria. I did not have "Stender" at home so I pulled out the shelf of one cabinet and stood up learning the Ari. [Not during "seder" or regular yeshiva hours 10:00-2:00 4:00-8:00]
This should not be taken as a kind of agreement with the Ultra Religious who are insane. This should only be taken as agreement with Lithuanian yeshivas where Torah is learned for its own sake. Nothing else in the religious world do I consider kosher at all. [In fact the Gra knew exactly what he was doing when he signed the Cherem and it is wrong for people to ignore it, because it relates to objective reality.] This affected the entire frum world including the yeshivas. Even the yeshivas have gotten a share of the kelipot that penetrated into them. They will make a song and dance around secular Jews that have money but treat other people like dirt.
22.8.16
Muslims purposely target Jews on campus with insults and many other ways of making them feel no wanted.
Sephardim picked this up technique of subtle harassment from Muslims. They do it to Ashkenazim pretty consistently. But then you have some Sephardim that are appalled at this behavior, but they can't do anything about it. There is always at least one that makes life intolerable for the Ashkenazi until he is forced to leave town. [Unless the area is Ashkenazi and the sephardim are the guests.]
Musar-Ethics has a promise that goes with it from Isaac Blazzer (the disciple of Reb Israel Salanter) of being a cure for all bodily, and mental, and spiritual diseases.
, The way I decided on what to say when I get up in the morning took time and thought to
develop. It is a long and involved story. At the Mir in NY my interest was kindled in Musar (Ethics) one Rosh Hashanah. Then I lost interest. And then recently I asked a fellow from Bnei Brak to bring some books of straight, normal Musar. The first one was
I think the Obligations of the Heart. After that I asked for a book of Musar
that is well known in yeshivas called Even Sh'lema and the Nefesh HaChaim by the disciple of the Gra, Reb Chaim from
Voloshin and another well know Musar book called Madrgat HaAdam [by Joseph
Yozel Horwitz, a disciple of Reb Israel Salanter].
Then while reading
these books I noticed at certain time areas of character development that I
seemed to be lacking.
Then I wrote down one
long paragraph and I would say it to my self right away when I got up in the
morning. I forget which one it was but it might be the same one that I still
say to myself when I get up: "When a person gets up in the morning and accepts
upon himself that day to be mekababel [accept on himself] the yoke of Torah in
truth –that is he decides in his heart that he will listen to no one and
nothing will prevent him then on that day he will have success in Torah. And
according to the deep of his commitment and strength of his conviction to that
degree from Heaven he will receive help and he distractions and obstacles will
be taken away from him."
After that I decided I
needed help to judge people on the scales of merit and thus started saying to
myself: "It is a known tested fact that when one has enemies –G-d forbid,- and he
judges them on the scale of merit, that is, he decides in his heart that they are
true and perfect saints, then immediately their heart will be turned to be his
friends." {From Reb Chaim from Voloshin the disciple of the Gra}
A long time after that
it occurred to me that I had ceased trusting in God at all and that this had
been an important factor in my upward development. So I decided to start saying
over a paragraph about trust in God that I had seen in the book the Madragat
HaAdam during the middle of the day. But then at some point I started saying it also in the morning.
The whole paragraph is this: “Trust in God with all your heart and do not depend on your intellect.” (Mishlei Proverbs 3) That is your heart should be perfect and whole in trust in God and not with just part of your heart and do not depend on your intellect that is You should not say I will trust in God but I am also obligated to do actions and to depend on my intellect. There it says do not depend even as a staff or support you should not depend on your intellect.
The whole paragraph is this: “Trust in God with all your heart and do not depend on your intellect.” (Mishlei Proverbs 3) That is your heart should be perfect and whole in trust in God and not with just part of your heart and do not depend on your intellect that is You should not say I will trust in God but I am also obligated to do actions and to depend on my intellect. There it says do not depend even as a staff or support you should not depend on your intellect.
Someone heard in the
name of the Gra that this is the explanation of what it says in Rosh HaShanah
25B
The students at the
Beit Midrash did not understand the word Yehavka יהבך in psalms [Cast on God your
yehavka and he will take care of your burden יהבך]. Then one day they heard a gentile merchant
tell Raba Bar Bar Chana “Take your Yehavka (burden) and put it on my camel.” The Gra said it does not mean the students
did not understand the word. Rather it means they thought one should trust in
Go an also do effort. Therefore they had a question on that verse. It should say
your needs. Then they saw the merchant tell Raba Bar Bar Chana to take his
burden and out it on his camel and then they understood that when something is
supposed to come to one from Heaven then it will come no matter what and one does
not need to do any effort to get it.
Musar Ethics has a promise that goes with it from Isaac Blazzer the disciple of Israel Salanter of being a cure for all bodily and mental and spiritual diseases.
Musar Ethics has a promise that goes with it from Isaac Blazzer the disciple of Israel Salanter of being a cure for all bodily and mental and spiritual diseases.
While in my present situation I can't learn Musar [no books available] , I hope at least to encourage others to do so. While the best kind of approach is the Litvak Musar Yeshiva , still if that is not possible at least at home.
21.8.16
Christianity and the Mystic Rav Avraham Abulafia
Christianity I think is mainly based on Paul, and not Jesus at all. Jesus himself I see as simply a Jewish saint. And one could go further based on the medieval Mystic Rav Avraham Abulafia and claim he was משיח בן יוסף (messiah son of Joseph) foretold in the Talmud tractate Sukka.
That still would not provide any reason to worship him, as the Rambam makes clear.
[I mean to say that the Rambam made Monotheism clearer by going with Aristotle. In that case the idea of the First Cause is absolutely simple and consistent with Divine Simplicity.]
Appendix
Note (1) I mean to say that Neo-Platonic thought up until the Rambam had enough problems to cause the Rambam to switch to Aristotle, and Aquinas followed him. I used to think perhaps the reason was Divine Simplicity, but now that I am thinking of it, I realize you can have just as much Divine Simplicity with Neo Platonic thought.
Note (2) Avraham Abulafia's books have been printed in Mea Shearim Jerusalem-or you can buy the whole set on line. When I was researching this topic I had to go through the microfilms with that insane medieval script to see what Rav Abulafia was saying. I should mention Avraham Abulafia was the subject of professor Moshe Idel's (at H.U.) Ph.D thesis and later books. }
Note (3) The subject of Messiah son of Joseph comes up a little in the Zohar, but mainly in Moshe Chaim Lutzatto's Tikunim and the קול התור of the Gra and a drop in the Ari {Isaac Luria}. The Gra's book, Kol HaTor deals mainly with the topic of messiah son of Joseph. Maybe there are more sources that I did not run into.
Note (4) I am not saying this is a topic to spend time on. Mainly it looks to me to be "Bitul Torah" wasting time that could be better spent on learning Torah. But still, in any case, I had I think good reason to get to the bottom of this topic.
Note (5) Sorry. I forgot to mention that Rav Avraham Abulafia was respected by Reb Chaim Vital and the Chida.
Note (6) Rav Abulafia went to debate the pope. He was not happy with the Catholic Church. There were orders to arrest him. No one could lay a hand on him.
Note (7) Rav Abulfia's ideas are brought down in the Remak and also Reb Chaim Vital in detail [in שערי קדושה חלק רביעי].
Note (8) The reason I say that Christianity is based on Paul is that if your take Jesus in his own context there is no claim of Divinity nor nullification of the commandments. These are strictly Pauline doctrines. That is to say major doctrines of the church have no textual support from the New Testament. The said doctrines contradict what Jesus said openly. They depend only on Paul and yet Paul was writing things that contradicted what the disciples of Jesus had written openly in his name.
I should mention:I grew up in John Birch society area. It was basically WASP and very nice. I kind of had a glimpse of Old American Values, and it was a really nice world.
That still would not provide any reason to worship him, as the Rambam makes clear.
[I mean to say that the Rambam made Monotheism clearer by going with Aristotle. In that case the idea of the First Cause is absolutely simple and consistent with Divine Simplicity.]
Appendix
Note (1) I mean to say that Neo-Platonic thought up until the Rambam had enough problems to cause the Rambam to switch to Aristotle, and Aquinas followed him. I used to think perhaps the reason was Divine Simplicity, but now that I am thinking of it, I realize you can have just as much Divine Simplicity with Neo Platonic thought.
Note (2) Avraham Abulafia's books have been printed in Mea Shearim Jerusalem-or you can buy the whole set on line. When I was researching this topic I had to go through the microfilms with that insane medieval script to see what Rav Abulafia was saying. I should mention Avraham Abulafia was the subject of professor Moshe Idel's (at H.U.) Ph.D thesis and later books. }
Note (3) The subject of Messiah son of Joseph comes up a little in the Zohar, but mainly in Moshe Chaim Lutzatto's Tikunim and the קול התור of the Gra and a drop in the Ari {Isaac Luria}. The Gra's book, Kol HaTor deals mainly with the topic of messiah son of Joseph. Maybe there are more sources that I did not run into.
Note (4) I am not saying this is a topic to spend time on. Mainly it looks to me to be "Bitul Torah" wasting time that could be better spent on learning Torah. But still, in any case, I had I think good reason to get to the bottom of this topic.
Note (5) Sorry. I forgot to mention that Rav Avraham Abulafia was respected by Reb Chaim Vital and the Chida.
Note (6) Rav Abulafia went to debate the pope. He was not happy with the Catholic Church. There were orders to arrest him. No one could lay a hand on him.
Note (7) Rav Abulfia's ideas are brought down in the Remak and also Reb Chaim Vital in detail [in שערי קדושה חלק רביעי].
Note (8) The reason I say that Christianity is based on Paul is that if your take Jesus in his own context there is no claim of Divinity nor nullification of the commandments. These are strictly Pauline doctrines. That is to say major doctrines of the church have no textual support from the New Testament. The said doctrines contradict what Jesus said openly. They depend only on Paul and yet Paul was writing things that contradicted what the disciples of Jesus had written openly in his name.
I should mention:I grew up in John Birch society area. It was basically WASP and very nice. I kind of had a glimpse of Old American Values, and it was a really nice world.
a Litvak yeshiva
Ideas in Tractate Bava Metzia edited Ch 8 and ch 9.
The best place to learn Torah, if possible, is a Litvak yeshiva [called Litvak because "Litva" is the proper name of Lithuania] It is where yeshivas were real and authentic
That is they were made in order to learn and keep Torah --not schools to turn out people that use Torah for money. This was an argument I had with my parents. They thought yeshivas were really meant as means to make money. I tried to convince them that, "No. Rather their pursuit is to learn and keep Torah." Which of us was right I still do not know.
I would say that Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY and Ponovitch in Israel are in fact for Torah "Lishma" (for its own sake.)
The best idea as far as I can tell is to learn a vocation, and not be in a position in which the only way one can make it is by using Torah.
It is considered that Ponovitch is the best of the Litvak yeshivas, and Rav Elazar Menachem Shach was Rosh Yeshiva there for some time. From what I can tell this is accurate. Brisk also has a great reputation which is probably well deserved. But the best is probably Ponovitch [which includes "off shoots" (branches) like yeshivas founded by people that went to Ponovitch, e.g. Tifrach.]
The best place to learn Torah, if possible, is a Litvak yeshiva [called Litvak because "Litva" is the proper name of Lithuania] It is where yeshivas were real and authentic
That is they were made in order to learn and keep Torah --not schools to turn out people that use Torah for money. This was an argument I had with my parents. They thought yeshivas were really meant as means to make money. I tried to convince them that, "No. Rather their pursuit is to learn and keep Torah." Which of us was right I still do not know.
I would say that Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY and Ponovitch in Israel are in fact for Torah "Lishma" (for its own sake.)
The best idea as far as I can tell is to learn a vocation, and not be in a position in which the only way one can make it is by using Torah.
It is considered that Ponovitch is the best of the Litvak yeshivas, and Rav Elazar Menachem Shach was Rosh Yeshiva there for some time. From what I can tell this is accurate. Brisk also has a great reputation which is probably well deserved. But the best is probably Ponovitch [which includes "off shoots" (branches) like yeshivas founded by people that went to Ponovitch, e.g. Tifrach.]
20.8.16
Old Testament
DNA+ Old Testament+ Athens+ Sparta+ Rome = Western Civilization. So the "white thing" is one important factor. Genes and DNA do matter.
Even among Sephardim it was well known that DNA makes a difference. After the Muslim invaded and took Jewish women for wives it was the custom in all Middle East areas to write Samech Tet (Sephardi Tahor) after one's name to indicate that one could trace his ancestry to Jewish fathers before the Arabs invaded. That is one is "pure Spanish" and not mixed with the Jews of North Africa that all had Muslim parentage mixed in.
[I see the Talmud and the as an important part of Western Civilization.
New Testament itself I consider to have some good points and some bad points. The good ones are obvious--that it emphasis important aspects of the holy Torah--compassion. Compassion is something that people like to give lip service to but when in need people know the only place you can go to get help in an emergency is to a Christian. I have experienced this myself and I know I am not alone. [Other people as a rule talk about kindness, but Christians tend to be the ones to do it.]
The Talmud emphasizes the more obvious aspects of the Law of Moses--the actual nitty gritty about how to understand and keep each particular commandment. That is the the Talmud deal with the specifics of the Torah --how to what doe each mitzvah mean in a practical sense. This is also an important aspect of Torah and it is one that Christians ignore completely.
There are people that make a very big deal about keeping rituals that think that because of that they are close to God and the Law of Moses. They are about as from from God and the Law of Moses as it is possible to get.
Nowadays however everything that people look for as a system has to fail. It is something that is part of some Divine plan that the more one believes in some doctrine or in some group that that group will disappoint him and show itself to be the exact opposite of human decency and everything good.
It is called "the Twilight of the gods". So it does not matter what system you believe in. The more you believe in it the more it will disappoint you.
So DNA is one factor but not determinate. People still have free will and there are plenty of memes an paradigms to choose from. And even if one has made a choice to choose a good meme {Like the Bible} there are still plenty of ways of fouling it up.
Best approach that I know of--to be self sufficient and learn math Physics, Gemara, Musar, and survival skills. And the purpose of this learning is all in order to understand and keep the Law of Moses.
Even among Sephardim it was well known that DNA makes a difference. After the Muslim invaded and took Jewish women for wives it was the custom in all Middle East areas to write Samech Tet (Sephardi Tahor) after one's name to indicate that one could trace his ancestry to Jewish fathers before the Arabs invaded. That is one is "pure Spanish" and not mixed with the Jews of North Africa that all had Muslim parentage mixed in.
[I see the Talmud and the as an important part of Western Civilization.
New Testament itself I consider to have some good points and some bad points. The good ones are obvious--that it emphasis important aspects of the holy Torah--compassion. Compassion is something that people like to give lip service to but when in need people know the only place you can go to get help in an emergency is to a Christian. I have experienced this myself and I know I am not alone. [Other people as a rule talk about kindness, but Christians tend to be the ones to do it.]
The Talmud emphasizes the more obvious aspects of the Law of Moses--the actual nitty gritty about how to understand and keep each particular commandment. That is the the Talmud deal with the specifics of the Torah --how to what doe each mitzvah mean in a practical sense. This is also an important aspect of Torah and it is one that Christians ignore completely.
There are people that make a very big deal about keeping rituals that think that because of that they are close to God and the Law of Moses. They are about as from from God and the Law of Moses as it is possible to get.
Nowadays however everything that people look for as a system has to fail. It is something that is part of some Divine plan that the more one believes in some doctrine or in some group that that group will disappoint him and show itself to be the exact opposite of human decency and everything good.
It is called "the Twilight of the gods". So it does not matter what system you believe in. The more you believe in it the more it will disappoint you.
So DNA is one factor but not determinate. People still have free will and there are plenty of memes an paradigms to choose from. And even if one has made a choice to choose a good meme {Like the Bible} there are still plenty of ways of fouling it up.
Best approach that I know of--to be self sufficient and learn math Physics, Gemara, Musar, and survival skills. And the purpose of this learning is all in order to understand and keep the Law of Moses.
I figure the reason two people developed two eyes instead of one is the classical double split experiment. That is: with two slits you get interference patterns. This gives a better idea of distance than one slit where the particles act as particles, not as waves.
The distance between the eyes in proportion to the distance to the object is a trig function.
The distance between the eyes in proportion to the distance to the object is a trig function.
19.8.16
What we are seeing I think is the death of the gods all the "ism"s, capitalism, communism, and all the cults.
I am looking at this in a global way, but you could take almost any of the ism's. For example the Catholics are headed by a communist pope, and the Protestants have become a kind of Churchianity.
Church now is entertainment of the most superficial type. It is mainly to give sexual stimulus to the alpha male who has all the women listening to his every word. It is mainly geared towards the weakening of the men in the congregation.
The Torah world is no exception. The gods and the yeshivas there died also. It is a global phenomenon.
The main thing that characterizes the world today is disappointment in what ever they believed in.
Family and Home?
I am looking at this in a global way, but you could take almost any of the ism's. For example the Catholics are headed by a communist pope, and the Protestants have become a kind of Churchianity.
Church now is entertainment of the most superficial type. It is mainly to give sexual stimulus to the alpha male who has all the women listening to his every word. It is mainly geared towards the weakening of the men in the congregation.
The Torah world is no exception. The gods and the yeshivas there died also. It is a global phenomenon.
The main thing that characterizes the world today is disappointment in what ever they believed in.
Family and Home?
There is no incentive for a man to marry anymore. A wife to be proud of? Odds are that she’s in open competition with you for status and won’t submit. Kids? Odds are she’s going to take them away. Sex? When she’s in the mood *maybe*.
Throw in the fact that she’s likely to start the process of taking everything away from you including future earnings, time with your kids and beat you in mental submission through counseling and the like? Why would you want to?
Self sufficiency as the most fundamental principle of my Dad.
This manifested itself in many ways. Mainly it was in showing us how to do things ourselves. And also in not accepting help for anything that you can do on your own. In those days there were no computers so I was only allowed to use a slide rule when I could do the calculations by hand. When we went skiing as a family I was allowed to use the ski lift until I could climb the mountain and ski down on my own with no help. This meant mastering outdoor skills and also plain house keeping skills like sewing. Maybe he called this "self reliance." In any case this must have been the most important principle which he tried to instill in me and my brothers.
It was the exact opposite of communities that teach their children to rely on charity.
Thus while learning Torah is important, he did not agree with being in a situation in which one would end up having to relay on people's charity and be using the holy Torah to make a living as in done in kollels.
He held strongly of learning a vocation.
[I do not hold support of kollel's is a good thing because it is doing kindness for people that would never reciprocate. I do not know why this is but the facts are the facts. Te Sages said one that does kindness for one that does not recognize it is as if he worshiped idolatry.]
This manifested itself in many ways. Mainly it was in showing us how to do things ourselves. And also in not accepting help for anything that you can do on your own. In those days there were no computers so I was only allowed to use a slide rule when I could do the calculations by hand. When we went skiing as a family I was allowed to use the ski lift until I could climb the mountain and ski down on my own with no help. This meant mastering outdoor skills and also plain house keeping skills like sewing. Maybe he called this "self reliance." In any case this must have been the most important principle which he tried to instill in me and my brothers.
It was the exact opposite of communities that teach their children to rely on charity.
Thus while learning Torah is important, he did not agree with being in a situation in which one would end up having to relay on people's charity and be using the holy Torah to make a living as in done in kollels.
He held strongly of learning a vocation.
[I do not hold support of kollel's is a good thing because it is doing kindness for people that would never reciprocate. I do not know why this is but the facts are the facts. Te Sages said one that does kindness for one that does not recognize it is as if he worshiped idolatry.]
18.8.16
trust in God
I have tried to deal with the issue of trust in God a few times in this blog without much success because it is unclear in my own mind. You can divide the issue into several parts in order to make what is clear and where the problems are.
The simple part is what was going on in the Mir Yeshiva in NY. Learn Torah and God will do the rest. Don't worry about making a living because when you learn Torah for its own sake God will provide.
That part is the simple unambiguous part.
Then there come the later confusing issues when this structure seems to break down.You get to Israel when people "talk the talk" about trust, but in fact spend all their time and effort trying to get charity from rich secular Jews and the State of Israel and then call that "trust in God". Hypocrisy at the highest level.
Then you get to kollel's in the USA when they don't even bother to "talk the talk." There it is all about using "supporting Torah" as if they are geniuses at the RAND Corporation Think Tank, and are getting paid for their work and services.
To add to the confusion is the history itself of Navardok which made trust their central meme and theme.
This is a statement of the basic ambiguity that surrounds this issue. The difference between what the Torah says and what people do. People that present themselves as authorities in Torah that are insincere, scum bags that darken the name of Torah.
See Cult behavior:
Kollels certainly are cults.
You are not supposed to make a living by learning Torah, nor teaching it. And you are not supposed to ask for charity because you are learning Torah. [See the Mordechai in Bava Batra dealing with the problem of even having teachers for children!!! I kid you not. מה אני בחינם אף אתם בחינם
Being unscrupulous is a trait of kollels. Lying to get money.
But the issue still remains how to come to authentic trust in God and to learn and keep Torah for real?
The trouble that I see is very rarely is any religious group anything but a cult. So to be Kosher Yid one really just has to learn Torah on one's own and give up the idea of being part of any group.
My suggestion is to support the places that I recognize as being "LeShem Shamaim" לשם שמים --for the sake of Heaven. I mean there are a few yeshivas that I was very impressed with that I thought were teaching people good values. Those are the Litvak Yeshivas in NY. Chaim Berlin Mir Torah Vedaat Shar Yashuv. I know little about Ponovitch in Israel, but just seeing the book Avi Ezri of Rav Shach shows me that that place must be the Mount Everest of the Torah world.
The simple part is what was going on in the Mir Yeshiva in NY. Learn Torah and God will do the rest. Don't worry about making a living because when you learn Torah for its own sake God will provide.
That part is the simple unambiguous part.
Then there come the later confusing issues when this structure seems to break down.You get to Israel when people "talk the talk" about trust, but in fact spend all their time and effort trying to get charity from rich secular Jews and the State of Israel and then call that "trust in God". Hypocrisy at the highest level.
Then you get to kollel's in the USA when they don't even bother to "talk the talk." There it is all about using "supporting Torah" as if they are geniuses at the RAND Corporation Think Tank, and are getting paid for their work and services.
To add to the confusion is the history itself of Navardok which made trust their central meme and theme.
This is a statement of the basic ambiguity that surrounds this issue. The difference between what the Torah says and what people do. People that present themselves as authorities in Torah that are insincere, scum bags that darken the name of Torah.
See Cult behavior:
Kollels certainly are cults.
You are not supposed to make a living by learning Torah, nor teaching it. And you are not supposed to ask for charity because you are learning Torah. [See the Mordechai in Bava Batra dealing with the problem of even having teachers for children!!! I kid you not. מה אני בחינם אף אתם בחינם
Being unscrupulous is a trait of kollels. Lying to get money.
But the issue still remains how to come to authentic trust in God and to learn and keep Torah for real?
The trouble that I see is very rarely is any religious group anything but a cult. So to be Kosher Yid one really just has to learn Torah on one's own and give up the idea of being part of any group.
My suggestion is to support the places that I recognize as being "LeShem Shamaim" לשם שמים --for the sake of Heaven. I mean there are a few yeshivas that I was very impressed with that I thought were teaching people good values. Those are the Litvak Yeshivas in NY. Chaim Berlin Mir Torah Vedaat Shar Yashuv. I know little about Ponovitch in Israel, but just seeing the book Avi Ezri of Rav Shach shows me that that place must be the Mount Everest of the Torah world.
Jewish people involved in civil rights movements Jewish people involved in civil rights movements
. I also noticed Jewish people involved in civil rights movements and such things that seemed ignore the fact that they were hurting the white working people (the basic WASP backbone and strength of the USA). I had no idea why the human consequences of such actions were ignored and I still don't. But I simply meant to bring attention that there are Jews that did not and do not agree. These people are usually not taken as spokesmen for Jews as group. These people are ignored.
Fear of God is a tricky issue. You can't be part of the frum-world [religious world] because most people there is have a schizoid personality problems. That is what makes them religious in the first place. But you can't ignore the importance of the Law of Moses.
My parents found some kind of balance that I have tried to emulate and also suggest to others.
That is in a nut shell, Gemara [Talmud], Musar {Ethics}, Physics, Music, Math and survival skills.
Though in those days there was no term survival skills. It was "outdoor skills," and for that reason they sent me and my brother Keith to be Boy Scouts.
The Physics and Math part of the day should be the first thing in the morning. If you can boil a fresh cup of coffee before you start that can help. And if you have the coffee mixed with a raw egg that gets rid of cravings for unhealthy food all day.
Don't worry if you do not understand the hard aspects of Physics. Say the words in order quickly and go on as it says in the Talmud לעולם לגרס אינש אע''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר Always one should jut say the words and go on even though he forgets and even though he does not know what he is saying.
[That is for the first few times you read a text. After that I try to say the words forwards and backwards from the end of section to the beginning, and I based that on the Mediaeval book called ספר היראה and I saw hints to this in the Arizal, and also Reb Moshe Chaim Lutzato.]
Tosphot however is a different story. With Tosphot the best thing is to take one and stay on it repeating it over every day and taking off from there with Tosphot as your starting point. That is you look up all the Gemaras he brings and also the sister Tosphot in other tractates that is parallel to the Tosphot you are doing.
My parents found some kind of balance that I have tried to emulate and also suggest to others.
That is in a nut shell, Gemara [Talmud], Musar {Ethics}, Physics, Music, Math and survival skills.
Though in those days there was no term survival skills. It was "outdoor skills," and for that reason they sent me and my brother Keith to be Boy Scouts.
The Physics and Math part of the day should be the first thing in the morning. If you can boil a fresh cup of coffee before you start that can help. And if you have the coffee mixed with a raw egg that gets rid of cravings for unhealthy food all day.
Don't worry if you do not understand the hard aspects of Physics. Say the words in order quickly and go on as it says in the Talmud לעולם לגרס אינש אע''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר Always one should jut say the words and go on even though he forgets and even though he does not know what he is saying.
[That is for the first few times you read a text. After that I try to say the words forwards and backwards from the end of section to the beginning, and I based that on the Mediaeval book called ספר היראה and I saw hints to this in the Arizal, and also Reb Moshe Chaim Lutzato.]
Tosphot however is a different story. With Tosphot the best thing is to take one and stay on it repeating it over every day and taking off from there with Tosphot as your starting point. That is you look up all the Gemaras he brings and also the sister Tosphot in other tractates that is parallel to the Tosphot you are doing.
feminism
The world today is different from the one I grew up in. My parents and teachers and friends were wholesome moral and amazing. Something about the world changed.Some shift or consciousness to make everyone change in someway. It was perhaps more simple for me to see because for period I had been isolated from the world. When I emerged everything about people and they way they thought had changed in significant ways. It must be like Carl Jung had said about the collective Consciousness.
Very weird and strange doctrines were accepted as normal that a few years ago would have be dismissed as serve cases of schizophrenia.
I meant feminism and many of the modern ''mishagases''[insanities]. But also something more subtle. People in the USA were looking at many possible solutions to the question "What is Truth?" But the answers had some basis in reality of known experience. It was not common to say some nice sounding principle and then everything else after that had to fit into that box. Feminism just postulates men and women are equal in everything. And after that everything else has to follow including nature. And if nature does not want to agree, "We will make her agree. We will show Mother Nature who is boss around here. And don't you forget it."
So we get the idea that the sexes are interchangeable. That is juts one area of insanity. Nowadays there are many more. Some religious in nature. Some political. When people have some kind of schizoid personality problem and cant focus their insanity in some religious sphere because of the nature of society they instead do it in regard to politics.
Very weird and strange doctrines were accepted as normal that a few years ago would have be dismissed as serve cases of schizophrenia.
I meant feminism and many of the modern ''mishagases''[insanities]. But also something more subtle. People in the USA were looking at many possible solutions to the question "What is Truth?" But the answers had some basis in reality of known experience. It was not common to say some nice sounding principle and then everything else after that had to fit into that box. Feminism just postulates men and women are equal in everything. And after that everything else has to follow including nature. And if nature does not want to agree, "We will make her agree. We will show Mother Nature who is boss around here. And don't you forget it."
So we get the idea that the sexes are interchangeable. That is juts one area of insanity. Nowadays there are many more. Some religious in nature. Some political. When people have some kind of schizoid personality problem and cant focus their insanity in some religious sphere because of the nature of society they instead do it in regard to politics.
There are a lot of pitfalls in the "frum-world"[i.e., the religious world].
There are a lot of pitfalls in the "frum-world"[i.e., the religious world]. Sometimes it makes sense to mention them. Mainly it is the human cost of getting people to join in. This fanatic need to bring people in to be "frum" and then treat them like dirt is not an admirable trait. And it suggest the need to make people frum is more of a symptom of a schizoid personalty sickness.
That is just one problem. They might invite you into their kollel if they think you can give them money but never to be part of their group. It is a kind of גניבת דעת trickery.
But the further problem is that the frum world itself is clearly insane. That is it is filled with insane groups and the likelihood is anyone joining in will join in one of those groups.
That is just one problem. They might invite you into their kollel if they think you can give them money but never to be part of their group. It is a kind of גניבת דעת trickery.
But the further problem is that the frum world itself is clearly insane. That is it is filled with insane groups and the likelihood is anyone joining in will join in one of those groups.
17.8.16
It’s neofeudalists – good white businessmen willing to flood the country with more customers and cheaper labor if it’ll make them another buck.
Comment on Unz review: "Let’s be honest with ourselves: it ain’t just “neocons” (i.e., Jews interested in pulling all the strings). It’s neofeudalists – good white businessmen willing to flood the country with more customers and cheaper labor if it’ll make them another buck. Like ye olde Southern plantation owners, these men think they can control the consequences when whites become a minority. We see what those men ultimately did to the South, and what the modern neofeudalists are doing to the entire country – the entire West – will be just as awful."
This is the first comment that accurately describes my feelings. I grieved me when I saw the country being flooded by blacks. Then it grieved me even more when I saw it being overrun by Muslims. Then the last straw was to see the Jews being blamed for it all. The people that brought in the blacks were not Jewish; they were Southern Businessmen. And the people that flooded the country with Muslims were not Jewish. The Jews are simply the most convenient scapegoat for what White Anglo Saxon Protestants did to themselves.
[My family had to escape from Newark, NJ when it was overrun by blacks. We certainly did not invite them.]
This is the first comment that accurately describes my feelings. I grieved me when I saw the country being flooded by blacks. Then it grieved me even more when I saw it being overrun by Muslims. Then the last straw was to see the Jews being blamed for it all. The people that brought in the blacks were not Jewish; they were Southern Businessmen. And the people that flooded the country with Muslims were not Jewish. The Jews are simply the most convenient scapegoat for what White Anglo Saxon Protestants did to themselves.
[My family had to escape from Newark, NJ when it was overrun by blacks. We certainly did not invite them.]
It hard for me to imagine the whole Yaakov Abuchatzeira thing disappeared into thin air. While it is true we don't have anything anywhere near the Bava Sali, still I recommend going to see his descendants and getting a blessing and also going to anyone descended from that family on the festival days and Shabat. During the week I recommend learning Gemara and Musar at home or in a local Beit Midrash {study hall for Gemara only.}
I had a close friendship with a grandson of Bava Sali, Shimon Buso who was a teacher in the Ponovitch branch in Jerusalem for a number of years and I knew the whole Buso family pretty well. It is a good idea to get a blessing from any of them.
Of course if you are in the vicinity of an authentic, Litvak yeshiva then by all means learn there and support it--if it is the real thing and not just an excuse to ask secular Jews for for money.
I might make a list of the good yeshivas--Ponovitch, the Litvak yeshivas in NY, Brisk and their branches.[The NY ones are Mir, Torah VeDaat, and Chaim Berlin.] {I did not mention Tifrach because as far as I know it stems from Ponovitch, so it is included automatically.]
If you are not in the area of any of these then make your own yeshiva at home. Get the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, the Chidushei HaRambam of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik and learn them on your own.
I had a close friendship with a grandson of Bava Sali, Shimon Buso who was a teacher in the Ponovitch branch in Jerusalem for a number of years and I knew the whole Buso family pretty well. It is a good idea to get a blessing from any of them.
Of course if you are in the vicinity of an authentic, Litvak yeshiva then by all means learn there and support it--if it is the real thing and not just an excuse to ask secular Jews for for money.
I might make a list of the good yeshivas--Ponovitch, the Litvak yeshivas in NY, Brisk and their branches.[The NY ones are Mir, Torah VeDaat, and Chaim Berlin.] {I did not mention Tifrach because as far as I know it stems from Ponovitch, so it is included automatically.]
If you are not in the area of any of these then make your own yeshiva at home. Get the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, the Chidushei HaRambam of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik and learn them on your own.
Some have brought up the subject of Zionism as a form of nationalism. Also "Self determination."
But self determination does not seem like nationalism. Nationalism is defensible with Hegel. But self determination is incoherent. What is the group? This was noticed right away when Wilson proposed self determination as a principle. It automatically leads to conflict. However nationalism is perfectly legitimate and can be defended by Hegel. [But then you would have to defend Hegel, which I think is possible and even desirable. ]
I believe the point was raised right away after Wilson stated this principle. Self Determination has not lower limit, and no upper limit. It is a simply a principle that gives a way for people to make trouble when they don't like the way things are going. Serbia is one good example. Nationalism however is something that is defended by Hegel. So one would have to see exactly what kind of nationalism he is defending and why. Certainly he is not saying self determination for everyone. He means a kind of nationalism that has associated with it an upward vector. It is not stationary.
But self determination does not seem like nationalism. Nationalism is defensible with Hegel. But self determination is incoherent. What is the group? This was noticed right away when Wilson proposed self determination as a principle. It automatically leads to conflict. However nationalism is perfectly legitimate and can be defended by Hegel. [But then you would have to defend Hegel, which I think is possible and even desirable. ]
I believe the point was raised right away after Wilson stated this principle. Self Determination has not lower limit, and no upper limit. It is a simply a principle that gives a way for people to make trouble when they don't like the way things are going. Serbia is one good example. Nationalism however is something that is defended by Hegel. So one would have to see exactly what kind of nationalism he is defending and why. Certainly he is not saying self determination for everyone. He means a kind of nationalism that has associated with it an upward vector. It is not stationary.
Reb Aaron Kotler and Zionism
I was in Israel and at the time identified with the Ultra Religious. And then I saw a book of Aaron Kotler and saw that he said דינא דמלכותא דינא "the law of the country is the law." So I realized then that my anti Zionist stance was mistaken. Reb Moshe Feinstein also said the same thing. Since then I have been supportive of the State of Israel.
ADL Anti defamation League I have seen them defend things I thought were not very good. I forget exactly but I seem to recall they wanted to ban celebrations of Christmas and the Ten Commandments and such things. I would assume they might have something to do with the banning of the Confederate Battle Flag in the South. That suggests to me they must be Democrats. They seem to be on some kind of crusade to wipe out morality and values.
Notes
Reb Aaron Kotler was a very great Torah sage who had learned I think in Kletzk and wrote a very good book on Shas and a book of Ethics. The book on Ethics is where I saw this opinion of his.
I really can't tell who was greater, but Reb Aaron is considered to have been as great as Reb Moshe Feinstein or perhaps greater. My own experience with Litvish gedolim was confined to Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY. That is Reb Naphtali Yeager and Reb Shmuel Brudny, Reb Shmuel Berenbaum, the author of the Sukat David and Reb Shraga Moshe Kalmanovitch. My impression of all of them is very high. I think Reb Shmuel Berenabum was the deepest thinker and I think Naftapli Yaeger is the most rigorous.
The person that probably was the greatest of that generation was Rav Shach in Ponovitch.[He wrote the Avi Ezri which is an amazing book.]
Nowadays there is not much left. For guidance, the best people around are probably the descendants of Reb Yaakov Abuchazteira and Bava Sali. [Though I admit I am not aware of who is who. I know Shimon Buso -a grandson of Bava Sali, but that is about all.]
16.8.16
Religious teachers get sexual pleasure
Religious teachers get sexual pleasure out of being the Alpha male in the room even when they are not actually have sexual intercourse with the women.
It is the good feeling men get when they receive approval from women. It is part sexual (He thinks: "She’s happy with me, so maybe I’ll get lucky"), and part seeking approval from mommy. This same motive can manifest in seemingly opposite actions. A religious teacher who sets himself up as the only real man in the room is seeking the adulation of all of the women in the congregation. He wants their attention and approval all for himself, and is jealous that another man (their husband) would receive what is in his mind rightfully his. On the other side we have the more straightforward groveling beta male, who thinks by lowering himself (along with all other men), he will gain women’s approval.
Both strategies work in that they generate the "high". However, only the Alpha Male religious teachers receives sexual attention from the women they are posing for.
I can imagine many people have suspected this but not been able to put it into words. It tends to lower the desire to go to church when you realize that you are feeding into the Alpha Male's sexual pleasures.
I can imagine many people have suspected this but not been able to put it into words. It tends to lower the desire to go to church when you realize that you are feeding into the Alpha Male's sexual pleasures.
vindictive ex-wives
Here is an amazing comment I saw on blog called judgybitch.com in answer to a feminist.
" I've thought long and hard on your remarks before composing this reply. Unfortunately you are right that a growing number of children are growing up fatherless here in the US and in the UK, innocent casualties of the divorces imposed on them by their mothers and fathers.
I will only speak as a divorced father and no one else. During the divorce process (in the mid 1980s, not recently) I was told by my attorney that in 98% of the cases, the mother was automatically awarded primary custody; my wanting to fight her in court over custody for my kids was an almost sure loss for me. He was right.
Being the stubborn bastard that I can be sometimes, I STILL wanted to fight for my children regardless of what the lawyer said. Ah, then during a very brief meeting with one of my soon to be ex-brother-in-laws it was told to me that if I persisted in contesting for custody of my children, I would be accused to sexually abusing them to ensure I would remain in the justice system until bankrupted. This was not a veiled threat, but plainly spoken to let me know the cost. So to answer part of your remarks; I would have dearly LOVED and cherished the opportunity to raise my own children.
" Why not make a father raise the child if the mother is financially unable to." I only wish to god that I could have had the chance to raise them myself, no one would have had to twist my arm to provide for my own little ones.
Please, before thinking that men can easily walk away from their kids, consider that they might be forcibly driven away by the vindictive ex-wives, and not of their own choice."
" I've thought long and hard on your remarks before composing this reply. Unfortunately you are right that a growing number of children are growing up fatherless here in the US and in the UK, innocent casualties of the divorces imposed on them by their mothers and fathers.
I will only speak as a divorced father and no one else. During the divorce process (in the mid 1980s, not recently) I was told by my attorney that in 98% of the cases, the mother was automatically awarded primary custody; my wanting to fight her in court over custody for my kids was an almost sure loss for me. He was right.
Being the stubborn bastard that I can be sometimes, I STILL wanted to fight for my children regardless of what the lawyer said. Ah, then during a very brief meeting with one of my soon to be ex-brother-in-laws it was told to me that if I persisted in contesting for custody of my children, I would be accused to sexually abusing them to ensure I would remain in the justice system until bankrupted. This was not a veiled threat, but plainly spoken to let me know the cost. So to answer part of your remarks; I would have dearly LOVED and cherished the opportunity to raise my own children.
" Why not make a father raise the child if the mother is financially unable to." I only wish to god that I could have had the chance to raise them myself, no one would have had to twist my arm to provide for my own little ones.
Please, before thinking that men can easily walk away from their kids, consider that they might be forcibly driven away by the vindictive ex-wives, and not of their own choice."
abuse of authority under the guise of holiness
I think that in fact people got fed up with abuse of authority. They said it is better for people to be open sinners than sinners under the guise of holiness.
I had an amazing childhood
I had an amazing childhood and teen age years with my parents. The only real pain I had was being dumped by my girlfriend, Wendy, for another friend. Sex was unheard of in those days, though in high school one girl was thought to be in that regard. But she was the only one. And she was limited to her own boyfriend. For that reason I wonder why I felt the need to rebel against my parents except for the fact that that was the social thing to do in those days. I suppose it still is. I was vaguely aware of American culture going downhill in that way. Still I am shocked by some of the stories of people I read about.
I can see why people thought being part of the religious world would provide insulation against the secular trends. The truth though is the opposite. [People should learn Torah, but not assume that those that claim to teach it are holy. The opposite is the case. There seems to be an overflow in the religious world of vicious, cruel, and stupid people that you would generally not except to find there.
The religious world provides an illusion of being immune. In fact, I believe it is more corrupt--though more hidden.
[I also had a great deal of pain and frustration that I was not very good in math, though later I developed a taste for it. I did not get smarter, I just developed a taste for it.] Now that I think of it my frustration at my lack of abilities was probably more painful than being dumped by Wendy. But both things were the most painful things I had ever gone through.
Don't think that I wrote some decent books on the Talmud, that makes me smart. I had amazing teachers and a really great learning partner that showed me the way.
I can see why people thought being part of the religious world would provide insulation against the secular trends. The truth though is the opposite. [People should learn Torah, but not assume that those that claim to teach it are holy. The opposite is the case. There seems to be an overflow in the religious world of vicious, cruel, and stupid people that you would generally not except to find there.
The religious world provides an illusion of being immune. In fact, I believe it is more corrupt--though more hidden.
[I also had a great deal of pain and frustration that I was not very good in math, though later I developed a taste for it. I did not get smarter, I just developed a taste for it.] Now that I think of it my frustration at my lack of abilities was probably more painful than being dumped by Wendy. But both things were the most painful things I had ever gone through.
Don't think that I wrote some decent books on the Talmud, that makes me smart. I had amazing teachers and a really great learning partner that showed me the way.
Marriage in secular USA
Marriage in secular USA and the West has been a bad deal for a long time. It can be assumed that this fact has been a major factor in in rise of yeshivas that pretend to promote family values.
It is a simply case of push and pull. The secular world is obviously sick. That is a force to push out. The force to pull in is the way Lithuanian yeshivas used to be in Europe when the stress on family values was real. But transplanting that has not worked.
Thus what I recommend is not to depend on the system anymore. Rather learn Torah and a vocation at the same time and serve in the IDF and do not make excuses.
Avi Preder suggested to me the idea of a "Beit Midrash" (study hall) as opposed to a yeshiva.
That is to say I am not the only one to see that while the yeshivas were idealistic at one time, they were ruined by success.
[I think the Torah alone approach is simply not the best approach from several angles. Though it worked for great people like Rav Shach and Reb Aaron Kotler, it does not seem to produce the high kind of individual you would hope for.
People feel the need for a holy man, a shaman, to intercede. This need people try to use for their advantage for themselves and their yeshivas. They want people to feel good about themselves when they give money that worthy cause. In most cases it is not a worthy cause, but a scam.
It is a simply case of push and pull. The secular world is obviously sick. That is a force to push out. The force to pull in is the way Lithuanian yeshivas used to be in Europe when the stress on family values was real. But transplanting that has not worked.
Thus what I recommend is not to depend on the system anymore. Rather learn Torah and a vocation at the same time and serve in the IDF and do not make excuses.
Avi Preder suggested to me the idea of a "Beit Midrash" (study hall) as opposed to a yeshiva.
That is to say I am not the only one to see that while the yeshivas were idealistic at one time, they were ruined by success.
[I think the Torah alone approach is simply not the best approach from several angles. Though it worked for great people like Rav Shach and Reb Aaron Kotler, it does not seem to produce the high kind of individual you would hope for.
People feel the need for a holy man, a shaman, to intercede. This need people try to use for their advantage for themselves and their yeshivas. They want people to feel good about themselves when they give money that worthy cause. In most cases it is not a worthy cause, but a scam.
15.8.16
"family values."
Yeshiva did have an element of shiduch --finding a good marriage partner involved with it. That was an unspoken incentive. The trouble is the same that caused the downfall of the power of religious authority in the secular world. Abuse of power. It got to be just another scheme to get power of over people by the pretense of "family values." Yeah, right. "Family values" for the head of the dog pack and his buddies. "Eat dirt" for everyone else.
You can see why people [including me] think they are better off not having religious maniacs telling them what to do.
You can see why people [including me] think they are better off not having religious maniacs telling them what to do.
Muslims to the USA.
Americans were not aware of the problems involved in bringing Muslims to the USA. Most people had visited, "Its a small world after all," [which I have to mention is a song made by Mozart, but not the words.] Americans including myself were very naive about what Muslims are all about. And once a person is in that mind set, it is very difficult to get free of it. (It took a good deal of attacks on my person for me to start getting the message. And even then it took time for the message to start sinking in.)
Ideas in Talmud
I might mention that I never learned Hebrew except a small amount in Hebrew school and Temple Israel in Hollywood when I was a kid. In yeshiva I did not spend any time on Hebrew at all. So some of my writing is the usual Talmudic kind of Hebrew you see in the Rishonim. Other parts are what I learned from the Old Testament which differs from the Hebrew of the Rishonim. And some of it comes from being in Israel. That is just a warning - since you might notice my style of writing varies. It is not two people writing. It is one person --that is I.
[The most obvious example is I take things like שנה to be feminine because of the Old Testament. שדה I take to be masculine. ]
Here is the link to the book on Talmud and also to the book I wrote before that on Bava Metzia
Ideas in Talmud
Ideas in Bava Metzia
My main focus is as you can see in trying to understand Tosphot.
Rav Shach has a focus on Maimonides and that kind of focus started with Reb Haim HaLevi [The Brisker Rav].
an authentic Lithuanian yeshiva
Therefore I should explain what yeshiva was when it was idealistic. The basic idea was you would sit and learn Talmud from about 18 years old until some father of a daughter would come into the yeshiva and ask the rosh yeshiva [teacher] who would be a good match for his daughter. Then 6 dates would be set up between the two on Saturday night. After 6 dates an announcement was made.
After the marriage the son in law would be supported by his parents and then her parents alternatively.
He would continue to learn Torah.
The community would be surrounding the yeshiva and it would be isolated from the outside would by invisible barriers, mental barriers,- rules that were eagerly accepted and loved. The rules were voluntarily accepted by all and followed by all. The rules were the Torah-the oral and written law of God. And the ideal was to learn Torah all one's life. Learning Torah was the life goal.
After some years the young man would begin to work at some job.
What happened to change all this? Success. When an organization is successful and there is money and power, then the people at the top tend to be the most materialist in direct opposition to the kinds of people that started the whole thing. Greed and corruption got to be the norm. It is like the Olympic committee that gets all the perks. The country that hosts it looses money. So Norway simply turned down the opportunity to host the Olympics.
Though in its pristine form the system should work well. It did not for me. So I am hesitant to recommend a return to it. For me no one helped find my wife. She came running to NY to get me. The only thing people at the top did was to try to ruin my marriage when they got the chance.
So the yeshiva world certainly has gone down in quality. Thus my present day recommendation is the Beit Midrash--an informal place to learn Talmud with no official aspects at all. Simply a place for learning Gemara for whom so ever wishes to learn Gemara. I was hoping to do this on my own but that did not work very well. I can not seem to even make my own small a place into a place of Torah. Still I can hope to encourage others.
That is all I am saying is this. Even if the whole world has turned Torah into a business, still one can by himself learn Torah for its own sake.
[What I am saying here is a lot really depends on your own situation. If you have an authentic Lithuanian yeshiva in your area that as far as you can tell are learning Torah for its own sake and not for money then by all means join in. But if there is nothing like that are perhaps the places that are near you seems to be either all about using Torah to make money or perhaps are insane asylums as many yeshivas are, then it is best to learn Torah at home. Learning at home should at least in theory be easy. All you need is a Gemara and a book of Musar.]
The Cold War
There were more than a few incidents in which individual soviet soldiers decided not to launch a nuclear strike against the USA, though the circumstances warranted it. I think there were occasions in which the officer involved was demoted.
There also was caution on the side of the USA. President Eisenhower was being urged to launch a nuclear strike against the USSR by the Secretary of the Navy, but instead decided to begin the U-2 program to see what the Soviets were up to. That showed him that, in fact, the Russian were not preparing any kind of invasion or launching of missiles. My Dad was the leader of one the teams that developed the cameras for the U-2.
The other incident in which the officer was ordered to launch missiles against the USA if he saw a missile launch against the USSR, and he decided not to launch. He was demoted. (He had seen only one missile on the screen, and decided it was a computer glitch. He though if the USA wanted to attack why would they launch just one missile?
There also was caution on the side of the USA. President Eisenhower was being urged to launch a nuclear strike against the USSR by the Secretary of the Navy, but instead decided to begin the U-2 program to see what the Soviets were up to. That showed him that, in fact, the Russian were not preparing any kind of invasion or launching of missiles. My Dad was the leader of one the teams that developed the cameras for the U-2.
The other incident in which the officer was ordered to launch missiles against the USA if he saw a missile launch against the USSR, and he decided not to launch. He was demoted. (He had seen only one missile on the screen, and decided it was a computer glitch. He though if the USA wanted to attack why would they launch just one missile?
14.8.16
massive welfare for blacks
My learning partner said the problem in the USA is virtue signaling. That is it is considered good to show compassion therefore the middle class largely voted for massive welfare for blacks because voting for compassion makes them feel good. And the costs were thought to be distributed among a lot of people. So voting in such a way did not directly hurt the person voting immediately.
A positive aspect of Christianity
The positive aspect of Christianity is that Jesus was basically saying the same thing as Reb Israel Salanter.-that the main thing the Torah wants is love and fear of God and good character traits. That is what is called בין אדם לחבירו.
There is another advantage that they are based on and model it on the words and actions of a true righteous person--that is Jesus himself. [This fact I would not have known outside of learning Avraham Abulafia, a medieval mystic. Recently all his books were printed, but I had to go through the microfilms to discover this fact.]
The negative aspect is they deify a person.
That is to say I accept that following a truly righteous person helps one to be right with God. And that without a good example it is almost impossible to be righteous on one's own.
It is human nature to need a good example to follow--not just good words.
Not only that but if you weigh these two aspects I think the fact of following a righteous person outweighs the negative aspect of deifying that person.
Still that does not mean that deifying a person is good. Rather it is idolatry.. Still what you see in Torah is that compassion and kindness outweighs the sin of idolatry. For example you see this in the first chapter of אור צפון which is the collected talks of the Rosh Yeshiva of Slobadka. You see this also in the Talmud itself in terms of the generation of Achav when God ignored the sin of idolatry because they practiced loving kindness one with the other. But He was strict with the generation of the destruction of the second temple because even through they had Torah and Mitzvot still they did not practice loving kindness.
That being said -it is better just to sit a learn Torah, Gemara and Musar. If all that is too much, then just Musar.
[What brought this on is I see people are seeing communism does not work, Capitalism has big drawbacks. religions tend to be problematic. Since people are seeking the truth I have here set down my basic idea of what truth is as best as I can see. That is Musar is how I see things. That is I think correction of bad character and fear and love of God are the main things to concentrate on.
[I should mention that Avraham Abulafia is brought down by Chaim Vital in the last volume of his Musar book Shaari Kedusha. Also Professor Moshe Idel has done a lot of research on him. The PhD thesis of Moshe Idel was on A. Abulafia. The actual printed books I only saw after I had done as much work on that sugia as I cared to do. Nowadays you could probably order the entire set in the USA. ]
The two negative aspects of Christianity are nullification of the mitzvot and worship of Jesus, however these are aspects only of Pauline Christianity, not Peterine Christianity as has been well known for at least 150 years since the Clementine documents have been known about.
There is another advantage that they are based on and model it on the words and actions of a true righteous person--that is Jesus himself. [This fact I would not have known outside of learning Avraham Abulafia, a medieval mystic. Recently all his books were printed, but I had to go through the microfilms to discover this fact.]
The negative aspect is they deify a person.
That is to say I accept that following a truly righteous person helps one to be right with God. And that without a good example it is almost impossible to be righteous on one's own.
It is human nature to need a good example to follow--not just good words.
Not only that but if you weigh these two aspects I think the fact of following a righteous person outweighs the negative aspect of deifying that person.
Still that does not mean that deifying a person is good. Rather it is idolatry.. Still what you see in Torah is that compassion and kindness outweighs the sin of idolatry. For example you see this in the first chapter of אור צפון which is the collected talks of the Rosh Yeshiva of Slobadka. You see this also in the Talmud itself in terms of the generation of Achav when God ignored the sin of idolatry because they practiced loving kindness one with the other. But He was strict with the generation of the destruction of the second temple because even through they had Torah and Mitzvot still they did not practice loving kindness.
That being said -it is better just to sit a learn Torah, Gemara and Musar. If all that is too much, then just Musar.
[What brought this on is I see people are seeing communism does not work, Capitalism has big drawbacks. religions tend to be problematic. Since people are seeking the truth I have here set down my basic idea of what truth is as best as I can see. That is Musar is how I see things. That is I think correction of bad character and fear and love of God are the main things to concentrate on.
[I should mention that Avraham Abulafia is brought down by Chaim Vital in the last volume of his Musar book Shaari Kedusha. Also Professor Moshe Idel has done a lot of research on him. The PhD thesis of Moshe Idel was on A. Abulafia. The actual printed books I only saw after I had done as much work on that sugia as I cared to do. Nowadays you could probably order the entire set in the USA. ]
The two negative aspects of Christianity are nullification of the mitzvot and worship of Jesus, however these are aspects only of Pauline Christianity, not Peterine Christianity as has been well known for at least 150 years since the Clementine documents have been known about.
13.8.16
[Books of Mediaeval Ethics]
In my own approach to Musar [Books of Mediaeval Ethics] I have tried to go more with the Rambam than in the other approaches.
As is well known every school of Musar had a different emphasis. My own approach is to take the idea of Isaac Blasser [the first and foremost disciple of Israel Salanter] that the main thing to emphasize is fear of God. But to get to fear of God I would take the idea of the Rambam of learning Physics and Metaphysics.
This I know is a departure from the traditional schools of Musar.
Most of them were against secular studies completely to the degree that they ignored the fact that the very books the Musar movement was founded on take the approach of the Rambam.
Still I realize that there are different schools of thought in the movement and I do not want to imply any of them were wrong. I can see the amazing effect of going to any Musar Yeshiva has on most people (except the Mashgiach himself who is suppose to be teaching it.)
I think that with in mind that every human enterprise has the flaw of being run by humans, still the Musar movement deserves consideration.
I see other ideas that have been suggested to help either individuals or larger groups. Most of the ideas come under the group heading of religions of political structures.
No one that I have seen emphasizes Musar on a global scale. And that is sad because I can see how it could help almost anywhere.
The Renaissance was caused by a return to the the ideas and writings of Ancient Athens and Rome. By taking of what was great from them it surpassed them in many ways. I also have seen the Middle Ages as having elements of greatness that the modern age lacks completely..
____________________________________________________________________________
Though Musar is founded on specific books the basic idea is universally applicable. That is the main thing is to work on one's מידות character traits and the way to do that is by learning books from the Middle Ages that emphasized that and explained it. For books like this have a background that is religious but the emphasis is on character.
This I know is a departure from the traditional schools of Musar.
Most of them were against secular studies completely to the degree that they ignored the fact that the very books the Musar movement was founded on take the approach of the Rambam.
Still I realize that there are different schools of thought in the movement and I do not want to imply any of them were wrong. I can see the amazing effect of going to any Musar Yeshiva has on most people (except the Mashgiach himself who is suppose to be teaching it.)
I think that with in mind that every human enterprise has the flaw of being run by humans, still the Musar movement deserves consideration.
I see other ideas that have been suggested to help either individuals or larger groups. Most of the ideas come under the group heading of religions of political structures.
No one that I have seen emphasizes Musar on a global scale. And that is sad because I can see how it could help almost anywhere.
The Renaissance was caused by a return to the the ideas and writings of Ancient Athens and Rome. By taking of what was great from them it surpassed them in many ways. I also have seen the Middle Ages as having elements of greatness that the modern age lacks completely..
____________________________________________________________________________
Though Musar is founded on specific books the basic idea is universally applicable. That is the main thing is to work on one's מידות character traits and the way to do that is by learning books from the Middle Ages that emphasized that and explained it. For books like this have a background that is religious but the emphasis is on character.
stress and religious fanatics
Damage to the hippocampus seems to aggravate normal religious behavior and make it obsessive.
What causes this kind of damage? Glucocorticoids that are caused by stress.
What that means is do not spend time with jerks and a stressful crowd. That is to say they hurt not just your subjective feelings, but also your biology and that causes damage to your hippocampus and that over time will causes different types of mental problems.
It is part of the rule not to do things which damage your physical health.
There is no obligation to go to any kind of religious gathering that is filled with jerks.
What causes this kind of damage? Glucocorticoids that are caused by stress.
What that means is do not spend time with jerks and a stressful crowd. That is to say they hurt not just your subjective feelings, but also your biology and that causes damage to your hippocampus and that over time will causes different types of mental problems.
It is part of the rule not to do things which damage your physical health.
There is no obligation to go to any kind of religious gathering that is filled with jerks.
Reb Israel Salanter
I see most of the world is far from the Musar approach.
[That is the idea that to gain good character is by learning Musar (Ethics of the Middle Ages).]
That is sad because I see a lot of other approaches and systems being tried. Israel Salanter's the original idea was that the main aspects of Torah are good character, Fear of God and Trust in God. Many other systems are being tried --the USA Constitution, communism etc. Personally I see that Reb Israel Salanter was right. That the main thing about Torah is character and the way to gain good character is by learning Musar.
[That is-- some think the fundamental aspects of religion are rituals, and meta-magical thinking, and a shaman or guru. Israel Salanter saw that Torah is something else entirely. It is about being a mensch.]
If possible I would like to suggest this approach on a wide scale. That is I suggest the ideas of Reb Israel are universally applicable. To everyone for all time.
That is the main thing is to have good character and the way to gain that is by learning works of Ethics of the Middle Ages. People with different aspects of character that need correcting might try different books. The main set is well known. That is Obligations of the Heart and others.
12.8.16
Joseph Horwitz of Navardok emphasized trust in God
Each of the disciples of Israel Salanter brought a different message into the world.
One disciple Joseph Horwitz of Navardok emphasized trust in God.
In Kings 2 chapter 7 we find Elisha (a prophet) saying tomorrow wheat and barley will be sold for pennies.
The שליש (secretary of the treasury) asked, "How is that possible? If God would make windows in the heavens, could such a thing be?" Shomron [Samaria] was under siege by the Syrians.
Elisha said, "You will see but not eat from it."
Then next day the secretary was trampled and died.
Joseph Horwitz {Navardok} asked why people that ask the same question do not get the same punishment?
He said: "They do. They see others sitting and learning Torah, and somehow God provides for them, but they themselves are sentenced to a life sentence of hard labor."
Trust in God was the message brought by Navardok.
This got mixed up to some degree with learning Torah. But in fact no yeshiva is depending on trust in God except the Mir in NY. All other yeshivas tell a lie that it is a mitzvah to support them and thus turn the Torah into a means to be making money. [Don't be fooled by their rhetoric. They are definitely looking for ways of conniving and convincing people to give them money. They definitely are not trusting in God. ]
To some degree I had confidence in God for some time. Then I faltered. Still, I would like to let people know there is such a thing as trust in God, and He reciprocates when one really has complete trust in Him.
I see most of the world is far from this Navardok approach. That is sad because I see a lot of other approaches and systems being tried. Reb Israel Salanter's the original idea was that the main aspects of Torah are good character, Fear of God and Trust in God. Many other systems are being trying --the USA Constitution, communism etc. Personally I see that Reb Israel Salanter was right. That the main thing about Torah is character and the way to gain good character is by learning Musar.
One disciple Joseph Horwitz of Navardok emphasized trust in God.
In Kings 2 chapter 7 we find Elisha (a prophet) saying tomorrow wheat and barley will be sold for pennies.
The שליש (secretary of the treasury) asked, "How is that possible? If God would make windows in the heavens, could such a thing be?" Shomron [Samaria] was under siege by the Syrians.
Elisha said, "You will see but not eat from it."
Then next day the secretary was trampled and died.
Joseph Horwitz {Navardok} asked why people that ask the same question do not get the same punishment?
He said: "They do. They see others sitting and learning Torah, and somehow God provides for them, but they themselves are sentenced to a life sentence of hard labor."
Trust in God was the message brought by Navardok.
This got mixed up to some degree with learning Torah. But in fact no yeshiva is depending on trust in God except the Mir in NY. All other yeshivas tell a lie that it is a mitzvah to support them and thus turn the Torah into a means to be making money. [Don't be fooled by their rhetoric. They are definitely looking for ways of conniving and convincing people to give them money. They definitely are not trusting in God. ]
To some degree I had confidence in God for some time. Then I faltered. Still, I would like to let people know there is such a thing as trust in God, and He reciprocates when one really has complete trust in Him.
I see most of the world is far from this Navardok approach. That is sad because I see a lot of other approaches and systems being tried. Reb Israel Salanter's the original idea was that the main aspects of Torah are good character, Fear of God and Trust in God. Many other systems are being trying --the USA Constitution, communism etc. Personally I see that Reb Israel Salanter was right. That the main thing about Torah is character and the way to gain good character is by learning Musar.
If one believes all people are equal then why did white people create...
If one believes all people are equal, then why did white people create : Euclidean geometry. Parabolic geometry. Hyperbolic geometry. Projective geometry. Differential geometry. Calculus: Limits, continuity, differentiation, integration. Algebra [Euclid and Diophantine],Abstract Algebra, Physical chemistry. Organic chemistry. Biochemistry. Classical mechanics. The indeterminacy principle. The wave equation. The Parthenon. Air conditioning. Number theory. Romanesque architecture. Gothic architecture. Information theory. Entropy. Enthalpy. Every symphony ever written. The twelve-tone scale. The mathematics behind it, twelfth root of two and all that. S-p hybrid bonding orbitals. The Bohr-Sommerfeld atom. Quantum Mechanics Relativity Quantum Field Theory, String Theory, The purine-pyrimidine structure of the DNA ladder. Single-sideband radio. All other radio. Dentistry. The internal-combustion engine. Turbojets. Turbofans. Doppler beam-sharpening. Penicillin. Airplanes. Apollo 11,The Space Shuttle, Surgery. Polio vaccine. The integrated circuit. The computer. Football. Computational fluid dynamics. Tensors. The Bible, The Constitution. Euripides, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Aeschylus, Homer, Hesiod. Glass. Rubber. Nylon. Roads. Buildings. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. (OK, that’s nerve gas, and maybe we didn’t really need it.) Silicone. The automobile. public-key cryptography,etc.? Night vision. Lasers.
The reason then has to be exploitation. That is why the idea of exploitation has become so popular among intellectually and morally challenged people. I am not saying the exploitation theory is right. Rather it is more likely that not all people are created equal.
11.8.16
Israel Salanter
Israel Salanter thought people need to learn Ethics. That is you should not expect them to be born with ethics, or to just pick it up from some religious context, but to learn it actively. He was focusing on a certain set of Mediaeval books, but the principle applies across the board.
That is even if ethics is mentioned in religious books, that does not automatically help. Ethics has to be learned as subject in itself.
Judgybitch: "Do men and women learn the same ethics, or different ones?"
Avraham: "It would be the same ones. There are the classical ones and later works built on the classics. But the principles are the same. This is a long story. In any case the books of Ethics that I like the most were the Obligations of the Heart and also two more recent books of disciples of Israel Salanter. One emphasizes trust in God [Level of Man Medragat HaAdam]. But the general gist was more along the lines of fear of God and good character traits. The general idea was to put emphasis on one's obligations, not one's rights."
BG
"Why would God be a component in treating fellow humans equally? What is wrong with old fashion "mutual respect"?
Or, the old adage,
do on to others,
as u would want others to do onto you.
What I find most hypocritical, is women preach this to their children, and yet,..."
Avraham rosenblum to BG
All true critiques. Like I said this is a long story. I wish I could make it short. There is a connection between fear of God and character. But not fear of God in the way the religious fanatics think of it.
[I should mention that my parents sought to instill ethics in my brothers and me as their parents before them.]
This is an argument: Hegel holds that we can come to true morality by logic and reason. So also Michael Huemer [based on the Intuitionists: Prichard, GE Moore, etc.]
Fries holds that morality is in the realm of Dinge An Sich [things in themselves] that we know, but we do not know that we know, and it needs to be dug out like Socrates by careful questioning brought forth knowledge of Geometry of a slave boy.
Joan of Arc
Henry V was perpetually in debt. Most of his soldiers did not get paid until many years after their service. There simply was not enough money in the treasury.
Still the English paid for Joan of Arc 10,000 francs. Compare that to the price of a horse which in those days was from 10 to 12 francs. The average horse today is about $1000. So in today currency he paid about $1,000,000 for Joan.
She was a threat to English rule in France in a way that the English recognized.
I have a great sympathy towards Joan of Arc I should mention. In fact if we consider her mission as valid [which I do] that would mean the French were wrong for getting rid of the Monarchy.
Still the English paid for Joan of Arc 10,000 francs. Compare that to the price of a horse which in those days was from 10 to 12 francs. The average horse today is about $1000. So in today currency he paid about $1,000,000 for Joan.
She was a threat to English rule in France in a way that the English recognized.
I have a great sympathy towards Joan of Arc I should mention. In fact if we consider her mission as valid [which I do] that would mean the French were wrong for getting rid of the Monarchy.
new moon
I think one should go by the actual new moon which makes now the 9th of Av. That is there is one second when the moon and sun are in conjunction. That is called the Molad. In Tosphot in Sanhedrin 10b the first opinion of Tosphot is that the Molad fixes the time of Rosh Hodesh.
The calendar that is used nowadays was instituted by Meton in Athens. It was adopted during the time of the Geonim but was not used during the time of the Talmud. The whole thing is a misunderstanding based on the idea of Saadia Gaon of Tradition שמיעה.
He said the calendar is משמיעה from tradition.
What he meant was as he used the concept elsewhere the whole body of oral and written Torah. But what people thought he meant was הלכה למשה מסיני A law to Moses at Sinai. But that is not what Saadia Gaon meant.
That means the calendar is not accurate. It is better to simply go by the actual new moon.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 10b is also clear in that way. Rosh Hodesh to that Gemara is not dependent on Beit Din. Rather if the beit din declares it at the right time fine, if not then they sanctify the real new moon anyway from heaven.
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I think one should go by the actual מולד. There is one second when the moon and sun are in conjunction. That is called the מולד. In תוספות in סנהדרין דף י' ע''ב the first opinion of תוספות is that the מולד fixes the time of ראש חודש.
The calendar that is used nowadays was instituted by מטון in אתונה. It was adopted during the time of the גאונים but was not used during the time of the תלמוד. The whole thing is a misunderstanding based on the idea of סעדיא גאון of מפי השמועה
He said the calendar is משמיעה from tradition.
What he meant was as he used the concept elsewhere the whole body of oral and written Torah. But what people thought he meant was הלכה למשה מסיני A law to Moses at Sinai. But that is not what סעדיא גאון meant.
That means the calendar is not accurate. It is better to simply go by the actual מולד.
The גמרא סנהדרין י' ע''ב is also clear in that way. ראש חודש to that גמרא is not dependent on בית דין. Rather if the בית דין declares it at the right time, fine. If not, then they sanctify the real new moon anyway from heaven.
אני חושב שצריך ללכת לפי המולד. יש שניה אחת כאשר הירח והשמש נמצאים יחד בקו אנך. זה נקרא המולד. בתוספות סנהדרין דף י' ע''ב הדעה הראשונה של תוספות הוא כי מולד קובע את הזמן של ראש חודש. לוח השנה המשמש כיום הונהג על ידי מטון באתונה. היא אומצה בזמן של הגאונים, אבל לא היה בשימוש במשך הזמן של התלמוד. כל העניין הוא אי הבנה מבוססת על הרעיון של סעדיא גאון של "מפי השמועה". הוא אמר שלוח מן "שמיעה" (המסורת). כוונתו הייתה כפי שנהג המושג במקומות אחרים בגוף כולו של תורה שבעל פה ובכתב. אבל אנשים חשבו שהוא התכוון הלכה למשה מסיני (חוק למשה מסיני). אבל זה לא מה סעדיא גאון התכוון. כלומר, לוח השנה אינה מדויקת. עדיף פשוט ללכת לפי המולד. גמרא סנהדרין י' ע''ב ברורה גם ככה. ראש חודש לזה גמרא אינו תלוי בבית דין. במקום זאת אם בית הדין מכריז עליה בזמן הנכון, בסדר. אם לא, אז בשמים הם מקדשים את הירח החדש (ראש חודש) האמיתי בכל מקרה.
ideas in Shas
The calendar that is used nowadays was instituted by Meton in Athens. It was adopted during the time of the Geonim but was not used during the time of the Talmud. The whole thing is a misunderstanding based on the idea of Saadia Gaon of Tradition שמיעה.
He said the calendar is משמיעה from tradition.
What he meant was as he used the concept elsewhere the whole body of oral and written Torah. But what people thought he meant was הלכה למשה מסיני A law to Moses at Sinai. But that is not what Saadia Gaon meant.
That means the calendar is not accurate. It is better to simply go by the actual new moon.
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 10b is also clear in that way. Rosh Hodesh to that Gemara is not dependent on Beit Din. Rather if the beit din declares it at the right time fine, if not then they sanctify the real new moon anyway from heaven.
_________________________________________________________________________________
I think one should go by the actual מולד. There is one second when the moon and sun are in conjunction. That is called the מולד. In תוספות in סנהדרין דף י' ע''ב the first opinion of תוספות is that the מולד fixes the time of ראש חודש.
The calendar that is used nowadays was instituted by מטון in אתונה. It was adopted during the time of the גאונים but was not used during the time of the תלמוד. The whole thing is a misunderstanding based on the idea of סעדיא גאון of מפי השמועה
He said the calendar is משמיעה from tradition.
What he meant was as he used the concept elsewhere the whole body of oral and written Torah. But what people thought he meant was הלכה למשה מסיני A law to Moses at Sinai. But that is not what סעדיא גאון meant.
That means the calendar is not accurate. It is better to simply go by the actual מולד.
The גמרא סנהדרין י' ע''ב is also clear in that way. ראש חודש to that גמרא is not dependent on בית דין. Rather if the בית דין declares it at the right time, fine. If not, then they sanctify the real new moon anyway from heaven.
אני חושב שצריך ללכת לפי המולד. יש שניה אחת כאשר הירח והשמש נמצאים יחד בקו אנך. זה נקרא המולד. בתוספות סנהדרין דף י' ע''ב הדעה הראשונה של תוספות הוא כי מולד קובע את הזמן של ראש חודש. לוח השנה המשמש כיום הונהג על ידי מטון באתונה. היא אומצה בזמן של הגאונים, אבל לא היה בשימוש במשך הזמן של התלמוד. כל העניין הוא אי הבנה מבוססת על הרעיון של סעדיא גאון של "מפי השמועה". הוא אמר שלוח מן "שמיעה" (המסורת). כוונתו הייתה כפי שנהג המושג במקומות אחרים בגוף כולו של תורה שבעל פה ובכתב. אבל אנשים חשבו שהוא התכוון הלכה למשה מסיני (חוק למשה מסיני). אבל זה לא מה סעדיא גאון התכוון. כלומר, לוח השנה אינה מדויקת. עדיף פשוט ללכת לפי המולד. גמרא סנהדרין י' ע''ב ברורה גם ככה. ראש חודש לזה גמרא אינו תלוי בבית דין. במקום זאת אם בית הדין מכריז עליה בזמן הנכון, בסדר. אם לא, אז בשמים הם מקדשים את הירח החדש (ראש חודש) האמיתי בכל מקרה.
ideas in Shas
Race
Race is the beginning of separation of species. This was the spark that kindled the idea of evolution in Darwin when he saw this. The idea is you take one species and divide it into different areas. The first difference that appears is color. If they stay separated long enough they become two species.
To me it seems that race is not a social construct but a fact of biology and the way nature begins to divide that which ought to be divided. And fighting nature is futile.
Th thing is according to Howard Bloom we should put the center of gravity on the Super-organism and the social meme that unifies it. Based on that we could say even though Sephardim and Ashkenazim have been separated by time and space still since the Torah is the social meme , therefore they can be united. Clearly that is what Bava Sali thought, even though he did sign his name 'with a (ספרדי טהור (ס''ט after it to show that he could trace his lineage to Jewish people before the mixing that began under Arab rule. Still clearly he though the main thing was loyalty towards the holy Torah. That is even though lineage is a big deal still everyone has free will. and one can still choose Torah no matter what his lineage is.
[I focused on color because that seems to be the first marker. Maybe there are others. Color is what got Darwin thinking and I also noticed the same thing. Take a species lets say squirrels and separate it. Put one set into the USA and the other into the USSR. After some time one comes out grey and the other brown. Same with birds in England. There are lots of examples.]
To me it seems that race is not a social construct but a fact of biology and the way nature begins to divide that which ought to be divided. And fighting nature is futile.
Th thing is according to Howard Bloom we should put the center of gravity on the Super-organism and the social meme that unifies it. Based on that we could say even though Sephardim and Ashkenazim have been separated by time and space still since the Torah is the social meme , therefore they can be united. Clearly that is what Bava Sali thought, even though he did sign his name 'with a (ספרדי טהור (ס''ט after it to show that he could trace his lineage to Jewish people before the mixing that began under Arab rule. Still clearly he though the main thing was loyalty towards the holy Torah. That is even though lineage is a big deal still everyone has free will. and one can still choose Torah no matter what his lineage is.
[I focused on color because that seems to be the first marker. Maybe there are others. Color is what got Darwin thinking and I also noticed the same thing. Take a species lets say squirrels and separate it. Put one set into the USA and the other into the USSR. After some time one comes out grey and the other brown. Same with birds in England. There are lots of examples.]
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