Music for the glory of the God of Israel

q1 q3 q30 q31 q36  q37  q38 b100 b101 orchestra piece b105 q40 q41 e39 e36  q89   j93
e71 e72 e69  q43 q45 q44 6/8 time b36
j1 j2 j6 j7 n51 edited n52 n53 p120
I edited q89 a little. It probably needs more. n52 also seems to need edting

This is on Google drive because the way these files sound on Midi is not very great.

here is q36 in mp4 I would put it on utube but that seems to be hard for me to accomplish. I seem to need to put some pictures with it.

The Left's position is that all people are equal and by nature good [noble savage]

The Left's position is that all people are equal and by nature good [noble savage] and any differences in material goods come from exploitation, and ought to be eliminated. Combine this with the idea that it is the right of every person to have the same amount of goods as you have and you get the situation in the USA today. Though this is supposed to be scientific, it is at odds with Darwin. With Darwin we have the idea that one species can divide into different species. The way that begins is by race. The two groups are separated for some time and develop along different lines. At some point what began as a separation of race becomes a separation of species. And fighting this process is fighting nature. And in this case I think Nature will win. And that fighting nature is going to be destructive to those who fight. Nature will win and she will take revenge on those who thought they could out-wit her.

This has implications for Jewish people. We tend to do well in Christian society. And we do not like being kicked out of Christian society. But we don't want to be Christian. But among ourselves we can find the problems that we faced in Christian society become multiplied many times over in Jewish society. An American Jew in Israel is sure to find a Sephardi Jew that will stop at nothing to get him thrown out of the city or area he lives in. By and large Sephardi people in an Ashekenzic environment will be cold and polite, but nothing beyond that. But in a Sephardi environment, there will always be at least one that will make it his life's mission to get rid of an Ashkenazic Jew.
So we ought to admit Christian society is not as bad as we like to paint it. And we certainly ought not to be supporting the Black and Muslim forces that try to undermine it. Unless we would actually prefer to live in the Sudan or Syria, why would we think it a good thing to undermine Christian society?

Donald Trump on this problem:

And see this idea

The idea of keeping Muslims and blacks out of the USA has some justification as expressed in this comment I saw on a blog

"The fact is that some animals are territorial, and they typically do not let other species or subpecies of animal that consume the same resources into their territory. For this reason, different species of squirrel will often fight, wildcats will fight, lions and cheetas will kill hyenas, all kinds of animals fight for survival. Evolution is competitive. Deal with it.

I am xenophobic because I want my great-great-great-great-great grandchildren to look like me and carry my genes."

Gemara Learning

The basic Lithuanian yeshiva approach I think is good even in small measure..
I mean what really is the essence of a Litvak yeshiva? Learning Gemara in depth and Musar {Ethics}. It could not be more simple. (The only other thing there is no tolerance odd balls. This particular  aspect I am not very happy with.)  But in a practical sense could not you do this on your own?   Not just that but looking at the state of the world today it seems to me that you almost have to do this on your own. You can't really depend on others setting up a Beit Midrash where you could walk in and learn.

So how would one do this on his own? A hour of in depth learning I think to do like this: take one page of Gemara Rashi Tosphot Maharsha and the basic achronim like Rav Shach, R Akiva Eiger, etc and do that one page as thoroughly as you can in one hour. Then the next day do the same material again. And keep this up every day for a few weeks. That is the one in depth session.

Then there is a fast session that is to  have a separate session--also about one hour to go though the whole Oral Law--i.e. Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot, Maharsha, Maharam from Lublin, then after the Talmud Bavli the Talmud Yerushalmi, then the Tosphta etc. until you have gone through the Midrashei Halacha and Midrashei Agada.

If this seems a bit above your level then you could start with something more like an introduction like Shimshon Refael Hirsh's Horev. The books of  Musar  give I think a very good introduction to what Torah is all about. [Musar means the books of ethics from the middle ages plus the disciples of Rav Israel Salanter who were able to bring  don those teachings in a digestible way.   MOST books from the middle ages tend tobe hard to digest in modern times, so there does exist a need to bring them down to a practical level.    ]


One advantage of this is when  the rest of the world is going crazy at least you have some sanity to hold onto. And the problem of the world going crazy is not just in your imagination. It is real.  The evil inclination today is כח הדמיון --delusion.

As  the polices and values of Europe were shaped by revulsion about WWII. While people ought to learn from their mistakes. Still learning from mistakes is a kind of negative learning. For positive values it is still important to go to the Old Testament. But since the basic values of the Old Testament are  not not stated openly it is important to learn Musar--books of Ethics written in the Middle ages whose stated purpose was to find the basic values of the Old Testament and the Talmud and put them in simple form so everyone can understand them.

[Not all of Musar I am very happy with. Almost everyone after the Shatz got a good dose of that poison that went into him and his false prophet. That includes the Ramchal. The way I see it most of everything that came after the Shatz is problemtic exception the people that wrote straight of the Talmud with no connection to  Hashkafa [world view issues]

In yeshiva, world view issues were not emphasized. You really had to piece it together on your own.
The Guide of Maimonides was around in its English edition but most people were not looking at it. Yeshiva was really about Gemara, Rashi, and Tosphot.  World view issues were  ignored.
The Guide for the Perplexed and most of Jewish Philosophy from the medieval period  in any case was addressing issue that most people including myself did not have. I never asked "How can the Torah say such and such? Did not Aristotle prove otherwise?"
All Medieval Jewish Philosophy assumes Aristotelian science to be correct.


As for the Rambam himself in the Guide I also have no problem because I simply understand it like Rav Avarham Abulafia [the most important mystic from the Medieval period] explained it.

In any case for world view issues I have to piece together my own approach based on the Ari [Isaac Luria] and  the Guide of the Rambam and the other Medieval books of Jewish Musar [books on ethics].

Mainly I go with the idea that this world is a world of shadows. It is just the shadows that you see on the cave wall. The real world is the world that is the dinge an sich-things in themselves. And beyond that there is the Ding An Sich, the first cause. And I think the dinge an sich are hidden from pure reason. Over the years I have changed my mind about free will. My mother in law once asked my wife about WWII and Germany. And my wife answered free will. And I was surprised at the time a because I had in my own mind confined free will towards every persons' owns decisions. Now I think she was right that one person's free will can affect other people for good or bad.




In any case, Musar addressed world view issues to some degree. But to do more that that might be impossible. The problem is this: If you would want to deal with these kinds of issues in yeshiva you would have to spend a lot more time on it that is available. Let's say for example you would want to learn the Guide of the Rambam. To do that and have any idea of what he was dealing with you would also have to learn Aristotle and t get an accurate picture you would have to learn the commentaries on him  and the later books of Joseph Albo and Abravenal going back towards the traditional Neo Plato view.

The drawback however of not learning this material is people get drawn to phony mystics and pseudo Torah.

One possible way to address this issue would be at night seder [session] to work on Jewish Philosophy. That is at least to plow through the basic material quickly. The Guide, Saadia Gaon's Emunot VeVeot, Joseph Albo,  Isaac Abravenel, and Yehuda Abravenel.

Introduction: The Torah  allows slavery, and slavery has laws attached to it. One can't do with a slave girl anything he wants. America made a terrible mistake in freeing its slaves and now they are ruling over  everyone else. Americans thought the Torah is bad because it allows slavery. Instead of thinking they were superior to the Torah, they ought to have learned its lessons.]

First of all in the Torah we have five kinds of Guilt offerings.  That is let us say there is a slave woman who has two owners and one of the owners lets her go. So she is half slave and half free. Now if she would be free, one could marry her. But a  Jew can't have sex with a slave woman. So what happens if a Jew has sex with this half free and half slave woman? That is the case of one of the guilt offerings. [The half free slave girl offering in Leviticus.]

The other guilt offerings are for armed robbery, and for using an object that was sanctified for the Temple and few other things. You can look them up at the beginning of Leviticus.

The law concerning a  half freed slave girl is in order for the law of the Torah to apply she needs to do it on purpose but he can do it by accident or on purpose.  That is he depends on her. If she did it by accident, then not only does she not get lashes, but he brings no guilt offering.
Thus if she is underage, neither she nor he is obligated in  anything. But if she is older than 12, and he is under age, she gets lashes if she did it on purpose, and he brings a sacrifice.


[In other words: In Kritut we learn he depends on her. If she is not obligated in makot [lashes] then he does not bring  a guilt offering. So if he is over 13 and she is younger neither is obligated.]

 But if he is less than 13 and she is older, the Rambam says she gets lashes and he brings the guilt offering. The Raavad disagrees and says since he is less than 13 both are not obligated in anything;



 The Rambam is hard to understand How can he be liable, when he is underage?

Rav Elazar Menachem Shach has an idea that might help us to understand the Rambam..

Rav Elazar Menachem Shach says when we say as a rule that and accident is not liable in punishment the reason is there is something lacking in the act--not just the person. So now we can understand the Rambam. Since she is doing the deed on purpose, and he is underage there is nothing lacking in the deed. [The reason is because slave girl needs to do it on purpose for there to be a punishment, but he does not need to be on purpose.]
This idea of Rav Shach is something that I and my learning partner have been puzzling about. What would be the difference if doing an act by accident would be a lack in the person, not in the deed? What would change in our case? Rav Shach is giving a reason for the Rambam that when he is under 13 and she is above 12 there is  an obligation.That is his being under age does not present a lack in the deed. But that just seems like a different way of saying the same thing. How does this help us?


______________________________________

_________________________________________




One kind of אשם is for having sex with a שפחה חר.
The law concerning a  half freed slave girl is in order for the law of the Torah to apply she needs to do it on purpose but he can do it by שוגג or on purpose.  That is he depends on her. If she did it by accident then not only does she not get lashes but he brings no guilt offering.
Thus if she is underage neither she nor he is obligated in  anything. But if she is older than 12 an he is under age she gets lashes if she did it on purpose and he brings a sacrifice.





רב אלעזר מנחם שך has an idea that might help us to understand the רמב''ם..
But before I can present his idea let me say over briefly the רמב''ם he is talking about.

First of all in the Torah we have five kinds of אשמות. One of them is for a שפחה חרופה. That is let us say you have a slave woman who has two owners and one of the owner lets he go. So she is half slave and half free. Now if she would be free, one could marry her. But a regular Jew can't have sex with a שפחה. So what happens if a Jew has sex with this half free and half slave woman? That is the case of one of the אשמות.

The other guilt offerings are for גזלה,that is  אשם גזלות, and for using an object that was sanctified for the Temple אשם מעילות and few other things. You can look them up at the beginning of ויקרא.

In כריתות we learn he depends on her. If she is not obligated in מכות then he does not bring  a אשם offering. So if he is over שלש עשרה שנים and she is פחות משתים עשרה neither is obligated. But if he is less than שלש עשרה and she is older the רמב''ם says she gets מלקות and he brings the אשם. The ראב''ד disagrees and says since he is less than שלש עשרה both are not obligated in anything;

 The רמב''ם is hard to understand. How can he be liable when he is underage? רב שך says when we say as a rule that an שוגג is not liable in punishment the reason is there is something lacking in the act, not just the person. So now we can understand the רמב''ם. Since she is doing the deed on purpose and he is underage there is nothing lacking in the deed. The reason is because שפחה חרופה needs to do it on purpose for there to be a punishment but he does not need to be on purpose.

____________________________________________________________________________

  קודם כל בתורה יש לנו חמישה סוגים של אשם. אחד מהם הוא לשפחה חרופה, היינו שיש שפחה שיש לה שני קונים, ואחד מהקונים מאפשר לה ללכת. אז היא חצי שפחה וחצי בת חורין. עכשיו, אם היא תהיה חופשית, אפשר להתחתן איתה. אבל יהודי רגיל לא יכול לקיים יחסי מין עם שפחה. אז מה קורה אם יהודי מקיים יחסי מין עם אישה הזאת  חצי שפחה  וחצי חפשית? זה המקרה אחד  של אשם

סוג אחד של אשם הוא לקיום יחסי מין עם שפחה חרופה (חצי משוחררת). את החוק הנוגע  לשפחה חרופה הוא  שהיא צריכה לעשות את זה בכוונה, אבל הוא יכול לעשות את זה על ידי שוגג או בכוונה. כלומר הוא תלוי בה. אם היא עשתה את זה בטעות, אז לא רק שהיא לא תקבל עונש אלא גם הוא  לא מביא אשם. לכן, אם היא קטינה לא היא ולא הוא מחויבים בכל דבר. אבל אם היא  יותר מי''ב והוא מתחת לגיל י''ג היא מקבלת מלקות אם היא עשתה את זה בכוונה, והוא מביא קרבן.



 בכריתות אנו לומדים שהוא תלוי בה. אם היא אינה מחויבת במכות, אז הוא לא מביא קרבן אשם. אז אם הוא יותר משלש עשר שנים והיא פחות משתים עשרה,  היא לא מחויבת. אבל אם הוא פחות משלש עשרה והיא מבוגרת לרמב''ם  שהיא מקבלת מלקות והוא מביא אשם. הראב''ד אינו מסכים, ואומר שאם הוא פחות משלש עשרה שניהם אינם מחויבים בשום דבר.  הרמב''ם קשה להבין. איך הוא יכול להיות אחראי כשהוא קטן?
לרב אלעזר מנחם שך יש רעיון שיכול לעזור לנו להבין את הרמב''ם.

 רב שך אומר כשאנחנו אומרים ככלל כי שוגג אינו אחראי בעונש הסיבה לכך היא שיש משהו חסר במעשה, לא רק את האדם. אז עכשיו אנחנו יכולים להבין את הרמב''ם. מאז היא עושה מעשה במזיד והוא קטן אין שום דבר חסר במעשה. הסיבה לכך היא משום שפחה חרופה צריכה לעשות את זה בכוונה כדי להיות עונש, אבל הוא לא צריך להיות בכוונה.