the movement that does everything according to the rulings of Eliyahu from Vilnius known as the Villna Geon.)

Rav Zilverman (the movement that does everything according to the rulings of Eliyahu from Vilnius known as the Villna Geon.) was invited to join the newest lunatic Sanhedrin. 

Rav Elyashiv said, "No." So you see a little sane leadership is a good thing. I am sure there must have been other good things. It seems to me that the Litvaks (Lithuanian type of Jews) do learn Torah. OK maybe not as much as I would like--but neither do I learn as much as I would like. Basically it seems to me Rav Elyashiv was a kosher leader, even if there are specific areas I disagree with him--like the issue of IDF.
Rav Zilverman also asked me what I thought of it. I said a short answer but it was based on the fact that the Rambam says to make a Sanhedrin you need to gather all the wise of Israel and they confer semicha (ordination) on someone to start a new semicha. So my answer was short and simple, "First they need to be wise." {The implication is that I was saying they are a bunch of idiots so he should not join them.}
The nice thing about basic Lithuanian type of Judaism is that it is authentic. 

Soviet Socialist States of America

If we consider government to be a kind of messenger  as the Rashbam  רשב''ם says in Bava Batra, then certainly it would be null and void if the person does not keep his word. [note 1] This in fact gives me great doubt about the validity of the American government at present. What makes it worse is not the lies of the politicians, but the very nullification of the American Constitution. The government found a way to overcome the problem of division of powers that was supposed to limit government. They decided they would all act as one monolithic body. So it has became a government against the people, not for the people. [That was just step one. Then the media became an arm of government against the people.]
In John Locke's Two Treaties of Government, we find a clarification of when it is morally permissible to make a revolution and overturn the government. Based on those two treatises, I would have to say that the American government is long overdue for a revolution. There is unbelievable abuse of power. The government assumes everyone and everything belongs to it, your money, your children, your body. According to the American government, you never accomplished a damn thing in your entire life. Anything good you ever did is because of an African president, the Savior. It has become the Soviet Socialist States of America. [I admit here the word "soviet" might not be proper. That would be an insult to the USSR. There are really no "soviets" per say --advisory bodies that I know of.  A better way of saying this is, The Union of Socialist States of America.

The system of comprehensive government planning of economic affairs in America creating tyranny. With all production, employment, and distribution of output completely under the control of the State, the fate and fortune of every individual is at the mercy of the Black House.

[note 1] See Bava Metzia and Gitin for details. The main idea here is that when you appoint a messenger to do something, and he changes from what he was told, the messenger-ship is void. That is: let's says he was appointed to do kidushin [קידושין] (marriage) of a woman in a certain place for the sake of a friend, and he did it in a different place, then the kidushin (marriage) is null and void. The Rashbam explains the authority of government comes from messenger-ship in his comment on the law of the country is the law. (In  tractate Bava Batra) John Locke said the same thing in his most famous book Two Treaties of Government. In spite of the cool temper of John Locke and the seemingly innocuous title of the book, it is a recipe for revolution when a government abuses its power as is the case in the USA

The question of an electric light on Shabat

The question of an electric light on Shabat.


While it does look clear that an electric light that produces heat would be forbidden by the Torah according to the Rambam, it is hard to see why building/ (בניין) would apply to electricity. (And the Rambam seems to be a minority opinion here. Besides that why is not then a glass you use to focus sun rays also forbidden. And we know it is not except derabanan.) We do find that putting together a bed or menorah in a way that it could not be taken apart except by an artisan would be forbidden because of tikun mana תיקון מנא, but it is hard to see why electricity would be like that. The way the Chazon Ish understood the idea (closing a circuit) can perhaps be squeezed into the the Gemara. But it is not general way that binyan בנין or tikun mana תיקון מנא were understood by the commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch.
[The reason I always put binyan/building (בניין) and tikun mana/תיקון מנא fixing a vessel together is that the Gemara says they are the same work melacha except that one is for something attached to the ground and the other is not]
I heard from Rav Nelkenbaum (at Mir N.Y.) that he heard from a great man אדם גדול that the Chazon Ish does not actually fit into the Gemara. This might be true, but  I have not heard why.
To me it seems like the Chazon Ish went to great length to show how his idea of building/ binyan could be fit into the Gemara.---the bed and menorah are not possible to use until they are finished. The electric circuit is not finished until it is lit. In theory this seems to work.  The problem is: How does you understand electricity? Is it like water you pour from a tea pot? Or is it a part of the tea pot? I mean the teapot is useless until you pour water into it and then pour it out. Is now it forbidden to open the lid and pour out the tea?
But I admit that the Chazon Ish is an impressive book.

There are some interesting side topics here like a Rambam in laws of vessels  and the end of chapter 9 in Bava Metzia. But they don't change the law

I asked Reb Nelkenbaum to tell me the name of that "great man" but he refused to tell me. And I think he probably would not tell anyone else either because I think he was sworn to secrecy.
So if anyone has the time the only thing to do now is to open up that Chazon Ish and try to get to the bottom of this.
 I saw once that Rav Elizer Menachem Shach had a piece on this in his book the Avi Ezri. And that would be worthwhile looking at. I seem to remember his basing himself on the Rambam. This was about twenty years ago I glanced at it while at the Mirrer Yeshiva.  I think he was concentrating on the Rambam about any heat producing process in terms of making coals.

I think in the long run the reason I am thinking that electricity is OK is the Gemara at the end of chapter 3 in Shabat: about cooking stuff on hot pavement  (or perhaps with a magnifying glass) תולדות החמה. To me that seems to indicate that any heat producing process is  not the same thing as fire.
I think the Chazon Ish realized how absurd it is to think any heat producing process is fire. So he went in another direction-building בניין. And he was thinking that he could get a lot farther with building than he could with just fixing a vessel because building even less than an atom is still liableבנין בכל שהוא חייב . It is probably that distinction between building and fixing that the Chazon Ish is trying to use to get to his idea of forbidding electricity.

As far as what Rav Shach mentions in the Avi Ezri about coals-- clearly the Rambam that he brings there is going like Rabbi Yehudah that a מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה is liable. But we don't follow this ruling. We go by the idea that מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה is not liable. [In any case the whole issue of coals is from fire, not תולדות החמה or any other kind of heat making process.]

So there it is. Maybe someone will come up with some other reason to forbid it. But the reasons that have been given are ridiculous. בורר might be the next suggestion. One is choosing the good electrons from the bad ones by means of a vessel. So it is like choosing the good from the bad with a vessel which is liable from the Torah. But if someone wants to use this idea it might take another few hundred years to show why it is not correct.

I should add that the idea of keeping the Torah strictly is a good idea. Even a great idea. But it is not a good idea to make up prohibitions out of thin air. It is better to keep what the Torah says without adding prohibitions or subtracting them. There is in fact a prohibition in the Torah not to add prohibitions. It is called "לא תוסיף" "Don't add."

Instead of making up prohibitions my suggestion is to be strict about keeping the Ten Commandments.

 אור החשמל ביום שבת. השאלה של אור חשמל ביום שבת. למרות שזה נראה כי אור החשמל שמייצר חום יהיה אסור מן התורה על פי רמב''ם, קשה לראות מדוע בניין יחול על חשמל. ואת  רמב''ם נראה כדעת מיעוט כאן. חוץ מזה,  זכוכית  שאתה משתמש בה למקד קרני השמש גם תהיה אסורה. ואנחנו יודעים שזה אסור רק דרבנן. אנחנו מוצאים להרכיב מיטה או מנורה בצורה כזו שהיא לא יכולה להיות מפורקת למעט ידי אומן ייאסר בגלל תיקון מנא, אבל זה קשה לראות מדוע חשמל יהיה ככה. האופן שבו החזון איש הבין את הרעיון, סגירת מעגל, יכול אולי להידחק בגמרא. אבל זה לא האופן הכללי  שבניין או תיקון מנא הובנו על ידי הראשונים. הסיבה ששמתי בניין ותיקון מנא (תיקון כלי) יחד היא כי הגמרא אומרת שהם זהים, הם אותה מלאכה, פרט לעובדה שהאחד הוא במשהו מחובר לאדמה והשני לא. לי נראה שהחזון איש הלך באריכות כדי להראות עד כמה הרעיון שלו של הבניין יכול להיות מתיאם לגמרא. המיטה והמנורה הם לא ניתנו להשתמש עד שהעבודה הסתיימה. המעגל החשמלי לא נגמר עד שמדליקים. בתיאוריה זה נראה נכון. הבעיה היא: איך אתה באמת מבין בו חשמל? האם זה כמו מים שמוזג מקנקן תה? או שזה חלק של הסיר של תה? כוונתי שהקנקן הוא חסר תועלת עד שאתה לשופך את התה מתוכו לכוס. האם עכשיו זה אסור לפתוח את המכסה לצוק את התה? ישנם כמה נושאים צדדים מעניין זה כמו רמב''ם בהלכות טומאת כלים ועוד בסוף פרק תשעה בבבא מציעא. אבל הם לא משנים את החוק. אני חושב כי חשמל הוא מותר בגלל הגמרא בסוף הפרק השלישי בשבת: על בישול דברים על מדרכות לוהטות, או אולי עם זכוכית מגדלת שהם תולדות החמה. לי זה נראה בבירור כי כל תהליך ייצור חום הוא לא אותו דבר כמו אש. אני חושב שהחזון איש הבין עד כמה אבסורדי זה לחשוב כל תהליך ייצור חום הוא אש. אז הוא הלך בכיוון אחר, בניית בניין. והוא חשב שהוא יכול לקבל יותר עם בניין ממה שהוא יכול עם תיקון כלי מכיוון שבנייה אפילו פחות מאטום הוא עדיין  בנין בכל שהוא שחייב. זה כנראה ההבחנה בין בנייה ותיקון מנא שהחזון איש מנסה להשתמש בה כדי להגיע למושג לאסור חשמל. ככל מה רב שך מזכיר גחלים ברמב''ם, ברור שהרמב''ם הולך כמו ר.יהודה כי מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה חייב. אבל אנחנו לא הולכים לפי פסיקה זו. הולכים לפי הדין מלאכה שאינה צריכה לגופה אינה חייבת. בכל מקרה את כל נושא גחלים הוא מאש, לא תולדות החמה או כל סוג אחר של תהליך קבלת חום

In one story of Nachman there is a utopia. But there is this evil king from a foreign country that wants to destroy that utopia. So he sends in his slaves to ruin it. This they do by immigrating into the country and then then they bring it down it moral level by vulgar talk and suing people all the time. By this method, the foreign king thinks he will be able to conquer and destroy utopia. If this story is not a direct prediction of what is happening to America then I don't know what else it could be.It was said circa 1800

One of my great heroes is Socrates.
I had a few comments about Socrates. In his creation of the ideal state, he puts learning Mathematics (in his day this included Geometry in two and three dimensions and Arithmetic) in the list of things his future leaders should learn. The reason is he see this as means of connecting ones soul to the world of truth and unchanging substances. Gymnastics and music are also there. But he is careful about what specific music he wants his future leaders to learn. This many people find offensive. Socrates is a censor of music and literature.

If you look at his state and the state of utopia that Nachman describes in his thirteen stories, you can see a similar thread. Neither want people in the state that will bring down the morality of the people.
In one story of  Nachman there is a utopia. But there is this evil king from a foreign country that wants to destroy that utopia. So he sends in his slaves to ruin it. This they do by immigrating into the country and then then they bring it down it moral level by vulgar talk and suing people all the time. By this method, the foreign king thinks he will be able to conquer and destroy utopia. If this story is not a direct prediction of what is happening to America, then I don't know what else it could be. How much simpler  Nachman could have said it?

Despite differences between  Nachman and Socrates I consider both to be valuable sources of information. This I base on an idea that in life it is important to find out, "Who is wise?"(who knows what they are talking about versus who is faking it.) I assume that my own wisdom is limited in street wisdom and in other areas. So I think it is important to find a criteria for "who knows what they are talking about ?" After that that I will listen to what they have to say. And it will not bother me if there are disagreements between wise people. (I assume there have to be disagreements between wise people.) But the main thing is to avoid the non-wise and especially to avoid the non-wise that pretend to be wise.
Liberals often that is they construct some fantasy meta-reality where the data might be acknowledged, but its significance is spun in weird ways. They have no need to fear or deny data because they have no intention of letting it rock their world-views.
Liberals deny social phenomena, using buzzwords like "blaming the victim," "false consciousness," or "correlation is not causation." And they believe that, since some stupid people are conservative, liberals, by definition, cannot be stupid. This does not follow.

in praise of Capitalism:For me Socialism and slavery have no satisfactions, no matter how well disguised.

Socialized medicine. Contra Socialism and in praise of Capitalism.

A professor in the university in Uman in Ukraine knew that most people do what ever they can to go to a clinic in Kiev for gynecology. [The reason is that most doctors in the USSR were competent for external things. But when it comes to internal things like operations they simply were not very meticulous. It so happened that the head gynecologist in Uman was a acquaintance of this professor. So he did not want to insult his feelings and let him take care of the case of his daughter. she was pregnant. But she was thin and there was some type of problem I did not exactly understand. at any rate the gynecologist operated on the daughter and she lost her baby and the ability to ever have children.
[2] The wife of another fellow--her water broke. But it was towards the evening so the hospital shift did not want to deal with it until the next day so they gave the woman drugs to stop her from having contractions. But they gave too much so two days later (after the water had broken) they gave her more drugs to start the contractions!!! Oy VEH!!
[3] This is not a horror story but a simple statement of fact why a leading doctor in a hospital close to Uman--(a regional hospital that dealt with newly born children from zero to six months) simply refused the job of head of the hospital. Not because it deals with money and management--but rather because it deals with having to come up with new schemes how to make money by fraud and scams.

I have two acid tests to decide if any system is just. First I ask what is its concept of utopia. Next I ask what is its concept of human nature. I assume when given power they will act on their assumptions.

I start with the assumption of Socrates that people are different and that the essence of a just society is for people to mind their own business and to do what they are good at.

I have two acid tests to decide if any system is just. First I ask, "What is its concept of Utopia?" If its concept of Utopia is to murder millions of Jews and Christians, then I assume it is not just. I don't ask if they say they will do it- because some probably don't really know, and if the system demands murder, then there will always be found people more than willing to do. So I just look at what is their idea of an ideal society, and if this is it, then I assume when given power, they will act on their assumptions. I think the twentieth century has given us plenty of experience that it is dangerous to ignore what people say they will do.






The next test is to see what is their idea of nature --or human nature and the state of nature. If it is that  some elite group is good and everyone else are created to serve them, then I assume there is something a bit off in their world view. [Unless there is evidence to support their view. See the book the Bell Curve. I.e. statistical evidence can be use to show some group  is intellectually superior and or less prone to crime] And I look at their deeds to see if this is really what they believe and act on. If their actions contradicts their words, then I assume the actions are what shows what they are  thinking.
So though the Talmud is a source of value and information, it is not the only source. And people that claim that it is do not actually believe it. What they know is they have comfortable existence which they gained by convincing naive Reform Jews to support them and they don't want their comfortable existence threatened. Truth and Justice has nothing to do with anything in their minds.
If you claim to have an ethical system then one must look at the consequences of the system and see if they seem right.

To give an example [which I picked up from professor Bryan Caplan], the French economist Frederic Bastiat noted that many people thought that labor-saving machinery was bad because it destroyed jobs. He suggested that it would therefore be a wise policy to destroy all machinery, and thereby create even more jobs. See how this works. We have an axiom and a conclusion. The conclusion no one accepts. Therefore the axiom must be wrong.
Starting with a decent axiom is important.
Sure, you can be "logical" in reasoning clearly from utterly misled premises (cf. Thomas Aquinas, or even Isaac Newton's writings on theology, etc.), but don't  tell me there's any value in that except as an academic "practice exercise"? It doesn't count in real, reality-tested life. And it sure doesn't count as being a "rational human being" when the most-cherished ideas, upon which one builds his psychologist world-view, are derived from fairy tales and Grecian myths.

But I tend to agree with Isaac Luria that people are souls.-not selves

Soul is a difficult concept. But I tend to agree with Isaac Luria that people are souls. The modern self seems to me to not have succeeded very well as an explanation of what people are about. So far I have not heard a rational account of the self. Though John Locke used the part of the self that he needed to create a just society but he did not deny the deeper aspects of the soul.


The thing which i need to figure out is the idea of Socrates of a third element of the soul. the first two are the well known rational part and the desire part. (Kabalah divides both of these into ten.) But to Socrates there is a third element--the spirit or passion. and as usual he proves it it is not desire and usually opposed to desire. So what is this third part?\




E. Spodek: The soul is a rider that can steer when given the chance, when she calls out. Only through this world can she attain her true perfection. Although the soul initially loathes the body, it can transform it to receive the soul's full-potency, which will come at the time the soul re-enters the body at the level of Adam before the sin.

A. Rosenblum: That seems like the scheme of the Ramchal (Moshe Chaim Lutzato) which is a development of the Ari (Isaac Luria). That is an Okay scheme, but I still am not sure it is satisfactory. To me it seems there is a definite conflict between the concept of soul and the concepts of self and I am at this point not ready to accept either one. To me it seems that the soul is in the realm of the "thing in itself" (Dinge als sich alein) that is simply not open to human understanding--and that trying to use reason to understand it generates contradictions.

E. Spodek: One cannot grasp the infinite nature of the soul. It is only through our emotions, thoughts, and feelings that we have a hint of our souls.
That is why the soul is like a different entity. It exists outside of the self, but it is inside of oneself and definitely has influence on the self. It is the real understanding of being a "servant of G-d", not for reward. It's all about kindness for your soul. She's going to live on and take part of a most awesome regeneration. Whether it will be with you, or be with your re-incarnation, there is a fixing of soul that will take place. We're all in it together. G-d is ultimately leading everything towards perfection. It's a matter of how you want your name remembered. It's a matter of self-respect.