I know my concept of including Physics, Math Music and survival skills into a yeshiva is radical departure of the approach of those that think all secular studies are  bad.  There is on the other hand those that think all secular studies is a great thing and that is obviously quite terrible as we can see.
My approach is that that having some secular studies is a good thing, but most of it is bad. The fact that people pursue secular studies for the sake of a vocation does not turn bad into good.

I asked Rav Zilverman [Old City of Jerusalem] once about electrical engineering  and he thought that it is in the category of natural sciences that the Rambam recommended.
i might mention that

Even though physics is not among the subjects that my parent emphasized. Still, I believe they are important. My mother emphasized marrying a nice Jewish girl and to be a mensch (good character) , and my father emphasized and to be self-reliant. I think my mother thought “a nice Jewish girl” are synonyms, however I think they are two separate requirements.

Litvak approach

I think the Litvak approach can be contrasted with the approach of the "pursuit of happiness."
I think the Gra's approach that forms the foundation of Litvak yeshivas is the "pursuit of morality."

The fact that limiting the amount of time spent on Musar in from the European Musar Yeshiva which spent enormous amounts of time on Musar to the American version which spends much less time is more based on the fact that the amount of time does not seem to increase the effect. It is the law of limited returns. That is there is a limit of how much you can learn it per day that increases any good effect. In fact there might be a maximum point. After that perhaps learning more Musar begins to detract  and start to create immorality? I think there is plenty of evidence to that fact. We all know Mashgichim [teachers of Musar in Litvak Yeshivas] are pretty poor examples of human beings. Therefore the best idea is the 20 minutes and the 15 minutes of Musar in the afternoon and evening and the ret of the day Talmud [Gemara] Tosphot Maharsha and after that the basic achronim Pnei Yehoshua, Reb Chaim of Brisk, Rav Shach's Avi Ezri.

   

It is possible to understand the idea of idolatry in a Kantian sense.  I might try to give some background about what I mean but the basic idea is simple. God is one, not two or three and he is not a composite. According to the Torah he is not the world nor is the world him. He is the First Cause that caused everything that exist to exist. That is to say he is transcendent and one and ideas of form and substance do not apply  to him.
With Schopenhauer we get further that he is the only unconditioned reality, though that is not like Kant.
What you get from this is a kind of clarity about God but also you get the idea of a limit how far human understanding can go about him. That is the apt title of the Critique of Pure Reason.

This helps to understand the idea of idolatry--which I found very difficult to understand. The major help I found about idolatry was reading the book of Daniel and later learning pages 62b in Sanhedrin and on-ward. [ie 62b -circa 64]. Of course the Nefesh HaChaim was helpful to some degree in the place where he deals with the problem of worship of people.[That is the chapter where he explains the idea of service of God as intending to get attached to God through prayer (I think.) I don't have t to be able to look it up.]


So in short unconditioned reality is unconditioned reality and thus idolatry is simply trying to make it concrete.

s13 G major

Litvak Yeshiva

I have been trying to think of a good argument why a Lithuanian Navardok Musar yeshiva is a good idea. But the whole day I have not been able to come up with any argument.

My major motivation for trying to argue my point is I already know that a Litvak yeshiva is an amazing experience. I would in fact call it perhaps the peak experience of my life if not for later on being in Israel and raising a family there.
But that in itself is not an argument because there are people I have encountered who had less than happy experiences in yeshiva, and not all yeshivas are created equal. But I also have not even wanted to argue for the great two yeshivas that I was in Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY.

What motivates me to argue for Navardok is the idea of a Litvak yeshiva that places emphasis on trust in God. My reason is that I see myself in my own life that when I trusted in God everything went my way. When I stopped trusting in God and started doing השתדלות human effort, everything fell apart.

Many years later I was doing some review of some books of Ethics [Musar of Reb Israel Salanter] and I was surprised to see the that Reb Israel, and his disciples and the Musar Book Obligations of the Heart all preached the idea that if one can not make it with God, then the best advice is to help others get close to God's service.

What occurred to me was this new idea. That maybe this works for individual things. That is- if I am lacking some good character trait, and I can't seem to get it no matter how hard I try, then perhaps helping others get to that trait might help me by way of reflection?

The only modification I would make would be to add Physics and Math to the regular Musar and Gemara approach. And of course Music and survival skills.

These six things I see as pretty essential. Most of the other stuff I learned in High School today seems to have been a waste of time. And even then it did.

Not everyone is equal nor should be treated equally.

The problems with the Enlightenment were noted by Allen Bloom and he also said that the problems that arose were inevitable outcomes. His only stated solution was in regard to university education and it was specifically to get people to read Plato's Republic. That is the only solution that he proposes in his entire book. Needless to say, Plato was thinking about Sparta. [Though Allen Bloom did not mention this.] [See The Closing Of The American Mind.]

[Allen Bloom I think must have walked a middle line between the Kind of Republic in the USA based on Enlightenment principles and respect for Plato and Sparta and Hegel. He must have thought the contradictions were too great to come up with any solution and yet saw good in both systems.
 I grew up in the USA when it was a highly decent and wholesome and moral society. And it was based on the Constitution. So I accepted the basic ideas of the Constitution as being right. Plus I did not like tyranny when I saw it in other places.

It was only recently my learning partner expressed some reservations about the basic principles of the USA that I started to wonder.

In any case I would have to agree that the whole French revolution was a very terrible thing.

My basic approach used to be this: The French Revolution was based on Rousseau and the General Will--no individual rights. Therefore it was bad. The American Revolution was based on John Locke and individual rights, Therefore good.

My idea for London and Germany. Porked Earth Policy. [Instead of Scorched Earth Policy invented by General Sherman] "weaponized lard''

I think pork is a great idea. Someone should come up with creative ways to use it. Have pork spray. And Pork paved streets. Make perhaps pork dust and go up in an airplane and spread it all over Los Angeles [as in crop dusting] . And while you are at it get a Catholic priest up there with you to spread holy water all over LA and California. And especially one should porkify Muslim graveyards with pork dust.
In particular San Bernardino County.



I don't eat pork. The thing about diet is that mainly the problem is with meat products. That is pork is not as serious an issue as regular meat which needs to be slaughtered properly and also the forbidden fats need to be extracted. In any case, pork is fine to use in the above circumstances. If fact, I believe the British used it in exactly that way when they were in the Middle East and were having some trouble with Muslims.  One British captain would take lard and smear it under the grave of any Muslim terrorist and then above it. and then bury a pig with the Muslim, as if to say:  "No more 72 virgins for you"

Answer to me: Well, the commandments in the Pentateuch / Torah are fairly explicit, though, as to what kinds of animals, depending on whether their hooves are cloven, they chew the cud, etc. I forget the specifics, because as a Christian, I am not bound by Jewish dietary law, since the New Testament has indicated that all meats can be lawful, now, for God's people (who include both Jews and Gentiles, the Covenant having been expanded and renewed).

The Brits weren't so wise in dealing with natives and their taboos when they ruled India; you probably are aware of what touched off the Sepoy Rebellion:

My answer: The fats covering the stomach are very very serious. Much more than pork. But as you noted most people are not bound by the dietary laws of the Pentateuch. Right about that. I heard from my learning partner that the Brits at the beginning were very apt in dealing with the natives in India. Maybe later they got sloppy and less careful. I am not sure as I did not get a chance to study the subject in detail.

I should mention here that this is one area that I think people are thinking wrong. The Laws of the Pentateuch are forever. No later revelations can nullify the commandments as Saadia Gaon and the Rambam noted.

I any case I am not sure how easy it would be to convert lard to dust to make crop dusting possible with it.

Socially Extinct 

I imagine the lard would need to be thoroughly dried or desiccated. I imagine the water constitution of lard is pretty high so it would render down to nothing. Not sure how much lard you would need to produce dust in volumes high enough to "weaponize" it.

Porked Earth Policy.


Avraham rosenblum  That sounds about right. They have a lot of lard in the Ukraine. maybe it would make more sense to make a large order and ship it in to the USA instead of producing locally. Then one could do the reduction process in the States.

Also London and Germany are close to the Ukraine. They could make a large order of lard and perhaps even produce weaponized lard in sufficient quantities to spray dust it all over Germany and London and especially all existing Mosques and Muslim grave yards. They could also get a Catholic Priest at the same time to sprinkle holy water over London and Germany as an extra bonus.