What destroyed marriage?

What destroyed marriage?

Judith Reisman goes deeply into this problem and its sources. http://www.drjudithreisman.com/reisman_articles.html

The idea according to her was to change people's conceptions and present perversity in the guise of normalcy and scientific respectability.  That is,-- if you change people's thoughts and attitudes then everything else follows.

My feeling about this is people are not familiar enough with science to be able to distinguish authentic science from fake science. I do not think rejection of science is much of  a good option.

I am not saying this is the reason to learn Physics and Mathematics. The best reason to learn these subjects is the Rambam and my parents.
That is the basic medieval attitude of a synthesis between Reason and Revelation. [That really started before the Middle Ages, but it took a long time to find the right balance.] If you look at the classical period you will see this balance was by no means obvious.



But a side benefit is that when you know real science, it is harder for pretenders to fool you.

But the way I suggest going about science is to find  a balance between Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot and Science.
[That is the best thing is to translate the Mediaeval ideal into a reality in every day life by learning a little bit of Physics, a little bit of Mathematics and a little Gemara Rashi Tosphot [or Mishna or the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach].] [I tend to think the Avi Ezri is the best because it already contains everything else good.]



In any case I am very happy that I got a chance to see what a real marriage ought to be like in my parents and I think that this will return.  My optimism knows no bounds at this point.

Music for the Glory of God

t101 in mp3 

t101 in midi

t101 nwc

To know when to doubt oneself and one's motives and when to be bold seems to still be an unanswered question.

My general approach when  have problems is to look for my own sins. I think few people do this because few people have learned Musar-Ethical works from the Middle Ages.. Musar instills this attitude. The trouble is how to find out what in fact one is doing wrong.
This issue comes up in Charmides in a conversation between Socrates  and Charmides. The issue was "What is temperance?". The talk focused on when does one know that he does not know what he thinks he knows. That is how does one go about finding out if he has hubris? That talk did not end well for Socrates. He admitted in the end that he did not know. But that lesson passed over Charmides. Charmides was part of the group that tried to overthrow the Athenian Democracy by armed rebellion..
To know when to doubt oneself and one's motives and when to be bold seems to still be an unanswered question.

Sparta had won the war with Athens in 404.  Then there was a group of  "thirty tyrants" among whom was Critias (one of the leaders) and  in the inner group  of ten was Charmides. They seized power and were supported by the Spartan troops that were stationed in Athens. The leaders of the democratic constitution fought back and won in 403 and Critias and Charmides were killed in battle

[I wanted to mention that the purpose of the war between Sparta and Athens was to dismantle the Athenian Empire--not Athens itself.]



After what I have been going through recently this issue seems to come up again.  The best I have been able to come up with is to listen to my parents  and teachers.
Reb Israel Salanter came up with the best answer to this problem that I have heard of so far. To learn Musar [Ethics] one comes face to face with one's flaws. That does not mean one corrects them but at least it makes it harder to ignore them.

during surgery

I do not expect favors from people, but if anyone actually learned Mishna or the Avi Ezri or Gemara as I went into the operation I want to thank you.

I also want to thank all the amazing nurses and especially the doctor Alexander Sergevitch. And in particular the nurse Ira, who talked to me before and during surgery and called me Avraham Philipovitch. An amazing thing. Words of kindness and respect when I am certain I could not have looked very respectable.

The surgery was Thursday. August 31.

I am very pleased with the doctor Alexander Sergevitch  and the whole group of nurses. Uman does not have much of a reputation in terms of doctors, but this one is excellent.

(What I heard here in the hospital was there was a doctor in the unit left over from the USSR in Uman who was really bad and that gave Uman a bad reputation. But this doctor is different.)

Music for the glory of GOD

T99 T 97 D Major  t99 in midi
t97 in midi t99 nwc  t97 nwc

I need God's help today. I broke my leg and am having an operation called osteo synthesis. Prayers for me would be appreciated and learning Mishna. Learning Mishna should be with any of the basic commentaries. The Tiferet Israel is great but it is really a matter of taste. The Rav from Bartenura is also good.
If anyone could learn the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach for me today that would be even better. [Or better yet-to accept on themselves to learn the whole Avi Ezri from cover to cover.]

Another thing I would appreciate is if someone would learn a  little  Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot and Maharsha for me. {My name: Avraham Ben Leila and Philip].


I am very nervous and so my thoughts are not settled. I see I published the T99 without making sure it was finished. I see there are still a few parts that need finishing.  [a hour later I just added the missing parts.]

T97 might not be finished. Actually the end of T97 suggests to go a second and third movement. This is the kin of thing you see at the end of the first movement of the 40th symphony by Mozart where the ending in itself suggests a continuation.

Uman for Rosh Hashanah

I think it is important to know for people coming to Uman for Rosh Hashanah is there is a new criminal group that is going around beating up people seriously and robbing them. This is mainly at night or early morning in the city center and near to bus station.

I myself was victim but they do not care who it is. I do not know why the police have not put a stop to it. Just yesterday I saw another victim. A regular fellow [not Jewish] who was simply walking around in the city center early in the morning, and they beat him so severely that he might have internal head injuries. [It was light. Not nighttime.]
[He was coming out of a 24 hour a day store called "ATB". That is one place where this groups is waiting for people. They are very sophisticated and have night vision equipment. They also come up out of  car with masks so the nearby cameras can not see them.

[This comes up all the time in Uman. There is a new criminal group with new tactics every year or so.]



I do not think the police are even aware of the problem yet. In any case, please please please--people coming for Rosh Hashanah please stay near the Ziun of Reb Nachman and only go to the city in broad daylight.

[Though I am a thorough Litvak, I still have a lot of confidence in Reb Nachman's ideas (but not Breslov). The excommunication of the Gra simply did not apply to him as you can see from the wording the excommunication that the Gra signed. [There is an historical book that brings down the details and recently some people published a very thorough biography of the Gra which got people so mad that it must be accurate. I was there in Netivot around 7 years ago when it came out. But  I did not buy it. Mainly I have no doubt to what it must be saying--that the Gra was serious. And no doubt the Gra was right. But I still think because of Reb Nachman' personal service towards God he merited to deep insights that are important to listen to.]
In any case this new group might be so sophisticated that the police might be having a hard time keeping up. In any case this is not at all directed towards Jewish people. In fact the centre of activity seems to be ATB stores.


I should also mention that at Sofia Park are wandering vicious dogs so care should be  taken in visiting all these places. In fact it is better not to go to Sofia at all but rather the public river called Ostashivka on the other side of Uman where there is boating and swimming and no dogs


I should mention also that the subgroup of Na Nach people seems to me to be fairly good. At least it is the best of all the other groups.

There are times when thought does not help.

On the eve of  a battle between the Spartans and Athenians, the general Demosthenes, told them, "Let no man try to display his wits by summing up the dangers, because there are times when thinking does not help anything. Just face the enemy with a lively hope that you will succeed." [He won.]

The truth of the matter is just like that. There are times when thought does not help.

This was an idea I heard from someone who was getting married in Israel and he had spent a few years going through the entire Shas every month. [That is the whole Gemara. That is a little more than 100 pages every day].
He said not to even think if you are understanding your learning or not. This to many people may sound ridiculous but in  fact it contains a deep insight. There are times when thought does not help.
I found this to be the case in yeshiva. I would go through a small section of gemara--just saying the words. Then the Rashi on that Gemara. At that point I understood nothing. But then after a few more readings of the same gemara I would get the idea. Thus I got the idea that even when I think I am not understanding, something is being absorbed.

There are other areas of learning that I find it better just to read the material straight with no review until I have finished the entire book. That is, just to say the words and go on. Math and Physics I find to be more amenable to that kind of learning.

I should mention that Reb Freifeld of Yeshivat Shar Yashuv held by review.  That is specifically 10 times. Whether it was a chapter of Gemara or Tosphot, his main thing was to do review. I never got past this problem that I needed to make progress and yet the Rosh Yeshiva was emphasizing review. I still have no idea how to deal with this problem except to mention that in the Mir it was the accepted path to do in depth learning in the morning and to make progress in the afternoon. That does not really answer the question but at least it is  a kind of middle path.

[I must mention also that without Rav Freifeld's emphasis on in depth learning I am sure I would not be able to learn. To "know how to learn" is something I have seen that people need to get when they are young or they never get it. But it should be said that very few people understood what Rav Freifeld was doing. I felt very frustrated on his emphasis on learning in depth and I am sure a lot of other people felt the same way. Only later I realized the fact that when people do not get this right away in their first years in yeshiva, they never get it.
In the Mir yeshiva the whole question became mute,- because anyway the morning was for in depth learning and the afternoon for fast learning. That more or less answered the whole issue simply.