28.12.16
27.12.16
The Closing of the American Mind (Allan Bloom)
The book, The Closing of the American Mind (Allan Bloom) attributed most problems-in the USA today to the Humanities and Social Studies departments of universities.
What I recommend instead is to learn the basic program of the Rambam, the Oral and Written Law, plus Modern Physics and Metaphysics of Aristotle. That plus Musar.
And for Musar {Mediaeval Ethics} I mainly think the best thing out there is the כוכבי אור [Stars of Light] by a disciple of Reb Israel Salanter, Isaac Blazer.
[I myself have a fascination with classical learning but today if you would want to learn that stuff, it is best to do it on your own. I doubt if the Rambam would agree with any of it. At least Kant he would include in his program of Metaphysics.]
On a side note:
The Gra would agree about the seven wisdoms. That is the Trivium and Quadrivium-grammar, rhetoric, and logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. See the introduction of Reb Baruch of Shkolov on his translation of Euclid. He quotes the Gra: to the degree that one lacks knowledge in any one of the seven wisdoms to that degree times a hundred he will lack in understanding of the Torah.
What I like about the Stars of Light is how he makes the whole idea of Musar clear--fear of God and good midot {character}. Astronomy today is mostly Physics so there the Gra and the Rambam are on the same page. Geometry today is mainly Algebraic Topology and for that I recommend the book by Allen Hatcher.
Incidentally in the Stars of Light, Rav Isaac Blazer does go into the importance of making a special place to learn Musar, but that never took off the ground. Rather Musar got absorbed into the straight Litvak (Lithuanian) yeshivas and that is where I think it has the most benefit. [These are yeshivas that follow roughly the path of the Gra, Rav Eliyahu from Villna.]
What I recommend instead is to learn the basic program of the Rambam, the Oral and Written Law, plus Modern Physics and Metaphysics of Aristotle. That plus Musar.
And for Musar {Mediaeval Ethics} I mainly think the best thing out there is the כוכבי אור [Stars of Light] by a disciple of Reb Israel Salanter, Isaac Blazer.
[I myself have a fascination with classical learning but today if you would want to learn that stuff, it is best to do it on your own. I doubt if the Rambam would agree with any of it. At least Kant he would include in his program of Metaphysics.]
On a side note:
The Gra would agree about the seven wisdoms. That is the Trivium and Quadrivium-grammar, rhetoric, and logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. See the introduction of Reb Baruch of Shkolov on his translation of Euclid. He quotes the Gra: to the degree that one lacks knowledge in any one of the seven wisdoms to that degree times a hundred he will lack in understanding of the Torah.
What I like about the Stars of Light is how he makes the whole idea of Musar clear--fear of God and good midot {character}. Astronomy today is mostly Physics so there the Gra and the Rambam are on the same page. Geometry today is mainly Algebraic Topology and for that I recommend the book by Allen Hatcher.
Incidentally in the Stars of Light, Rav Isaac Blazer does go into the importance of making a special place to learn Musar, but that never took off the ground. Rather Musar got absorbed into the straight Litvak (Lithuanian) yeshivas and that is where I think it has the most benefit. [These are yeshivas that follow roughly the path of the Gra, Rav Eliyahu from Villna.]
Speed reading and learning fast.
I was fascinated by the idea of learning fast from an early age. I noticed that by just saying the words and going on, that the second time I would review material, it would become clear.
Though in yeshiva this was frowned upon, still in on my own time [the afternoon and evening sessions after the morning class.] I tried hard to make progress through the Talmud and Poskim [Rishonim, mediaeval commentaries on the Talmud].
I was not aware of the opinion of the Rambam that Physics and Metaphysics were important aspects of Torah, and I think I was not the only one who was unaware of that. But if I had been aware I probably would have done the speed reading thing with Physics + Metaphysics also.
The difference is that in the Talmud itself and in the Musar (Ethics) book the Paths of the Righteous the way that is recommended to do speed reading is to say the words and then to go on.
[Incident to the above. The Rambam idea of Physics and Metaphysics is that that is the fulfillment of the mitzvah to love and fear God. That is since the Torah can not command an emotion we understand instead that it commands to learn the material of the wonders of God's creation that inspire one to love and fear God. The Rambam is very aware of the problem of spirituality with no boundaries and dry formalism and legalities on the other. Thus he comes up with this elegant idea.]
[In the Rambam's world view the beginning of one's learning would be to get through the entire Old Testament in Hebrew, and the Mishne Torah {יד החזקה} as as brief introduction to the laws of Moses, the Metaphysics and Physics of Aristotle. But this all would be just introductory material to prepare the way for further study.
The ultimate goal would be to finish at least once in one's lifetime the entire Oral Law--the two Talmuds and all the midrashim. Even if one does not understand it here he will in the next world.
I also discovered that to get to any decent level in any subject takes at least one year of concentrating on that one thing alone. I discovered this in playing the violin. And later in the to great yeshivas Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY I also realize that I only made progress because I directed all my fire power onto learning Gemara alone. I began to realize this is a general principle.
And this was a kind of thing that was just all around in the USA. There were speed reading courses, and speed reading books etc. And I even remember applying to a college that specialized in this kind of thing for reading classical philosophy and literature.
Though in yeshiva this was frowned upon, still in on my own time [the afternoon and evening sessions after the morning class.] I tried hard to make progress through the Talmud and Poskim [Rishonim, mediaeval commentaries on the Talmud].
I was not aware of the opinion of the Rambam that Physics and Metaphysics were important aspects of Torah, and I think I was not the only one who was unaware of that. But if I had been aware I probably would have done the speed reading thing with Physics + Metaphysics also.
The difference is that in the Talmud itself and in the Musar (Ethics) book the Paths of the Righteous the way that is recommended to do speed reading is to say the words and then to go on.
[Incident to the above. The Rambam idea of Physics and Metaphysics is that that is the fulfillment of the mitzvah to love and fear God. That is since the Torah can not command an emotion we understand instead that it commands to learn the material of the wonders of God's creation that inspire one to love and fear God. The Rambam is very aware of the problem of spirituality with no boundaries and dry formalism and legalities on the other. Thus he comes up with this elegant idea.]
[In the Rambam's world view the beginning of one's learning would be to get through the entire Old Testament in Hebrew, and the Mishne Torah {יד החזקה} as as brief introduction to the laws of Moses, the Metaphysics and Physics of Aristotle. But this all would be just introductory material to prepare the way for further study.
The ultimate goal would be to finish at least once in one's lifetime the entire Oral Law--the two Talmuds and all the midrashim. Even if one does not understand it here he will in the next world.
I also discovered that to get to any decent level in any subject takes at least one year of concentrating on that one thing alone. I discovered this in playing the violin. And later in the to great yeshivas Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY I also realize that I only made progress because I directed all my fire power onto learning Gemara alone. I began to realize this is a general principle.
26.12.16
I can think of no worse nightmare than being under the control of the religious.
The Leftist policies in the USA need to be cleaned up and thrown out. Liberalism gone amok.
--I am not sure what needs to be cleaned up exactly. I kind of think the Catholic church was in need of some kind of Reform. Yet looking at the general result of Martin Luther it is hard to see much good until you actually get to the creation of the USA and the Constitution of the USA. Kings also do not seem so great. I can kind of sympathize with John Locke and Hobbes and the other Enlightenment philosophers that were looking for a good place of balance.
And from my standpoint it is hard for me to imagine living under the control of religious people. From what I have experienced, I can think of no worse nightmare than being under the control of the religious. I think it is clear something along the lines of the Constitution of the USA is absolutely necessary. Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews that have great faith in Torah but have been mugged by those that pretend to keep Torah.[The main trouble with the religious seems to be that they are insane.]
This tendency was noted by Sapolsky of the Schizoid personality tending to be religious. This is at least something I noticed also. Thus you definitely do not want them to be in charge. When they are they manage to ruin everything they touch. But they make a whole song and dance about how we are all one happy family while they are love-bombing you.
From the way I see things, things in the USA were great as long as it was more or less going with John Locke and the Constitution and an underlying belief in the Law of Moses. What seems to me is that the Frankfurt school and the worst parts of Hegel got into everything. Maybe for Tzarist Russia, Lenin thought that Hegel and Marx were needed to end their involvement with WWI and the Russian Civil War. But that is what what necessary to get power and stop the chaos. The trouble is the USA was doing perfect well before people started trying to tear down traditional family values and belief in the Bible.
--I am not sure what needs to be cleaned up exactly. I kind of think the Catholic church was in need of some kind of Reform. Yet looking at the general result of Martin Luther it is hard to see much good until you actually get to the creation of the USA and the Constitution of the USA. Kings also do not seem so great. I can kind of sympathize with John Locke and Hobbes and the other Enlightenment philosophers that were looking for a good place of balance.
And from my standpoint it is hard for me to imagine living under the control of religious people. From what I have experienced, I can think of no worse nightmare than being under the control of the religious. I think it is clear something along the lines of the Constitution of the USA is absolutely necessary. Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews that have great faith in Torah but have been mugged by those that pretend to keep Torah.[The main trouble with the religious seems to be that they are insane.]
This tendency was noted by Sapolsky of the Schizoid personality tending to be religious. This is at least something I noticed also. Thus you definitely do not want them to be in charge. When they are they manage to ruin everything they touch. But they make a whole song and dance about how we are all one happy family while they are love-bombing you.
From the way I see things, things in the USA were great as long as it was more or less going with John Locke and the Constitution and an underlying belief in the Law of Moses. What seems to me is that the Frankfurt school and the worst parts of Hegel got into everything. Maybe for Tzarist Russia, Lenin thought that Hegel and Marx were needed to end their involvement with WWI and the Russian Civil War. But that is what what necessary to get power and stop the chaos. The trouble is the USA was doing perfect well before people started trying to tear down traditional family values and belief in the Bible.
Obviously the Antinomianism [anti Law] of Paul got into the early church deeply
I am surprised that many people that teach Christianity seem unaware of issues that I would think are important to know. Or at least to me they seem relevant.
The list could go on and on. For example I would have thought that Thomas Aquinas would be relevant. That is even if you don't agree with him on any or even every single point, still it seems that before I would speak about any topic, I might try to make it my business to be sure that I was familiar with the writings of people that had dealt with the exact same issues I wanted to speak about. Even more so. If you are in a classroom and the professor gives you a hard equation in Calculus to solve, and the smartest kid in the room comes up with a different answer than you, would that not give you a minute's pause? Would you not recheck your work? Would you not wonder if maybe you made a mistake?
But that is just one of many examples. For another, let's take the evangelical movement. How many people in that movement are even dimly aware of its history, or that it even has a history from Azusa Street? [They seem to think the movement was born in its full glory as Athena born from the forehead of Zeus.] [How many evangelicals today would even recognize the name Parham, arguably the father the evangelical movement? Or Seymour for that matter--the ipso facto founder of that movement which has altered the face of Protestantism.
There is the issue of the many writings of early Christians that seem relevant. I have not really formulated my thoughts about all this very well, and this is just a reminder to myself about some issues. There are plenty of issues in the printed NT also that are ignored:-- Christology for example. There are deep differences there between gospel writers about who and what they thought of Christ, and what kind of role they thought he fulfilled. Obviously the Antinomianism [anti Law] of Paul got into the early church deeply and it is a thread of Christian thought that continues until today.
[Marcion, Valentinus, Ebion church, Anabaptists, etc. The aspcet of anti Torah of Valentius was not apparent at first. It was seen he evaporate the meaning of the Law. But the immoral tendencies only became apparent when it broke off into two sects, the Marcosians and the Ophites.]
What to think of all this is not clear as I myself stand outside the church. It is relevant because of people like Avraham Abulafia the medieval mystic that saw in Jesus the messiah son of Joseph predicted in the Talmud Suka. And there is a mention of this in the Ari. That is at the end of the book of Genesis when the burial of Joseph is discussed by Reb Chaim Vital, there is a comment that shows his agreement with Rav Abulafia. [That is not the only place though in the Ari.] Rav Yaakov Emden came to the same conclusion, but I am pretty sure he did so on his own without knowledge of Rav Abulafia or the Ari. [Rav Abulfia's books were only printed a few years ago. And the reference in the Ari is kind of obscure.]
[The thing which bothers most people I think is the history of the church as it relates to Jewish people, and that is in fact a significant point. But it is no less significant that when you need a kindness nowadays you know the address to go to. That is a fact that has certainly not escaped people's attention when they are in need. And it is certainly forgotten about the minute they are no longer in need.]
[The simple fact of the matter is contained in the Ari in what he writes about the breaking of the vessels in which the light of kindness is contained in יסוד (foundation) after the tikun.]
The list could go on and on. For example I would have thought that Thomas Aquinas would be relevant. That is even if you don't agree with him on any or even every single point, still it seems that before I would speak about any topic, I might try to make it my business to be sure that I was familiar with the writings of people that had dealt with the exact same issues I wanted to speak about. Even more so. If you are in a classroom and the professor gives you a hard equation in Calculus to solve, and the smartest kid in the room comes up with a different answer than you, would that not give you a minute's pause? Would you not recheck your work? Would you not wonder if maybe you made a mistake?
But that is just one of many examples. For another, let's take the evangelical movement. How many people in that movement are even dimly aware of its history, or that it even has a history from Azusa Street? [They seem to think the movement was born in its full glory as Athena born from the forehead of Zeus.] [How many evangelicals today would even recognize the name Parham, arguably the father the evangelical movement? Or Seymour for that matter--the ipso facto founder of that movement which has altered the face of Protestantism.
There is the issue of the many writings of early Christians that seem relevant. I have not really formulated my thoughts about all this very well, and this is just a reminder to myself about some issues. There are plenty of issues in the printed NT also that are ignored:-- Christology for example. There are deep differences there between gospel writers about who and what they thought of Christ, and what kind of role they thought he fulfilled. Obviously the Antinomianism [anti Law] of Paul got into the early church deeply and it is a thread of Christian thought that continues until today.
[Marcion, Valentinus, Ebion church, Anabaptists, etc. The aspcet of anti Torah of Valentius was not apparent at first. It was seen he evaporate the meaning of the Law. But the immoral tendencies only became apparent when it broke off into two sects, the Marcosians and the Ophites.]
What to think of all this is not clear as I myself stand outside the church. It is relevant because of people like Avraham Abulafia the medieval mystic that saw in Jesus the messiah son of Joseph predicted in the Talmud Suka. And there is a mention of this in the Ari. That is at the end of the book of Genesis when the burial of Joseph is discussed by Reb Chaim Vital, there is a comment that shows his agreement with Rav Abulafia. [That is not the only place though in the Ari.] Rav Yaakov Emden came to the same conclusion, but I am pretty sure he did so on his own without knowledge of Rav Abulafia or the Ari. [Rav Abulfia's books were only printed a few years ago. And the reference in the Ari is kind of obscure.]
[The thing which bothers most people I think is the history of the church as it relates to Jewish people, and that is in fact a significant point. But it is no less significant that when you need a kindness nowadays you know the address to go to. That is a fact that has certainly not escaped people's attention when they are in need. And it is certainly forgotten about the minute they are no longer in need.]
[The simple fact of the matter is contained in the Ari in what he writes about the breaking of the vessels in which the light of kindness is contained in יסוד (foundation) after the tikun.]
The Left has clearly made politics into a religion and have found support for this from Hegel.
Politics is not numinous reality. It is not and ought not to be a religion. But it serves as religion for many. Perhaps it is better than some really bad religions. But as a rule there is no aspect of transcendence that applies to politics.
There is no reward in heaven for advancing some system of human organization. Not Democracy, not Socialism. Ziltch.
Even one's particular group or cult does not get one into Heaven.
You either act right,- or you don't. That is all there is to it.
[The Left has clearly made politics into a religion and have found support for this from Hegel. And almost all people that are religious also try to make their religion into a political system and assume that that great mitzva will get them into Heaven. That is just one more of the many ways people go wrong.]
There is no reward in heaven for advancing some system of human organization. Not Democracy, not Socialism. Ziltch.
Even one's particular group or cult does not get one into Heaven.
You either act right,- or you don't. That is all there is to it.
[The Left has clearly made politics into a religion and have found support for this from Hegel. And almost all people that are religious also try to make their religion into a political system and assume that that great mitzva will get them into Heaven. That is just one more of the many ways people go wrong.]
25.12.16
The religious world is a haunted house full of demons and goblins.
It is more instructive to learn the writings of people that left cults than it is to learn about the cults themselves. There was one fellow that left a Hindu cult that had a lot of great insights into the whole problem of cults. [I am referring to the cult of Adi Da. He had one disciple who left him and wrote about the problems with that cult in a very insightful way.]
One thing he noticed that I would like to take a few minutes to discuss is the issue of archetypes. In short, the basic idea really begins with the fact that people that get into the Intermediate Zone have a problem with ego inflation.
What he suggested was that even people that successfully get absorbed into some higher archetype are still to be avoided, because the human soul is higher than any archetype. Coming close to a person that you believe has successfully avoided the Intermediate Zone and the Dark Side, and you think has merited to become one with some higher archetype, will still have the effect of damage to your own soul.
That being said, there still were in history great people that merited to wondrous and amazing things. These people are not secret. We have no doubts about Einstein, Mozart, Moses, the Rambam, the Gra, Reb Israel Salanter, Rav Shach, Bava Sali, Plato, etc.
But we also know about people that were a mixed bag and some who were very great in intellect and yet did horrific damage.
The greatest problem seems to be in the area of numinous [religious] reality.-- because that is where when people fall and do damage that they fall the hardest and do the most harm.
The trouble seems endemic in the religious world. The religious world is a haunted house full of demons and goblins. It is hard to find a corner of light.
The best idea is to find examples of human excellence that truly were excellent and not take for one's goal to emulate people that were a mixed bag of good and bad ideas.
There are problems on two sides. One is religious fanatics of high self delusions, and the other is what is called anti-nomian-ism [anti-Law]. In this essay I have dealt mainly with the first problem because it fills the religious world today. The trouble is these two things are connected. Often the exact same group with the self delusions is the same as the antinomianism group. They use the Law of Moses as a cover and disguise.
One thing he noticed that I would like to take a few minutes to discuss is the issue of archetypes. In short, the basic idea really begins with the fact that people that get into the Intermediate Zone have a problem with ego inflation.
What he suggested was that even people that successfully get absorbed into some higher archetype are still to be avoided, because the human soul is higher than any archetype. Coming close to a person that you believe has successfully avoided the Intermediate Zone and the Dark Side, and you think has merited to become one with some higher archetype, will still have the effect of damage to your own soul.
That being said, there still were in history great people that merited to wondrous and amazing things. These people are not secret. We have no doubts about Einstein, Mozart, Moses, the Rambam, the Gra, Reb Israel Salanter, Rav Shach, Bava Sali, Plato, etc.
But we also know about people that were a mixed bag and some who were very great in intellect and yet did horrific damage.
The greatest problem seems to be in the area of numinous [religious] reality.-- because that is where when people fall and do damage that they fall the hardest and do the most harm.
The trouble seems endemic in the religious world. The religious world is a haunted house full of demons and goblins. It is hard to find a corner of light.
The best idea is to find examples of human excellence that truly were excellent and not take for one's goal to emulate people that were a mixed bag of good and bad ideas.
There are problems on two sides. One is religious fanatics of high self delusions, and the other is what is called anti-nomian-ism [anti-Law]. In this essay I have dealt mainly with the first problem because it fills the religious world today. The trouble is these two things are connected. Often the exact same group with the self delusions is the same as the antinomianism group. They use the Law of Moses as a cover and disguise.
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