There are many ways for the Sitra Achra to take one from Torah.

I think that in Pirkei Avot it is possible that there is an argument about which path is preferable to learn Torah along with working or learning Torah alone. No one suggests that one can use Torah as a means for making money but there is this idea that, "When one accepts the yoke of Torah, then the yoke of work is removed." That is the Mishna of Nechunia ben Hakanah.
  But then there are the other mishnas that seem to indicate that it is preferable to work and learn. "All Torah that does not have work with it is in the end worthless." So this seems to be an argument between the sages of the Mishna.
This issue seems to get mixed up with other issues concerning the using of Torah to make money which is commonly called "Kollel". That seems to be  forbidden. However there is a different issue in which one is passive. That is he does not actively go around trying to make money off of the Torah, but rather sits and learns and hopes that parnasa [money] will be sent to him from heaven.


What is possible to tell from the Gra is apparently this later approach. That it is preferable to sit and learn Torah and hope that money will come.  I myself basically did this while in the Mir yeshiva in NY and then in Israel also. I lapsed from this however and no longer am able to recommend this path as fervently as I ought to because of what is called "קושיות" (questions). But in reality there is something about this path that does break through the veil of perception and gain one entrance into the Beyond. It is just that I do not seem to have the kind of merit that is required to be able to learn Torah and trust in God. I mean to say this: that even though learning Torah and trusting in God are merits in themselves but apparently one needs some kind of elementary kind of merit to gain entrance into that higher kind of merit. Otherwise the Dark Side comes along and causes one to always find something better to do rather than learn Torah. Or it replaces the authentic Torah with Torah of the Dark Side.
This might have something to do with some kind of set of personality flaws inside of me that cause me not to be able to learn or recommend learning for others. I mean it might not just be some kind of sin but also even more likely it has to do with character flaws in me.

In any case, what ever are my flaws, it seems to late to be able to correct them.

[In case it is not clear what I mean here, let me try to explain. There are two aspects of learning Torah. One is setting aside time for learning the Oral and Written Law of Moses, that is the Tenach,  the Two Talmuds all the halachic and agadic midrashim. But there is a higher level of learning all the time and with as much energy and determination as humanly possible because Torah is the purpose of Life and the source of all good in the universe. That kind of learning is in a whole other ball park than the first kind. It is this second kind of learning that I can not do, and even the first kind is about as easy as pulling out teeth without anesthesia.] I really could not even venture a guess as to why I can not learn. I imagine it has something to do with my walking away from it once.

[When one does not merit to learn Torah, the whole world become the agents of the Dark Side (Sitra Achra) to remove him from it--even other people that are learning. They will become to very first to try and convince him to stop learning. Then there will be everyone else. There are other techniques also. One most popular is to substitute the real authentic Torah with false Torah and Torah from the Sitra Achra. There are many ways for the Sitra Achra to take one from Torah. [I can imagine there are infinite ways for the Sitra Achra to take one from Torah. The most popular is: "Come and do a mitzvah."]

Music for the glory of God

T68mp3 t68 midi  t68 nwc

It occurred to me two valid reasons to pay attention to the "cherem."

For some reason, the religious teachers that pretend to teach and follow the holy Torah tend to be demonic. There are of course the exceptions of the genuine Litvak yeshivas in N.Y. and Bnei Brak, but the exceptions simply prove the rule,--that there is a problem. Most people would like to sweep it under the carpet, so they emphasize  the prohibition of lashon hara [slander. For the laws see the Chafetz Chaim, or the short version.] thinking that by doing so they will be immune from attack while at the same time continuing to attack baali teshuva [newly religious] and others they don't like.
[Maybe the problem has gotten worse. I am not sure. Clearly, in Europe there were rigorous standards; so the run of the mill religious teachers were in fact pretty good. Maybe it is just nowadays that people that their only qualification is that they are insane religious fanatics are the ones that get into positions of power.
In any case, because of this problem I avoid the religious world in toto.
The problem nowadays is the entire religious world. But I believe that if the excommunication of the Gra had been listened to, then this problem would not exist. 

  It occurred to me two valid reasons to pay attention to the "cherem." One reason is as Reb Chaim from Voloshin goes into in his book the נפש החיים about the problem of idolatry. (i.e. idolatry can apply to people, not just objects.) 

  Another reason is that a "cherem" has a valid halachic category of an isur neder," which means the object becomes a חפצא של איסור "forbidden object." I was in fact unaware of this last problem until I saw explained it thus in a commentary of the Rambam. (I want to mention that you can go through the entire tractate of Nedarim without being aware of this problem because the connection with cherem is never explained there openly. The commentary I saw this in is in the regular edition of the Rambam on the bottom of the page. I think it was  somewhere in the beginning of ה' שבועות or ה' נדרים.

One thing is certain. That the path of Torah is no where near the path of the insane religious world. These are two direct opposites.

music file t 67

t67 E minor

When people try to flee from the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] they often end up in some greater evil.
This happens because the great evil disguises itself in elaborate ritual observances in order to seem kosher. 

For this reason I have stressed the importance of learning the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach so as to have a good idea of what the Torah actually does require of you.

The Rambam[ה' ממרים] holds there is a difference between (1) גזרות תקנות ומנהגים [decrees and laws that were instituted by the sages] and (2) laws made as a fence for Torah.

The Rambam[ה' ממרים]  holds there is a difference between (1) גזרות תקנות ומנהגים [decrees and laws that were instituted by the sages] and (2) laws made as a fence for Torah. The prime example of the later are the 18 laws brought in the first chapter of Shabat. But the Rambam extends that to anything made as a fence.
Thus for the Rambam: laws judged by the 13 principles can be changed by  a later court of law even a small one.
Things that are תקנות גזירות ומנהגים ([decrees and laws that were instituted by the sages]) can be changed by a later court if that later court is greater in number and wisdom. Laws made  for a fence can not be changed by any court of law- ever. [The Rambam is obviously getting this last category from the first chapter of Shabat concerning the 18 decrees.]
The issue here is the Raavad who makes only two distinctions -if the law דרבנן is accepted by all Israel. If so no one can nullify it. If not, then even a small court can nullify it. So when does the גדול בחכמה ומניין become relevant to the Raavad?

The question here is אבות דר' נתן The commentary on Pirkei Avot from the amoraim [sages of the Talmud]. There it is clear that no one has the authority to make  a law as a fence for the Torah since it says doing so is like what Adam HaRishon  [the first man] did in adding to the command of God not to eat from the tree of knowledge. So what does this mean? Perhaps the Rambam saw this midrash and decided that we see from it a difference between decrees and laws that were instituted by the sages and things instituted for  a fence. However the Rambam  is saying the opposite of that braita [teaching] in so far as the laws made for  a fence are more strict.

The teaching in אבות דר' נתן is  very explicit about decrees that add laws to Torah  law. It says better a wall that is ten inches and stands, rather that a wall 100 yards and falls. This is obviously of great relevance today when people are constantly coming up with new things to add to the Law of the Torah.

The interesting thing is the fact that things learned by the 13 principles are the most lenient and can easily be changed. That is contrary to the usual way these things are understood. But it fits well with teh well known opinion of the Rambam that things derived from the 13 principles are דברי סופרים words of the scribes as he says in the ways a woman can be married.

importance of institutions.

In short I had two ideas today that intersect. One is the fact that no institution can take the place of learning Torah. You can not support some institution that you think is learning Torah. You have to do it yourself. It makes no difference where you do it. It could be on the beach. It could be at home. It could be while parachuting on the way down when you have nothing else to do before you get to the ground.

The other thing is I did want to emphasize the importance of institutions. If yeshivas today were in fact authentic Litvak yeshivas then in fact it would be a great thing to support them.
'When a father inquired about the best method of educating his son in ethical conduct, a Pythagorean replied: "Make him a citizen of a state with good laws."

This includes two levels. The state one lives in. The other is the local group one associates with.

So if one is in the area of a genuine Litvak yeshiva then great. If not then the best thing is to get the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, a Gemara [Vilna Shas edition ONLY.], and Musar and learn them at home.
[I say Rav Shach because he is the most logically rigorous and deep. However any of the disciples of Reb Chaim Soloveitchik from Brisk are also very good., I.e. "Gedolai Litva"