straight Torah

The path of straight Torah is easy to stray from. Or perhaps better said-it was easy for me to stray from it. The major difficulty with sticking with straight, undiluted, unadulterated Torah  is not from enemies of Torah, but from its best friends. "Sure you should learn Torah, but if you come and join our group you will do it so much better! You get the true spirit, not just the words etc." The variations on this theme are endless. But the inner purpose if the same--to get the person out of  authentic Torah into something which seems to have so much more external spirit but is lacking the true essence.

What makes this hard is sometimes there really is something that is an important value--like going to Israel and serving in the IDF. It is just hard to make sense out of it all with so many cults out there.

It is perfectly possible to learn from Reb Nachman and say the Tikun Klali [ten pslams to say if one has done some sexual sin, psalms 16, 32, 41, 42, 59 77, 90, 105, 137, 150] and even go to Uman for Rosh haShanah, but not get involved in Breslov, but rather to remain in a straight Litvak yeshiva and to follow the path of Straight Torah--the Gra and Musar.

It is also possible to  appreciate the importance of "devekut" (attachment with God) and to stick with straight Torah.

But that is not what usually happens. it is just to easy to get caught up in bitul Torah. And Bitul Torah does not simply mean wasting time what could have been spent learning Torah. It also means anything that causes one's fervor for Torah to slacken and weaken.

One aspect of things was brought up to me -the fact that the Litvak path tends to be dry. People  can be interested in Reb Nachman for perfectly good reasons--as in looking for the inner meaning of life and the Torah.  That is not to say that in everything where people feel taste and and vibrancy is from the realm of Holiness. But I would have to say that in the case of Reb Nachman, it is true that he was a true tzadik and his lessons and ideas are valuable.

One of the difficult aspects however if that of בל תוסיף that is not to add to the commandments. This is prohibition in the Torah and it means that what the Torah forbids is forbidden and what the Torah commands to do must be do. You can not make up new rules and claim the Torah holds that way. And this is the practice of the religious world to transgress this on a constant basis.

[I should mention that I do hold with the Rambam opinion that Physics and Metaphysics are included in the Oral Law. Not just because of seeing this in the Rambam,and the Musar book the obligations of the Heart, but also from my parents emphasis on the natural sciences. In fact I have a new way of learning Physics that I do which is the same way I learned gemara for many years-that is just to say the words in order and go on. In Hebrew that is called "Girsa." That is how I think Physics ought to be learned. But I know it would be hard to convince people of this idea because they do not see every word of  Physics as a mitzvah as the Rambam's opinion. If they do not hold that every word is  a mitzvah then how could I explain to anyone this idea of just saying the words and going on?
[Though the Rambam specifically referred to these subjects as understood by the ancient Greeks i feel Physics today and also Kant and Hegel would be included. But I also would include the Ari, and the two major commentaries on the Ari, Rav Yaakov Abuchatzaira and Sar Shalom Sharabi.

There is some kind of inherent ambiguity about a הלכה in the רמב''ם נזקי ממון פרק ב. He holds if a string gets attached to  a chicken and it is walking around and breaks vessels, the owner of the chicken pays חצי נזק. And he brings a support for this view from בור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם ובהמה [a hole that is rolling around in a public domain by the feet of people or animals.
That proof seems to work against what the רמב''ם is saying for נזקי בור  are not obligated for damage to vessels.
If it is considered damage caused by רגל, then it would not be obligated at all in  public space.

How to answer this? The גמרא asks what does  צד השווה in the משנה come to include. רבא says בור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם ובהמה and it is learned from בור ושור. Is it possible the רמב''ם could hold once something is learned from צד השווה It would get the חומרא of both? In our case that would be an obligation in רשות הרבים  and also חייב על נזקי כלים?


יש איזשהו אי בהירות מובנית לגבי הלכה ברמב''ם נזקי ממון פרק ב. הוא מחזיק אם מחרוזת מחוברת לעוף וזה מסתובב ושובר כלי, הבעלים של העוף משלמים חצי נזק. והוא מביא תמיכה לחוק זה מבור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם ובהמה [בור המתגלגל במרחב ציבורי על ידי רגלי אנשים או בעלי חיים.] נראה כי הוכחה זו פועלת נגד מה שהרמב"ם אומר שנזקי בור אינם מחויבים לנזק לכלים. אם זה נחשב נזק שנגרם על ידי רגל, אז זה לא יהיה מחויב בכלל במרחב הציבורי. איך לענות על זה? גמרא שואל מה הצד בשווה מגיע במשנה לבוא לכלול. רבא אומר בור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם  והוא בא על ידי בור ושור. האם יתכן שהרמב''ם יכול להכיל משהו שנלמד מן הצד השווה לקבל את חומרא של שניהם? במקרה שלנו זה יהיה חובה ברשות הרבים וגם חיוב על נזקי כלים.
This would be not like the רא''ש nor the other opinion the רא''ש brings that when something is learned from צד השווה we go by the most lenient aspect.
However this might be the opinion of the רמב''ם and a support for this can be found in רב שך in the אבי עזרי רמב''ם נזקי ממון פרק א' ה''ח  where he brings the fact the גמרא learns כופר for רגל. There he brings the idea that the whole reason we learn מצד השווה is to tell us why each of the four אבות נזיקים needs to be written. But after they are written,  the rules that apply to each are not limited to what could be deduced from מצד השווה.

זה לא יהיה כמו הרא"ש וגם הדעה האחרת שהרא''ש מביא כי כשמשהו נלמד מתוך צד השווה אנחנו הולכים על הצד הכי קל. עם זאת, ייתכן שזו דעתו של הרמב''ם ותמיכה לכך ניתן למצוא אצל הרב שך באבי עזרי ברמב''ם נזקי ממון פרק א 'ח', שם הוא מביא את הגמרא שלומדת כופר עבור רגל ברשות היחיד. הנה הוא מביא את הרעיון כי הסיבה  שאנו לומדים את הצד השווה הוא לספר לנו למה כל אחת מארבעה אבות נזיקים צריכים להיות כתוב. אבל אחרי שהם כתובים, הכללים החלים על כל אחד מהם אינם מוגבלים למה שניתן להסיק מן הצד השווה.

There is some kind of inherent ambiguity about a halacah in the Rambam. [נזקי ממון פרק ב] He holds if a string gets attached to  a chicken and it is walking around and breaks vessels, the owner of the chicken pays 1/2 damages. And he brings a support for this view from בור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם ובהמה [a hole that is rolling around in a public domain by the feet of people or animals.].
That proof seems to work against what the Rambam is saying for נזקי בור [damage caused by one digging a hole in a pubic place] are not obligated for damage to vessels. considered
If it is considered damage caused by "feet", then it would not be obligated at all in  public space.

I am being short in this above paragraph because I am not sure how to answer this. The Gemara asks what does  צד השווה in the mishna come to include. Rava says בור המתגלגל ברגלי אדם ובהמה and it is learned from בור ושור. Is it possible the Rambam could hold once something is learned from צד השווה It would get the חומרא of both? In our case that would be an obligation in רשות הרבים  and also חייב על נזקי כלים?

המשנה בתרומה אומרת, המפריש מקצת תרומות ומעשרות מוציא ממנו תרומה עליו אבל לא למקום אחר. ר' מאיר אומר אף מוציא ממנו תרומה על מקום אחר.


If this משנה would only be talking about מעשר it would be simple. And if it was only talking about תרומה, it would also be simple. What makes it difficult to understand is the fact that it puts both together.
Let's say we were only talking about מעשר. And instead of his separating one tenth, he separated one twentieth. And we have the principle אין ברירה. That principle says for example if two children of an idolater inherit his wealth. But one son became a גר.  If we would say יש ברירה , then he could tell the other son, "You can take the idols, and I will take the other property."  And by that it would be revealed that even at first, the idols fell to the portion of the idolatrous son and the convert could take his own portion.  But if there is not retrograde choice, then he could not do so. He would have to take an even portion with the other son, and then the idols that fall to his portion he would have to destroy.

So in our case also. If we would say יש ברירה, then it would be simple to say he simply takes another one twentieth, and the stack of grain is fixed. If אין בררה then it is clear that  the stack of grain is mixed with טבל and חולין. And there would be no physical way to fix it. But he could take another twentieth and say this twentieth is the remaining part מעשר for what ever טבל is left in the כרי
If we were only talking about תרומה, then also it would be perfectly clear. The law of the Torah is   אפילו חיטה אחת פוטרת כל הכרי
Even one grain fixes the entire stack.



אם משנה הזאת רק היתה מדברת על מעשר הכל יהיה פשוט. ואם זו רק היתה מדברת על תרומה, הכל יהיה גם פשוט. מה שמקשה עלי להבין את זו הוא העובדה שהיא מכניסה את שניהם יחד. נניח שדיברנו רק על מעשר. ובמקום שהוא היה צריך להפריד עשירית אחת, הוא הפריד אחת מעשרים. ויש לנו העיקרון אין ברירה. העיקרון הזה אומר למשל אם שני ילדים של עובד אלילים יורשים את עושרו. אבל בן אחד הפך לגר. אם היינו אומרים יש ברירה, אז הוא יכול להגיד  לבן השני, "אתה יכול לקחת את האלילים, ואני אקח את הנכס הנשאר." ועל ידי זה היה מתגלה כי גם בהתחלה, האלילים נפלו לחלק של הבן  העובד אלילים והגר יכול לקחת חלק שלו. אבל אם אין ברירה לאחור, אז הוא לא יכול לעשות זאת. הוא יצטרך לקחת חלק שווה עם הבן השני, ואז האלילים הנופלים לחלק שלו הוא יצטרך להרוס. כך גם במקרה שלנו. אם היינו אומרים יש ברירה, אז זה יהיה פשוט לומר שהוא פשוט לוקח עוד אחת מעשרים, ואת ערימת הדגן הוא מתוקנת. אם אין ברירה אז ברור כי ערימת התבואה מעורבבת עם טבל וחולין. ולא תהיה שום דרך פיזית לתקן את זו. אבל הוא יכול לקחת עוד אחת מעשרים ולומר זו האחת מעשרים  היא החלק הנותר מעשירית על  הטבל הנשאר בכרי. אם רק דיברנו על תרומה, אז גם יהיה ברור לגמרי. החוק של התורה  חיטה אחת פוטרת כל הכרי. (אפילו גרגר אחד מתקן את הערימה כולה)

Mishna in tractate Trumot

המשנה בתרומה אומרת, המפריש מקצת תרומות ומעשרות מוציא ממנו תרומה עליו אבל לא למקום אחר. ר' מאיר אומר אף מוציא ממנו תרומה על מקום אחר.

The Mishna in tractate Trumot says when one separates  truma and maasar {1/10} in part, he must separate truma from it but not for another place. R. Meir says also truma for another place.


It seems to me that if this mishna would only be talking about maasar it would be simple. And if it was only talking about truma, it would also be simple. What makes it difficult to understand is the fact that it puts both together.
Let's say we were only talking about Maasar. And instead of his separating 1/10, he separated 1/20. And we have the principle אין ברירה. (No choice). [That principle says for example if two children of an idolater inherit is wealth. But one son became a convert.  If we would say יש ברירה (there is choice), then he could tell the other son you can take the idols and I will take the other property.  And by that it would be revealed that even at first, the idols fell to the portion of the idolatrous son and the convert could take his own portion. ] But if there is not retrograde choice. then he could not do so. He would have to take an even portion with the other son, and then the idols that fall to his portion he would have to destroy.

So in our case also. If we would say יש ברירה then it would be simple to say he simply takes another 1/20 and the stack of grain is fixed. If אין בררה then it is clear that  the stack of grain is mixed with טבל and חולין.
If we were only talking about Truma, then also it would be perfectly clear. The law of the Torah is  is  אפילו חיטה אחת פוטרת כל הכרי
Even one grain fixes the entire stack.

Reb Nachman's thought is often presented as Eastern Mysticism. This started with Reb Aryeh Kaplan and continues. I think the reason this is done is to try to get people whose thoughts are already influenced by Yoga and eastern religions.
However there are differences. One aspect of the difference is simply the existence of good and evil.
In Torah thought, there is evil, and one must actively avoid it.

M own feeling about all this is more or less based on Dr. Kelley Ross's essay "The Dark Side of the Tao" in which he posits a difference between religions that have a conflict between good and evil with good eventually winning--  as opposed to religions that say there is no such conflict.

My own background in the Mir Yeshiva in NY indicates to me a more Musar based approach. But my main thought here is that I must have  a blind spot in which flaws in my own thinking and world view are not apparent to me -in the same way I see people in Eastern religious though (including Reb Nachman's groups) also seem to have a blind spot.

The approach of Reb Israel Salanter [the founder of the Musar Movement] as far as I can see as to consider learning musar [books of medieval Ethics] to be the best way to come to fear of God and good character. But one thing stands out in this whole thing. It is that coming to fear of God is a goal. Perhaps the highest goal. That was at least how I understood it. To some degree you can see this in the verse: אם תבקשנה ככסף וכמטמונים תחפשנה אז תבין יראת ה' ודעת א' תמצא Proverbs 2. "If you seek it like money and like a treasure you search for it, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God you will find." As a goal we do find the the Five books of Moses the idea of the fear of God as being the highest goal.

However to the Rambam the fear of God is reached not in the conventional way but rather by learning Physics and Metaphysics--along with Torah.

At the time I was at the Mir yeshiva I took the approach of Reb Israel Salanter quite literally. I have to say this seems to have in fact resulted in the exact kind of results that he predicted. So I can not really say if my later approach is all that much better.