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15.8.15

Floride

from WIKI:
Hexafluorosilicic acid is also commonly used for water fluoridation in several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland. In the U.S., about 40,000 tons of fluorosilicic acid is recovered from phosphoric acid plants, and then used primarily in water fluoridation, sometimes after being processed into sodium silicofluoride.[5] In this application, the hexafluorosilicic acid converts to the fluoride ion (F), which is the active agent for the protection of teeth.

And this also from Wiki:
Concentrated hexafluorosilicic acid is corrosive and can attack the skin.

14.8.15

Belief in a true tzadik. This is apparently some kind of archetype that some people get more of and others get less of. And it is in apparently contradiction to   a false tzadik or a non authentic tzadik-- a faker. Most of these fakers have convinced themselves that they are true tzadikim.
["Being a tzadik"  work is not, contra popular opinion, an occupation of nobility and integrity, any more than any other profession is. It's a profession made up of noble and ignoble people, honest people and liars, decent folks and utter thugs. It does not deserve the cultural free pass we've given it.]

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I walk into some local synagogue and I hear the Rav giving talk about the halacha  not to put back food on the fire on the Sabbath day if it has not been totally cooked.  That is like what people say a little bit of knowledge is dangerous. Because he did not mention an essential point. The Halacha has to do with fire. Only with fire is there cooking. If for example one took a magnifying glass and cooked his cholent completely from beginning to end --there is no מלאכה work of cooking involved.
תולדות חמה are not the same as תולדות אש. This is so common that people talk out of ignorance that I stopped paying attention. [heat produced by something heated by the sun is however a rabbinical decree, but  there is no rabbinical decree about electricity which was not around at the time of the sages who had the authority to make decrees.  This is a well known fact--but I can't remember the exact source for it this minute. But take my word for it. The power to make decrees stopped a long time ago. It comes up in the Gemara in a few places, that even in the time of the Talmud they no longer had the power to make a decree that was binding on all Israel. The Rambam also says this in the beginning of Mishna Torah.

Is there any reason to be strict? Not as far as I can tell. The question about being strict is in Rosh Hashanah 14b.  Rabbi Akiva took two tithes from an etrog he picked on 1 Shevat. The  Talmud asks how could he do this? We know if one holds by the lenient opinion of Beit Shamai and Beit Hill he is wicked. If he goes by the strict opinion of both, he is an idiot. כסיל בחושך הולך. "An idiot walks in darkness"
The Gemara concludes he was not sure of what the actual halacha was so he was strict.

So if there is a doubt, then there is a reason to be strict. But if not, there is no reason, and all the more so to go around making up a stringency and calling it "halacha" is  a bad idea.

But there is a reason why the actual Torah is ignored, and people have to make up ways of being strict and pretending it is halacha. Because otherwise  young  people might stay home with their parents and fulfill the commandment of honoring their parents. You can't build a cult if people stay with their own families.

13.8.15

Since the world seems to be slipping into insanity by giving Iran Nuclear weapons my suggestion is for people to learn survival skills and acquire, fishing gear, traps, and guns and rifles.

Islam is much more coordinated than most people realize and Europe and the USA will not be safe with Islamic barbarian hordes roaming shooting at Jews and Christians.


People went looking for those bomb shelters that you could buy in 1962. But both the USA and the USSR were not suicidal-- unlike Muslims.
Nowadays the thing to do is to get yourself a bomb shelter and stock it well and bury it deep.
The problem with giving Muslims the Atom Bomb is that mutually assured destruction is an incentive to use it.
Black will no longer be considered so beautiful when people considered the fact that they put a traitor into the White House that gave our enemies the means to destroy the USA. K-12 and common core and many other issues will pale in comparison with the suicidal mistake of giving Islam the means to destroy the USA and Europe.

I have a soft spot in my heart for learning Torah. Most synagogues that  i attended were more about prayer. But I suggest taking every synagogue and Temple and converting it into a place where Torah is learned.
This was, in fact, the way things were in the time of the Talmud. But regardless of history I think today what people need is a place where they can go and sit down and learn Torah without distractions.

This in fact was the original idea of a yeshiva when Reb Chaim from Voloshin began this idea. Before that there was the local synagogue that was used for prayer, but during the day when people were at work, the younger teenagers would be there and learn Torah from the local rav.

But this too is history. Nowadays yeshivas have morphed into money machines.
This is all bad news. We need simply a place for one thing alone--learning Torah for its own sake--not for the sake of making  money, or any other purposes.


"Learning Torah" in this context means only traditional Torah:  Talmud, Rashi, and Tosphot. Anything after the Mediaeval Rishonim is strictly off limits. For anyone who is not up to Talmud there are plenty of good books of Rishonim that provide  a good instruction to Torah: the Guide for the Perplexed, or the אמונות ודעות by Saadia Gaon. There are great books of Musar from the Middle Ages also.

I should mention  that bringing back people in repentance is a very evil thing to do. What I am suggesting here is rather to have places where people learn Torah and the Torah will teach people what to do. But the whole concept of "Kiruv" is very evil. It first and foremost causes people to ignore the fifth commandment.  all the evil in the people they supposedly bring back to Torah goes into them until they become infinitely more evil that the people they are supposedly helping.
 . And you can see this in fact in every Kiruv organization.


So in spite of what people say, "We don't Poskin (decide) by the Gemara," the truth is the exact opposite. We poskin only by the Gemara. The only thing which determines halacah is דינא דגמרא

I am not a fan of being strict in Jewish Law Halacha. But neither am I in favor of being lenient.

While Reb Chaim from Voloshin  and other people like the Maharshal and Mahrasha go with the idea that דינא דגמרא the law of the Talmud is what is binding [and later halacha authorities are only to make it clear what the Talmud is saying but have no authority on their own.] still my way of looking at Halacha is that I go by Rishonim [Medieaval authorities].

This is a major source of confusion nowadays so I thought it is worth my time to clear up the issue.
In any case the Halacha [Law] is certainly like the law of the Talmud דינא דגמרא but it is just because it is often hard to know what that is that I go by Rishonim [Mediaeval authorities].

Achronim --are for some reason very flaky thinkers with only a few exceptions.

Even Rav Ovadiah Joseph instilled and reinforced deep hatred of Ashkenazim in all Sefaradim. [You just don't find an ashkenazic Jew in a sephardi yeshiva for this reason.] I would  consider that to be characteristic of all achronim. They all have some hidden agenda and under the surface are pushing some kind of political trick.

So in spite of what people say, "We don't Poskin by the Gemara," the truth is the exact opposite. We poskin only by the Gemara. The only thing which determines halacah is דינא דגמרא. It is only because it is hard to know what is the Law of the Talmud that we look at Rishonim.  But we don't look at Achronim to determine what the Gemara is thinking because the achronim are usually flaky and are usually more interested in getting the Gemara to agree with what they want to believe that finding out what the Gemara is holding.

I should mention that to me the Rishonim have enormous validity even beyond Halacha. Also in Philosophy. My feeling about Rishonim--even when they disagree with each other is אלו ואלו דברי אלהים חיים "These and these are the words of the living God." Achronim on the other hand make mistakes--often.



12.8.15

My impression is that Islam is trying to exterminate Christianity. Not so much in the Middle East but rather in Europe and in the USA.

I mean to say that I think killing Christians in the Middle East is small potatoes as far as Islam is concerned. It makes news but it is not their primary objective. Their intention I think is more directed towards making Christianity look ridiculous and to slowly achieve their goals by  a slower legal process.

Also I think that though getting rid of Israel is part of their goal but not in the same way as getting rid of Christianity.
The way they do this is in part by gaining confederates--allies in this goal or people that are not aware of their larger purpose.

But to understand this I think is hard for people that have grown up in the West and are not so aware of group dynamics. People in the USA and in Europe think more as individuals and are a little shocked when they encounter "group think." I know I was. I grew up in California and when I discovered people were deciding issues based on group identity alone--and not on the value of the arguments involved I was shocked.

I know some people think that this is a good goal. They imagine getting rid of Christianity and living under Islamic Rule would be Gan Eden. I know people like that.


And there are other people that are complicit in this goal. They don't actively support the extermination of Christianity but stand by and watch it happen with no concern as if it does not affect them. They are not as dumb as the first group but still not praiseworthy.

The best way to deal with this problem--I suggest is to face it head on and as directly as possible.
 That is to stop hiding in the sand.

And this is a problem not just for Christians, but for Jews also. Surely you must think that Jews would be aware of the problem with Islam. You would be wrong. Most think that Islam is our buddy. Civilization would flourish under Islamic rule. And plenty of books are written with this dangerous delusion in mind.

And I myself have been silent about this because after all by blog is visited by almost no one. So I ask myself why bother? However today I thought to break my silence about this and let people know that they are the target.


Now it might not be the place to discuss the positive aspects of Christianity on a Jewish blog. But let me just say that there are good reasons to defend Christianity.--The major principles of ethics are simply Jewish Principles in the first place. Plus there is some benefit in having a good example to follow. It is a good idea to have some tzadik to follow. Christians I admit might over do that last point a  little, but the basic idea is sound.