The problem with the false ordination is brought up by Reb Nachman in a few places. One is Le.M. Vol I chapter 61 where he brings the idea that it causes exile. Another place is in LM II chapter 8 where he brings the idea that it causes sexual sin.  In any case, the whole issue ought to have been settled by the fact that all ordination is a scam since true ordination ceased during the middle of the Talmudic Period.
So people that claim ordination are either malicious or ignorant.

But Reb Nachman goes into this issue in LM  chapter 12 which is the place where he brings down the idea of "Torah scholars that are demons" which he brings from the Zohar. The Ari also goes into this in his unique kind of way -- so that you have to read between the lines. But the surprise is the Talmud itself goes into this in the end of tracate Shabat. So why it is ignored nowadays is beyond me.
So many more homes in Israel would be safe and whole and wholesome if people were more aware of this issue.

Also if a mikveh with drawn water is no good [which is the opinion of R. Tam and the R. Shmuel ben Meir] from the Torah itself, then even קבעו ולבסוף חקקו is no good because המחובר לקרקע לאו כקרקע דמי.

For the Mikveh I would avoid going anywhere near the religious. The reason is the religious world is sick and full of the Sitra Achra evil forces. The best idea is to go to the ocean or a river.

People usually take off their clothing before going in a mikveh but if the clothing is porous it is not needed. In places like Russia or the Ukraine the way to go into a cold river is to get used to it slowly.That is to put in your feet and then take them out. Then the legs. Then the body automatically starts to draw away the blood from the outer layers and so by the time you go to put your whole body in it does not feel cold at all.

[In Beverly Hills there is a reservoir  next to Coldwater Canyon that could serve as a mikveh.]
In general, it is hard to get a mikveh that is artificially made to be valid because often it itself is a vessel. That is it is made of  concrete such that if one would lift it out of the ground, it would remain in one piece. So it is not valid--since it is a vessel. And that is how all mikvas are made nowadays.
The more well known problem of how the water gets into the mikve is subject to a well known story about R. Israel (Bava Sali) in Morocco. But there, the mikve was not made of concrete.
The issue there was how the water was drawn to the mikveh. [The pipes can not be made and then attached even if they can not receive Tuma (uncleanliness.) . But even wood or plastic have to be attached and then hollowed out. In short-- it is better to go to a river.

[The mikveh itself can not be dripping out. So to have cement or concrete is OK but the problem is when it is made so solid that the whole thing could be lifted out whole. Also often plastic is placed between the concrete and the ground which makes the whole thing no good.]

Also if a mikveh with drawn water is no good [which is the opinion of R. Tam and the R. Shmuel ben Meir] from the Torah itself, then even קבעו ולבסוף חקקו is no good because המחובר לקרקע לאו כקרקע דמי.

Girls anyway ought get used to roughing it. Outdoor skills are not just for guys.

U-36 E Flat Major

Music whether by voice or by instruments

Music whether by voice or by instruments is an argument between the Rambam and Tosphot. To the Rambam only songs of praise towards God are permitted . To Tosphot only in a house of wine is music forbidden. I generally depend on the opinion of Tosphot but in this Music I do intend it for the glory of God. I do not know it that makes it permitted to the Rambam, but in any case I have Tosphot to depend on. [The Rambam's idea of Music for the glory of God does not include using verses of Torah or Psalms. Rather things like songs you sing on the Sabbath day meal--but not verses of Torah.] [In Sephardi prayer books you find lots of religious poetry to sing on the Sabbath day for this very reason --not to use verses of Torah as lyrics for songs.]

U-35 A Major  [u35 midi format]  u35 nwc format

Rambam's fourfold division.

In the Rambam's fourfold division of the subjects one must learn every day comes up Metaphysics.
[This he says over briefly in Mishne Torah but goes into more detail in the Guide. ]
What he says openly in the Guide is that he is referring to the Metaphysics of the ancient Greeks.
Clearly that is a reference to Aristotle's set of books called the "Metaphysics".
But to me this seems to include also Plato, Plotinus, Kant, and Hegel.

That is if you go by the basic subject matter. I know there are a set of great thinkers who were singularly unhappy with Hegel but to me that just makes the whole matter more interesting.
The basic critics of Hegel are:  Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, and Kelley Ross, and Marx and Popper. The questions they ask seem to me to be enlightening but not in the way that they thought. [i.e. they thought they were refuting Hegel but in fact doing a service in making us dig more deeply into what he was saying. People misusing Hegel does not seem to me to be disproof.

As for Physics it is also clear what the Rambam meant. The set of books of Aristotle called "Physics."
To me also it seem necessary to include Quantum Field Theory in this --for the same reason--that I think the Rambam was referring to the subject matter not the specific set of books. [There are a few things one needs to learn along with Quantum Field Theory like Lie Algebras.]

As for the Oral Law the Rambam makes clear in his letter to Yemen that "Just as there is no adding or subtracting from the Written Law so there is no adding or subtracting from the Oral Law."  So again it is clear he means the actual set of books the two Talmuds. But also it seems necessary to expand this a little. After all the two Talmuds are are to understand without Tosphot and the Rishonim and a few of the important achronim like Rav Shach and the Pnei Yehoshua.

The Written Law is of course the Five Books of Moses but again it seems necessary to include the rest of the Old Testament along with the explanations of the sages in the several books of Midrash written on it. [e.g. Midrash Raba, Sifrei, Sifra, and few other Midrashim written by the sages of the Talmud.]

[I do not claim to have done this. I got interrupted, and also when I returned to Israel with intent to find  a place to sit and learn Torah I was evicted. That has proven to cause a lot of wasted time that I might have just sat and learned in some odd corner away from everyone. [However the time I spent in Netivot was well spent in terms of learning and also I was allowed to sit in there in the Yeshiva of Rav Montag and people were gracious to me. And that also is where I was able to put together my notes on Bava Metzia. Mostly Sephardim learn there but the Rosh Yeshiva in Ashkenazic. In any case, that was a very nice place. It was kind of like the first time I was in Israel up North which also was very nice.] Besides that I do not seem to have the same amount of energy needed to go through the above list that I did have when I was in the Mir. Thus I suggest getting started on that above list as soon as one is able, and not waste time on side stuff that just turns out to be  a waste.]

It all seems like a lot to go through but it really is not. All you need to do is to do a half a page a day  in order. Just say the words and go on. But it is best to get started already since it does take a few years. No use putting it off.

The way to do this is when you get up in the morning right away to start learning Tosphot. That should be one Tosphot that is reviewed every day for a few weeks. Then some Physics. Page after page. Just say and words in order as fast as possible and go on until you have finished the whole book at least four times. Then if there are still some things that you did not get you can go slower.[Metaphysics is hard to get an idea of what is best there. Hegel seems about the best.]

Kalev ben Yefune comes up in the Five Books of Moses. First he is one of the spies that Moses [Moshe] sent to the Land of Canaan. Later he is brought up in the Book of Joshua  as asking Joshua to give him Hebron as an inheritance (as as promised to him by Moshe Rabainu [Moses]). Later he is mentioned in Chronicles. as the husband of a few wives and girl friends and having children from all. This fact is what the Gra uses as proof that the פילגש girlfriend kind of relationship is permitted.

The place to find this information is in the Laws of Kidushin. [This issue comes up in the Rambam, in the Tur and also by Rav Joseph Karo.]

Mutiny on the Bounty.

Mutiny on the Bounty. The kind of mud children that come by mixing races seems to have been the basic result of that whole episode. The mutineers --as much or little as they were justified,  ended up such that their children were little brown babies.
Though nowadays there is much effort spent in trying to make these mud children, still one would thing that common sense ought to prevail.
Parents can only despair of seeing their race continue.
Marriage is only rocks on ruin and families also.
What is one to do?

The best idea I think is repentance. For the actions of parents affect their children. And how does one repent. It is brought in books of Musar if one is accustomed to learning one page of Gemara, he should learn two. If one chapter of Mishna, then he should learn two.

One thing got me personally into learning was the idea of the Gra based on the Yeushalmi that every word of Torah is equal to all the other commandments of the Torah. And in fact it seems that without confidence in the Gra and his approach, no one can come to Torah.  All people end up with is counterfeit Torah. I think a lot of effort ought to be spent on getting rid of counterfeit Torah, before it can even be suggested to come to authentic Torah.