a conflict between good and evil

It is not so simple that there is a conflict between good and evil in this world. There is this conflict, but there is also a conflict between social memes. Certain memes-sets of social and moral information get into people and at a certain point these values become hardwired into the person. Not just that-- but also in groups that accept a certain meme of set of values--in the history of that group you can see that set of values coming to fruition--both the good and the bad values.

So it is not just important to use reason and common sense to identify the right set of values-but also the groups and their sets of values [which are often hidden from public view.]

The trouble is even when you think you have found the right set of objective values and a good group  that will lead you to the good in this world and the next,- the dark side has found a way to penetrate that very group. The trouble in not just the attacks on the Holy Torah from outside. These attack are serious enough. But the greater danger are the attacks on Torah from the inside--people that openly hold with Torah and yet are agents of the Devil.

Some of the principles I have found to be important are sometimes tied to one particular person that embodied that value. In any case I realized I have kind of a long list so for my own sake, I want to jot down some of the things I think are of crucial importance.

(1) The Avi Ezri of Rav Shach which contains the essence of what it means "to learn Torah."
(2) To speak the truth at all cost.
(3) At the Mir in NY I learned a very importance principle of not to steal--which means in a strict sense: not to touch that which does not belong to you. [Nor to acquire things by fraud or force etc,]
(4) From the Rambam and my parents I learned the importance of learning Physics and Mathematics.
(5) From the Gra and the two great Litvak NY yeshivas (that I was in) I learned the importance of learning Torah. [That is the Oral and Written Law--Tenach(Old Testament) and the two Talmuds.]
(6) From the book of Navardok I learned the importance of trust in God without doing any effort.

[These are not just picked at random out of  a hat, but a short list of things I have seen and found to be important and that lead to the good and the light. I know there are lot of competing memes- and principles that people say are important, but these are the ones I have seen work towards the good and the light. ]
 From experience and from just being around in the world I learned that many of the other so called great principles of life or other causes are mainly fraudulent.

Rambam laws of rent ch 8. Bava Metzia pages 103-105

I think the רמב''ם probably saw this difference in what is owed in the words of רב פפא himself. That is the fact that I pointed out that רב פפא says in terms the משנה on page ק''ג ע''ב that the one can bring with a bucket means to the רמב''ם that one statement of רב פפא was referring to the work that is required to be done on the field by the מקבל and the other  statement of רב פפא concerning the difference between the first two משניות and the later ones refer to the percentage that the serf has to pay from his labor.


אני חושב הרמב''ם כנראה  ראה את ההבדל זה בדין מה הוא נוגע להתחייבות המקבל בדברי רב פפא עצמו. רב פפא אמר לגבי המשנה בעמוד ק''ג ע''ב כי אפשר להביא עם דלי.  הרמב''ם ראה האמירה זו של רב פפא שהתכוון אל העבודה שנדרשת להיעשות על המגרש על ידי המקבל. את תמצית הדוח האחרת של רב פפא לגבי ההבדל בין שתי הראשונות אל המשניות המאוחרות מתייחס לאחוז  שהצמית יש לשלם מן העבודה שלו.

בבא מציעא קד.  The question was that the רמב''ם ignores רב פפא. The answer I would like to suggest is this. The  רמב''ם when he says one does lessen the what is owed by a שוכר and  a מקבל in a year drought he means what he always means in that chapter, in reference to the מקבל it is the work that is owed by the מקבל.  But when רב פפא say all the משניות after the first two in chapter תשעה refer to either the serf מקבל or the חוכר שוכר but not both,  and thus when the later משנה says one lessens the obligation in a year of drought, that means the חוכר but the מקבל still give his percentage. As רש''י says over there. What ever the field gives out he gives from those crops the agreed upon percentage.

בבא מציעא קד. השאלה היתה כי רמב''ם מתעלם מרב ​​פפא. התשובה שאני רוצה להציע היא זו. הרמב''ם כשהוא אומר להפחית את מה שחייבים  השוכר וגם המקבל בתוך שנת בצורת, לגבי המקבל הוא מתכוון למה שהוא אומר תמיד בפרק זה, את העבודה שהוא מחוייב.  אבל כאשר רב פפא אומר כל משניות אחרי שתי הראשונות בפרק תשעה מתייחסות  לצמית (מקבל) או חוכר (שוכר) אך לא את שניהם, ולכן כאשר מאוחר יותר המשנה אומרת אחד מפחית את המחויבות  בגין שנת בצורת, כי פירושו חוכר אבל המקבל עדיין מחוייב לתת את האחוזים שלו. זה פי שרש''י אומר שם מה שהשדה נותן הוא נותן האחוז המוסכם.

I think the Rambam probably saw this in the words of Rav Papa himself. That is the fact that I pointed out that Rav Papa says in terms the Mishna on page 103 that the one can bring with a bucket means to the Rambam that one statement of Rav Papa was referring to the work that is required to be done on teh field by the serf and the other  statement of Rav Papa concerning the difference between the first two mishnas and the later one refer to the percentage that the serf has to pay from his labor.

Bava Metzia page 104. Rambam laws of renting, chapter 8.

I do not have any Gemara nor Rambam. So my comments here need rechecking. But it occurred to me vaguely yesterday and became more crystallized today an idea I had to answer a problem in the Rambam. The question was that the Rambam ignores Rav Papa in Bava Metzia page 104. The answer I would like to suggest is this. The Rambam when he says one does lessen what is owed by a renter and  a serf in a year drought he means what he always means in that chapter. In reference to the serf it means the work that is owed by the serf.  But when Rav Papa says, "All the mishnas after the first two in chapter 9 refer to either the serf or the renter but not both," and thus when the later mishna says one lessens the obligation in a year of drought, that means the renter but the serf still give his percentage. As Rashi says over there. "What ever the field gives out, he gives from those crops the agreed upon percentage."



[This whole is based on the idea that when the Rambam talks about what one lessens for the מקבל he always talks about work, not %. ]




I owe credit to David Bronson who pointed out this remarkably fact about this fact  about the what the Rambam means by lessening what the serf is obligated. But to use that fact to answer this question on the Rambam only occurred to me in a vague way yesterday and the day before, and today became more clear.

Hegel locates a kind of step between the state and the family where one becomes an ethical individual.

(1) Hegel locates a kind of step between the state and the family where one becomes an ethical individual. To me it seems this is in its best sense what a genuine Litvak Yeshiva is supposed to be.

(2) To Hegel to middle step is important because it mediates between the state and the individual. For to Hegel the state can only work if made up of ethical people, and these come about by mean of that middle step.

That is to Hegel freedom can only exist in a ethical state. But an ethical state can only exist if it i made of ethical individuals. So the state is important to him but not like it is to Plato, for Hegel requires freedom of the individual. --Unlike what most people think Hegel was about.

The left used Hegel and thus his name got mixed up with them. And individuals like Schopenhauer, Leonard Nelson, and Nietzsche did nothing to improve his reputation. But in my mind Hegel is of as great importance as Kant
  

learning fast

I have been recommending learning fast  for quite some time already.

This comes from the Talmud itself.


This was mentioned  by Reb Nahman often and is brought in Sichot HaRan chapter 76.

And I have mentioned a few times that this method has been helpful for me..
But there are places in Reb Nachman' Magnum Opus that also hint to this idea without stating it openly. על ידי אמצעות הדיבור יכולים לבא להבנת התורה לעומקה Volume I:12
בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיך מעולם יהודיים נקראים עבריים על שם עבר הנהר ש קופצים על הקושיות לבא לאמונה
To skip over the difficulties in understanding and just to go on--go וייטר.




[Jews are called "Hebrew" because they skip over the difficulties to come to faith. That Reb Nachman derives from the verse "Your forefathers lived across {בעבר} from the Jordan River "
Also in Vol. II he talks about the idea of "כסדר" "in order" as being from the side of kindness and not in order being from judgment.
From all that one can see him hinting to this idea of just saying the words in order and going on.

However I did add to this a kind of way of review in which after about 100 page or so, I go back and review in reverse order. That is: let's say I got to chapter 10. Then I do chapter 9 and then 8 and then 7. etc. Feynman also I think advised some kind of approach like this to one person asking him advice on learning.

[Clearly Reb Nachman was referring to learning Torah but I also applied this to Physics and Math. This is based a reading of the Rambam in the Guide but also in Mishne Torah.]

In terms of Gemara I think the best thing is to be in a genuine Litvak Yeshiva (not copy cat yeshivas that are there just for the government stipend). It is hard (impossible) to come to understand the Gemara without that basic Litvak background. But in any case, I also think that just saying the words and going on makes sense. That is this: to do a 1/2 page of Gemara per day with Rashi and Tosphot and Maharaha.[That is about 40 minutes.]
[One could also just learn at home and to  learn "how to learn" he should learn the tremendous book the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach]

The unreasonable ineffectiveness of philosophy, and the unreasonable effectiveness of Mathematics.

(1) It is important to have a set of values one strives for and also to be reasonable sure that that set in fact leads to good results. One might hear a promise from people he respects that "If you do such and such a practice on a constant basis, such and such good things will be the result". Often these are false promises.

(2) In terms of areas of study  also, it is important to identify areas of study that deliver what they promise. As Steven Weinberg [theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles,] has pointed out on the unreasonable ineffectiveness of philosophy, and the unreasonable effectiveness of Mathematics. Here he suggested that certain fields deliver much more than what they promise and other fields deliver considerably less that what they promise.


(3) Though the Rambam did emphasize learning the Oral and Written Law, Physics and Metaphysics, my feeling is that philosophy today is much worse than a waste of time. It positively ruins one' common sense. [Of course the Rambam was anyway only referring to the Metaphysics of Aristotle, not just to any book that talk about that subject.]

(4) I used to think that at least Enlightenment Philosophy did bring about a remarkable change --representative government until it became clear to me that it did no such thing. Enlightenment philosophers did intend to take power from kings and princes and give it to the the pseudo intellectuals intellectuals like psychologists. But they did not come up with any good idea about representative government. On the contrary they came up with a  host of really bad ideas the ruined Western society the more they took root. You can blame the Islamic invasion of England and Europe to the pernicious lie about the "noble savage." that was thought u by Enlightenment philosopher.

(5) Musar also seems to promise much more than it is able to deliver. That is the study of Medieval books of Ethics. This was made into a mass movement by Reb Israel Salanter, but it does not seem that it deliver the promised result--good midot (good character).

(6) Calvin was the one that thought up and institute representative government, not any philosopher.