)There is such a thing as trust in God with no effort. But I think the emphasis should go on the first part of the sentence. That is the effort aspect is not as essential as the trust in God part.

) In the Mishna of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi in Pirkei Avot we find two opinions. One is Torah with work. That is stated in the name of Rabban Shimon Ben Gamliel. The other is Rabbi Nechunya Ben HaKaneh that ''The yoke of work  is removed from anyone who accepts on themselves the yoke of Torah.'' Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi is not deciding the halacha but rather bringing both opinions without a statement which one is right as is his custom in the Mishna.


) And we find that the Altar of Navardok actually had this happen with him. That was the story about the candle in the middle of the night. [He was doing is usual Hitbodadut which in his case meant Hitbodadut in the traditional sense of shaving a hut in the middle of  a forest and spending all day and night alone learning Torah and praying. When his candle ran out, someone knocked on the door and handed to him a candle!

) My own situation was I was in Israel--not doing great but managing. I decided at some point to go with the approach of ''Torah with work.'' That was obviously not happening in Israel, so I thought to get back to California  and do this ''Torah with work'' approach there. That was a disaster. As I was looking for work all the demonic, the religious teachers there told my wife to divorce me because I was not working and learning Torah!! At any rate, I learned a hard lesson about trust in God. If you have a situation in which you are trusting in God and learning Torah and somehow managing, it is mistake to let go off it. And I learned later that this is the universal experience of people that are trusting in God, and then let it go. They fall just as I did.

So what you can see is I think an amazing lesson. You might not be obligated in this level of trust in the first place. But if you have it and let it go, it is accounted as slap in the face of God. Thus if one is a yeshiva or kollel and doing what he knows in his heart for the sake of heaven, then he must not let it go.

) We find in Sanhedrin that Daniel ran away from Nebuchadnezzar because he was afraid of the verse ואת פסילי אלהיהם תשרפון באש [burn their idols in flames] and Daniel thought this could apply to himself after that fact that Nebuchadnezzar had bowed down to him. That is he thought he himself could be considered an object of worship and thus be liable to be burnt. So worship of God must not be confused with tying oneself to a tzadik.

“wives are being turned against their husbands, and a lot of money is being made.”

dalrock

“wives are being turned against their husbands, and a lot of money is being made.” Far more profit in indulging in vices than healthy solutions.

My thinking about this was that I was not going to be able to fight the system. I have mentioned before that the religious teachers were the direct cause of my wife's turning against me and that the troubling aspect of this is they claim they are pro family.  For example, "Why do people turn against those who fear God? Because they are listening to Torah scholars that are demons."  (תלמידי חכמים שדיים יהודאיים. This phrase in Hebrew from the Zohar packs a real punch that the English translation just can't duplicate.)

I have good reason though for minimizing the time I spend on this subject. I am afraid people might attribute this problem to the Torah itself. That I am sure is a natural reaction. But I try to defend the Oral and Written Law and try to show that, "Abuse of the Talmud does not cancel use."

My approach was this. Regardless of who convinced her to try to turn me into a slave I decided freedom was better than slavery. She wanted to go on strike, I simply found a peachy strike breaker.

[This opinion can be supported from the example of Calev ben Yefuna. People know this person mainly as the friend of Joshua (that the Bible testifies about that he was a total tzadik). Few learn the Books of Chronicles where the list of his girl friends is given. I figure what is good enough for Calev ben Yefuna is good enough for me. See the Gra on Shulchan Aruch Even Ezer who brings this example.)

How does Japan deal with Islam? From Ann Barnhardt. Why can not we all be as smart as Japan?

Ann Barnhardt

Have you ever read in the newspaper that a political leader or a prime minister from an Islamic nation has visited Japan ?

Have you ever come across news that the Ayatollah of Iran or the King of Saudi Arabia or even a Saudi Prince has visited Japan ?

Japan is a country keeping Islam at bay. Japan has put strict restrictions on Islam and ALL Muslims.

The reasons are :

1) Japan is the only nation that does not give citizenship to Muslims.

2) In Japan permanent residency is not given to Muslims.

3) There is a strong ban on the propagation of Islam in Japan .

4) In the University of Japan , Arabic or any Islamic language is not taught.

5) One cannot import a ‘Koran’ published in the Arabic language.

6) According to data published by the Japanese government, it has given temporary residency to only 2 lakhs, Muslims, who must follow the Japanese Law of the Land. These Muslims should speak Japanese and carry their religious rituals in their homes.

7) Japan is the only country in the world that has a negligible number of embassies in Islamic countries.

8) Japanese people are not attracted to Islam at all.

9) Muslims residing in Japan are the employees of foreign companies.

10) Even today, visas are not granted to Muslim doctors, engineers or managers sent by foreign companies.

11) In the majority of companies it is stated in their regulations that no Muslims should apply for a job.

12) The Japanese government is of the opinion that Muslims are fundamentalist and even in the era of globalization they are not willing to change their Muslim laws.

13) Muslims cannot even think about renting a house in Japan .

14) If anyone comes to know that his neighbour is a Muslim then the whole neighbourhood stays alert.

15) No one can start an Islamic cell or Arabic ‘Madrasa’ in Japan .

There is no Sharia law in Japan .

16) If a Japanese woman marries a Muslim then she is considered an outcast forever.

17) According to Mr. Kumiko Yagi, Professor of Arab/Islamic Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies , “There is a mind frame in Japan that Islam is a very narrow minded religion and one should stay away from it.”

2. More fanmail, this time via email from a Mister Mohamed Megahed whose email address, if anyone is interested, is mohamedmegahed1@hotmail.com :

To: Ann Barnhardt
Re: Lets do it

I hope your kids get cancer u slut I hope your family dies in the one day and u live to live a sad life. If your parents are alive I hope death upon them too. And if they are dead I will piss on they graves the worthless peasants. I wanna meet up with you so I can make u a c*m bucket.

religious teachers

I had a good wife until psychopathic, religious teachers sunk their claws into her. So it may seem that I am being over cautious about staying away from religious teachers.  But I think I am not.  I think I am not being cautious enough.
When I am critical I do try to point out that they are as a rule as far from keeping the Torah as one could expect from hypocrites that put on religious clothing and make money from doing so.
 I can imagine there are out there religious teachers that sincerely think they are keeping the Torah, but I can reassure them that they are not. They are obstacles keeping people from Torah. It all begins with their using the Torah to make money. After that it is all downhill.
I do not think that they will ever change. So the only point of this is to warn others about the danger  in these people, especially for innocent people that really do want to keep Torah. If you want to keep Torah, the last person you want to be talk with is a religious teacher.
A positive suggestion would be to learn Torah yourself. And if you can find a place that learns and teaches authentic Torah--that is the Oral and Written Law  with no additions masquerading as Torah, then it is a good idea to learn there.  But such places are rare. And most have lost the authenticity. Now they are career orientated. That is they generally are out to make more the religious teachers. May God save us from them.  I wish I did not have to mention this negative aspect. I would rather focus on the positive side of Torah. But I still have an obligation from time to time to mention this important point to warn people.

[I should mention the distinction is simple. There are people in legitimate yeshivas who are sincerely interested in learning and and keeping Torah. And sometimes it happens by mistake they get the name "religious teacher" attached to them. This is confusing. But as a rule yeshiva people are not the kind of monsters that I am referring to here. So this distinction is important to keep in mind. People in straight, Lithuanian yeshivas are  not the kind I am referring to here.

מפסמים את החנפים בשבל חילול השם. The Talmud tells us we are required to shout out the name of the hypocrites to make sure people know about this problem. And the Chafetz Chaim goes into detail about this in chapter 7 of volume I. He makes clear there there are times when one is obligated to say Lashon HaRa, and concerning religious teachers this certainly applies. [In that chapter he deals with the issue of when we are required to warn people.  That is not to only place, but  it is the one I remember off hand.]

I thought about deleting this essay, but for now I will leave it. It brings out an important point. That is that anyone who really cares about Torah, should to get rid of all religious teachers. The only institution that really deserves support are authentic Litvak [Lithuanian] yeshivas where real Torah is learned.

The question is how to get rid of religious teachers? This is highly individual. People have to realize on their own how bad they really are.  There is nothing I can say until people discover this on their own. And by then it is too late.
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The dividing line is not exact. You have supposedly Lithuanian yeshivas that are cults. On the other hand Breslov which tends to be problematic, still has plenty of people that are sincere  and from the Side of Holiness. In fact, outside of the leaders which everyone knows are crazy, the majority of Breslov are in fact simple, sincere Jews.

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So what is the dividing line? How does one tell? It is hard to know. Rav Shach certainly was able to see the difference, but besides him I have not heard of anyone. On the outside appearance there is no difference. The Dark Side  is even more strict in rituals in order to make itself seem kosher.
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The word "religious teacher" is not in itself a proof of evil. After the new kind of ordination started by Rav Joseph  HaLevi from Vienna people started using this term.  But still you have great people that were refereed to as "Rabbi." No one says "Rav Akiva Eiger." It is "Rabbi Akiva Eiger".
So the main indication is probably simply affiliation with the group the Gra put into excommunication.  That seems to be the basic dividing line. The fact that that Gra was ignored in this point is how everything went downhill.

1)The way I learn Gemara is based on the idea that I have limited time each day. It is not the same thing as for a yeshiva student who can spend the whole day on Gemara.

The way I do it is I look at one whole "sugia."(subject) And every sugia in Shas has as a rule a sister sugia and maybe a few sisters.
So if you are like me and you have only about one hour per day this is what you do. You take the one half a page that is your starting sugia and you read through it with Rashi, Tosphot, Maharsha, Maharam of Lublin and the Rif and Nemukai Joseph. If you have time you add a few achronim like Rav Shach or Reb Chaim. If you read about the same speed as I do that altogether should take about one full hour. So for today you have done about as much as you can do. The next day you go back over the exact same material again.  You do that for about a week and then you go over to the sister sugia. Based on probability that sister sugia will probably be also about a half a page [one amud --one full column ]
2) This way is totally different from what a yeshiva student should do but since not everyone in the world is a yeshiva student it is important to know and do this method.
3) To some degree this idea is well known in the secular world. It is the reason why in high school you have 40 minute classes. And this 40 minute method has advantages and disadvantages. When I was in high school I found it terribly frustrating. It seems to pull me in all directions. So when I finally got to a NY yeshiva and was able to concentrate on one subject all day I was very very happy.
But nowadays when I am not in yeshiva I find this one hour approach to be amazingly effective.
4) Yeshiva is a different world and what one should do there is stick with the order that is set there. But much effort is needed to find a good Litvak yeshiva. When it comes to yeshiva one should not be fooled by the frauds. When it comes to Torah one must insist on authenticity. If it is not authentic is it worst than a waste of time. It is Sitra Achra. [The Dark Side.]

q94 [q94 in midi format] [q94 nwc]  A song of thanks to the God of Israel. q98 [q98 in midi] [q98 nwc] e45 in mp3 [e45 in midi]  [e45 nwc]e46 [e46 in midi] [e46 nwc]e47 [e47 in midi] [e47 nwc] e48 in mp3 [e48 in midi] [e48 nwc]  e51  [e51 in midi] [e51 nwc]  e55 in mp3. [e55 in midi][edited. e55 is my attempt at 6/8 time] [e55 nwc] q96  [q96 in midi]  q96 nwc e files are from about ten years ago. q files are more recent. There were lots of other files but a good deal was lost. q66 in mp3 [q66 in midi] [q66 nwc][q66 i just found buried in some old files so i added it to this blog entry]

People must be familiar with Shalom Sharabi's Nahar Shalom  in which he reduces the Sepherot to three.

[You can't miss it because it is right smack on the first page.]

It is hard not to see the connection between this and Kant, Schelling, and Hegel. I don't make it a point to point out connections like this unless something comes up to remind me. Hegel's Triads are obviously isomorphic the the Reshash who has the actual sepherot being three as per the begining of Nahar Shalom. But Schelling and the Nahar Shalom have an obvious connection.  One has intellectual intuition. But considering that Schelling's intellectual intuition is half subject and half object and not really inside of oneself except as it is perceived it comes out that they are saying what seems to be the same thing.
Faith is needed to get to attachment with God --that is why Jews are called the "Hebrews" which means "to pass over." The original idea was because Jews came from beyond the Jordan from Iraq [Mesopotamia]. To get to the Infinite One one has to pass over --that is to go by faith, not by reason.

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi  showed that a system of rational knowledge never arrives at the knowledge of God since, for such a system, the unconditioned can only arise as a result of a process where the one conditioned leads to other conditioned in an infinite chain of negativity. To get to Devekut [absolute attachment with] with the Unconditioned, one must begin with the Unconditioned itself  which no rational knowledge ever attains. For Jacobi it is only the leap of faith beyond the system of rational knowledge that enables us to open to the unconditionality of the absolute being.

In this context I should mention that I personally do not know how attachment with God happens and I would assume that one needs the ability to discern object facts from spiritual delusions before he can make progress in this area. I felt myself a great deal of attachment with God when I was in Israel the first time, but I could not say how that occurred, and it was always hard to deal with that kind of level of reality.  But later I learned to appreciate this kind of thing and to realize it has great value.
The way I see value in  a Schelling kind of way. That is I have a normal semi circle of values but with me it is dynamic not static. That is it is a harmonic oscillator.



[And the idea of Schelling about intellectual intuition is the exact same thing that the Intuitionists are defending.