It looks like the Gra is saying something  like what we see today in Lithuanian yeshivas.

This comes up as we know in the Nefesh Hachaim of his disciple  volume IV in the most powerful way possible. But in the Gra's writings themselves we see this idea, that (1) Every spare minute should be devoted to learning Torah. And also that: (2) People that are learning Torah should be supported, and not have to work.--Even though (3) They should not be learning for the sake of making a living..

What the Lithuanian yeshivas in Israel and in Brooklyn have done is simply put what the Gra said into action.

This path seems different than that of the Rambam. Maybe I should just accept the fact that this seems to be an argument among Rishonim and leave it at that. This is not any different than I would think about any other argument among Rishonim like between Rashi and Tosphot. Clearly arguments between Rashi and Tosphot don't bother me.

I think what bothered me the most was that for a long time I did not see any support for the yeshiva path. It was not just that it did not look like the Rambam, but it did not look like any Rishonim. [Even the Tashbatz or the Keseph Mishna.]

Furthermore I was unhappy with the way yeshivas were being run. In Uman you can find a wide spectrum of people that agree with me on this point. [Yeshivas often throw out people they feel do not bring something to the table. This hurts people's feelings that when young and successful were welcome but get older and have problems and are not welcome.  But you can say that yeshivas have the right to protect themselves from bad influences.]

But seeing that in fact the Gra is saying pretty much what you see on the ground in the yeshiva world I have to retract my complaint. I guess we will just have to go with the idea that any human institution can and will be abused.
But abuse does not cancel use.

Schopenhauer and facts about the physical world

Schopenhauer claims that facts about the physical world have no internal significance.

In this point, the Rambam surely disagrees. The Rambam holds learning Physics and Metaphysics (of Aristotle) is higher than learning Torah. The Ari ( Isaac Luria) also disagrees. He has a whole list of Divine names that are embodied in the physical universe. See the large Sidur of the Reshash [from the grandson of Shalom Sharabi] for the whole list. (That is besides the smaller list in the Eitz Chaim itself). Some of these Divine names are from the Eitz Chayim itself (The book, Tree of Life of Isaac Luria) but not all. This is common with Shalom Sharabi- to fill in missing gaps in the writings of the Arizal. [The Ramchal also does this,-- e.g. for the intentions of mincha [afternoon prayer] for Shabat which are missing in the Shaar Hakavanot of the Ari and the Ramchal fills the gaps.]

 In this world is hidden holiness; and even in the lowest regions in spirituality is hidden the highest holiness that comes from the hidden statement of creation. [In the first statement of Creation there is no "He said"]  God's holiness is hidden everywhere and in everything.]
But on the question of science,--

To the Rambam when you learn Physics and MetaPhysics you directly fulfill the mitzvah of love and fear of God. These are not means to come to fear of God or love, but direct fulfillment of the actual commandments.
You can see this in the beginning of the "Yad HaChazakah" and also in the Guide. All later Musar books quote the Rambam about this, but seem innocent about what he was actually intending.

This is similar to the mitzvah of being attached to God Deuteronomy 13:5. The Sages ask how is this possible to fulfill. And they answer by marrying off ones daughter to a Torah scholar, and doing business with a Torah scholar, and  giving money to a Torah scholar. (That is how the Gra translates the last phrase.)
The Rambam brings this statement as meaning that doing these things is an actual fulfillment of the commandment;- not just a means to come to attachment with God.


Where do you see that truth is in the ground? In physical matter? Why is it that the Rambam insists on seeing in facts about physics the highest truths? He probably saw it in a Midrash. "God wanted to create Man. The angel of truth came and asked, 'How can you create Man when he is full of lies?' God took the angel of truth and threw him on the ground, as the verse says, 'He threw truth to the ground.'"

A few days ago I asked what seemed to me to be an almost unanswerable question on the Talmud in Sanhedrin 62. That is the fact that the Talmud wants to answer the question in Shabat  of Rava to Rav Nachman by means of a statement about idolatry. The question was: If one forgot both Shabat and work does he bring one sin offering or more? The Talmud in Sanhedrin asked: Why don't we answer this from the fact that if one thinks idolatry is allowed, he brings just one sacrifice.



I noticed today that Rabbainu Isaac [The Ri] answers it.] Now I can't tell what might come up in the future about his answer, but to me it looks fairly good. The Ri asks the question and says like this:the actual question in tractate Shabat was not the same as if he forgot about Shabat totally. It was he forgot shabat is to say and work is forbidden. So it is not parallel to the Mishna in Shabat in chapter 7.This is not new. We assumed it in the first place when we were learning tractate Shabat. But then the Ri says his new idea. It is that when the Gemara quotes the question in Sanhedrin and Kritut, the Talmud is  thinking idolatry can't be forgotten totally because  is the essence of being a Jew is  to despise idolatry. And that is why idolatry is similar to the subject of the question of Rava about Shabat than the Mishna in Shabat. For the question is dealing with a situation where a simple reminder would perk the guy's memory. And the Mishna is Shabat is dealing with a case where a simple reminder would not work.


I saw the Ri in Kritut, not Sanhedrin.

There is a kind of face that I can recognize--one that learns Gemara. The "image of God" radiates from a person that has spent time learning Talmud. It might because I was around people that learned Talmud seriously for years.

But when someone gets the idea to use Torah to make money they get a soul from the Realm of Darkness and slowly imperceptibly\ become agents of the Dark Side.
And people that learn Torah for money also don't get this kind of radiance.



But somehow or other I have not merited to learn Torah myself even if I recognize how great it is. Maybe that is my lot in life--to see greatness but not to be able to reach it.

I don't think the Ukraine can win in the East. And I doubt of they want to either. Surely they can't be thinking of paying peoples pensions over there. It is just the land, not the people that is important. But Russia will take it anyway. The best think is to let it go and to just absorb  losses that can't be recovered anyway. As for the rest of the Ukraine they should be accounted a part of NATO already. I always knew the fact that for the last twenty years the fact that the Ukraine was given a cold shoulder by Europe and the USA and the IMF was not going to end well. I could not believe it when the USA would consider Egypt an ally, when I knew its people had nothing but contempt for the USA, and the Ukraine whom I knew had nothing but respect for Democratic values was shunned.

But obviously none of this advice will be listened to. Not one single word. And the Ukraine will continue fighting in the East and more rivers of innocent blood will flow. And then the Ukraine will have to give it up anyway. But only after thousands of more soldiers will have been killed.
And NATO will still give a cold shoulder to Ukraine as it always has, and then Russia will just come in and take the rest.
I am  sure my advice will not be followed.
I have never been able to talk sense into people. 

 I think that if if people would find a Lithuanian kind of yeshiva to learn in even for just one hour a day, that everything in their  lives would turn around.

[In this context, I have to add the condition to avoid cults. Many places made a show  and claim of learning Torah, but in fact are highly destructive, evil cults. For this reason I specific the condition and adjective "Lithuanian" Yeshivas.]  

Not everything that claims to be Kosher is Kosher.  Cults are cults no matter how much money and success they have. 

The advantage of a Litvak yeshiva is that its social meme is the Torah. It does not in theory recognize any authority except for the Oral and Written Torah. The advantage of this is there are no false gods that are worshiped. And if something is going on that is not like the Torah says, you can call them on it. For the Torah is the final authority and arbitrator,--not any person.

And it is not just a place to learn Torah, but a community that is founded on the same social meme--the Torah.  

The problem in yeshivas is trolls. The Sitra Achra  (Realm of Darkness) can penetrate the protective shielding.


Trolls can sometimes be heads of yeshivas also. So things are not always so simple.  And we know from the Rambam that the vector is the determining factor.
How do you see this in the Rambam? In story about the king that had a palace and country around him. People were graded by their closeness to the king. But only on condition their vector was towards the king.
What we see in Lithuanian yeshivas is radical sectarianism. But not radical enough and not radical in the right directions. Weird people are rigorously excluded while they are usually the most talented and sincere. Country club yeshivas are problematic when they claim to be about Torah. When they are private clubs they give a bad name to Torah.

Character improvement.

My suggestion for this is a two step program.
First learn Musar. That is: Books of Ethics written during the Middle Ages.
Next when you find something in one of those books you know you need to work on then find a small statement that deals with that issue  and say it right away when you get up in the morning and right before you go to sleep at night.
For example I have had some issues brought up to me by others or I myself have noticed my own  deficient character in certain areas. To a great degree this idea has been helpful.
Appendix:
What was special about the Middle Ages in terms of Torah is a good question. This is a axiom in Yeshivas. The period is called the period of Rishonim. I really am not sure what made it special.
At least in terms of Philosophy it is easy to see. Philosophy after the middle ages fell into a kind of Dark Ages. Almost all the great philosophers after the Middle Ages are guilt of circular reasoning. [Assuming what they want to prove. Given this kind of logic you can prove anything by playing with words in a fashion to hide what you are doing.] Not Kant though.