bitul torah [not learning Torah when one is able]

The sages said: "One is obligated to surrender himself to death rather than transgress three sins, sex with forbidden relations, murder. idolatry, and bitul torah [not learning Torah when one is able] is considered equal to all three taken together."


על שלשה עבירות חייב אדם למסור את עצמו למיתה ולא יעבור עליהם גילוי עריות שפיכות דמים ועבודה זרה וביטול תורה כנגד כולם

The concept of bitul Torah was hard for me to accept. -and it still is.

Reading a book בנין עולם printed in Bnei Brak was for me the first time I saw this concept presented systematically. Later I saw this idea in נפש החיים

 The Rambam considered Physics and Metaphysics of the ancient Greeks as part of the commandment of learning Torah (as he says in Laws of Learning Torah in reference to the "Vineyard" which he defined in the first four chapters). Still the whole issue of bitul Torah makes it imperative to define what comes under the category of "learning Torah."

There is no question that I slacked off on this when I got to Safed. Even though being in Israel at that time was great in many respects, but I feel my slacking off on learning Torah was a bad mistake.

In any case, the whole concept really only exists in the world of the Gra and the Litvak Yeshivas which emphasize this concept. The minute I walked out of the Mir in NY, the whole idea of bitul Torah simply dissipated.

[I think I was not the only one in NY that was struggling with this issue when I was in yeshiva. I am pretty sure others were also trying to weigh the issue -- in so far as knowing when for example learning a vocation is OK, and also as just a general rule how to apply it. ]


[Just for the record--learning Torah officially means either the Old Testament and or the two Talmuds. It is however assumed that Rashi and Tosphot are included.  But certainly there is  a limit to how far one can extend the definition.]


Learning a vocation is certainly not bitul Torah and in fact it is required so that one does not end up using Torah as a means to make money by which one loses his portion in the world to come as the Rambam says in the Mishna in his commentary on "Avot" ch 4 דאשתמש בתגא חלף מכאן אמרו כל הנהנה מדברי תורה נוטל את חייו מן העולם ופירש הרמב''ם מן חיי העולם הבאה

The sages also explained verses of the Torah in a few books like מדרש רבה. And you can see that it is not allowed  to make up one's own ideas on what verses of Torah mean as you can see in Sanhedrin ch. 9 in the Rif and Rosh on the first mishna there.[The Rif and Rosh were pointed out to me by my learning partner]

U-38 D Major   [U-35 in midi format]

Mikra Mishna, Math and Musar

מקרא משנה מתימטיקה מוסר Mikra, Mishna, Math and Musar.
Mikra is the Old Testament. Mishna is the book written  by R. Yehuda HaNasi before the Talmud. The Talmud itself is simply a commentary on the Mishna. Math is important as it is the essence of Physics. Musar refers to the books of Ethics written during the Middle Ages.

These seem to me to be the main things to concentrate on every day.
[The importance of Math and Physics I am basing on the חובות לבבות The Obligations of the Heart and the Rambam.]
The idea that Musar is important to learn every day I am basing on Reb Israel Salanter [and also the daughter of Bava Sali who said as much to me].

[But I want to add that if one has gone through the Mishna at least once, then it is time to do the Gemara. The best way to get into the depth of Gemara is to learn the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach.
In terms of Musar, I should mention the first thing is to go through the four classical books which were printed as a set a few years ago. אורחות צדיקים, חובות לבבות, מסילת ישרים, שערי תשובה.
Then the books of the Gra as part of the Musar session.]

[The Rambam also emphasized Metaphysics meaning Aristotle as he explained in the Guide that he meant the Metaphysics of the Ancient Greeks, but I have  hard time figuring out how to go about that.]


I wanted to mention that the idea of Musar of learning about good character and gaining good character is not as hard as some people think. But neither is it all that clear either. There is no algorithm that you can plug in and feed information to and come out with an answer how to act in accord with objective morality. But also it is not as hidden or impossible to know. The Law of Moses certainly tells us a lot, and the Mishna and Gemara also. But to condense it all into understandable  form was the forte of the Mediaeval sages.

As Kierkegaard noticed that man is essentially a spiritual being. It is not really an option to ignore that. And when people do ignore it, they get interested in politics.

What I am saying about Ethics is really reflected in the words of Alexander Hamilton . He said the science of government is not as unknown in his time as it was in previous times. That is: there was a lot of information about the importance of separation of powers, establishment of courts and representative government. Similarly, while there is no exact formula about objective morality (as Michael Huemer has pointed out), still there is a lot of information available about what works and what does not. We have a good idea that Musar of the Rishonim [Mediaeval Period] and the Gra and Reb Israel Salanter helps to a large degree. It may not be perfect -but it is a help in the right direction. We also know things like outdoor skills as learned as a group like in the Boy Scouts also helps. So we are not at a complete standstill. There are ideas that work.

The Talmud says troubles come into the world because of pseudo Torah scholars.

The trouble with the religious world generally starts with people that dress up as Torah scholars and play the role, but are in fact demons. That is to say the do not have human souls.
That makes keeping the Law of Moses very hard because people tend to believe those that play the role as being authentic. So innocent people  are led to sin by those that claim to lead them to virtue.

The first time I notice this problem mentioned was in the book of Reb Nachman from Breslov Vol. I ch. 12  even though he had mentioned something of that nature in ch 8., but I had glossed over it, and paid no attention. But chapter 12 made it difficult to ignore the issue. There he brings up this idea of Torah scholars that hate people that fear God simply and plainly.

It sounds kind of harsh in the ears of the religious world because the religious world likes to consider itself as above everyone else in virtue and intellect and all good qualities. It is hard to face the dissolving of that illusion.

This would not be an issue if the people that were held up as being Torah scholars were in fact so. But the true Torah scholars tend to hide in the corners, while the Torah scholar demons take the public stage.


The way you see this in the Talmud is that in one place in the Talmud troubles that come into the world are blamed on pseudo Torah scholars. That is in the end of tractate Shabat.  [For some reason however Reb Nachman did not quote that Gemara.][The actual words of the Gemara are these: If you see a generation upon which troubles comes then go out and check on the judges of Israel  because all troubles that come into the world only come because of the judges of Israel.]

One approach to take to avoid this problem is to learn Torah either at home or in some place that is careful to stick to straight Torah like regular Litvak yeshivas in NY and Bnei Brak. But there are no simple answers. I think Reb Israel Salanter came close to some kind of answer in his idea of the Musar Movement [not that he use that term]. That is the emphasis on learning books on the simple and plain Ethics of Torah. In itself that is a great idea but as is obvious it can easily be derailed.

The oddest thing about all this is there is absolutely no mystery who the demonic Torah scholars are. Everyone knows. But no one wants to say anything because they are afraid of how it will reflect on themselves.

The best suggestion to deal with this problem is more or less simple and straightforward but lack of interest makes it impossible.

If you do take this suggestion to learn at home, I think the best idea is to simply go through the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach along with the books of the Gra. That pretty much covers the major principles of the  Oral and Written Law

Music for the Glory of God

U-37 D Major  [u-37 midi]  u-37 nwc

[People always bring the statement of Jesus when he was asked who he was and said "I am" as proof. But for this to be proof he would have had to have answered "I will be".]

Learning an ancient Mediaeval mystic, Avraham Abulafia is what got me interested in Jesus. I was reading the microfilms of his books in the library of Hebrew University when I stumbled on some positive statements about Jesus.  I was in shock for about an hour, and could not move out of my chair even I had to get going to light the olive oil lights for the Festival of Lights.
[Rav Abulafia wrote in Hebrew but the mediaeval script was hard to read]



I was aware that not everyone held by Rav Avraham Abulafia, so I had a choice whether to go with what he was saying, or with the people that dismissed Rav Abulafia as a crank.
To me it seemed the weight of evidence was on the side of Rav Abulafia because he was accepted as legitimate by Rav Haim Vital.[That is the last volume of שערי קדושה].

[A very great Rishon, The Rashba, disagreed with Rav Abulafia. But he was not alone. But to me it seems better to go with his ideas as valid. Still, for me it is too easy to go off onto crazy tangents.]

[In the meantime right after that some fellow started putting those books into legible Hebrew and printed them up. That took around twenty years but he finished and the entire set of Rav Abulafia's books are now a lot more easy to read.]

I might mention that the way Jesus is usually understood seems to me to be not well founded.
I could go into a few examples, but the one that brings this all to mind is Kierkegaard who definitely assumed the Trinity. In fact most Protestants  that think the Trinity is true assume אהיה means "I AM." which is  mistranslated. The name of God revealed to Moses is "I WILL BE", not "I AM." 

[People always bring the statement of Jesus when he was asked who he was and said "I am" as proof. But for this to be proof he would have had to have answered "I will be".]

[None of this is meant to detract from the greatness of the Rashba who was a great Rishon. But rather the idea is that the area of expertise of the Rashba was different than that of Rav Avraham Abulafia. So in terms of spiritual insight it makes more sense to go with the opinion of Rav Abulafia.]

The major issue with the Mikveh

The most delicate issue of a mikveh is how thick is the concrete? If it is thick enough that it could be lifted whole and stay in one piece, then it is  a vessel--and not good as a Mikveh.

Another major issue with the Mikveh is that it needs to be a natural body of water.
אך מעיין ובור מקוה מים יהיה טהור מה מעין בידי שמים אף מקוה בידי שמים
So it is hard to make it by man's hands and still have it be natural. The issue really is from a Gemara that says if a pipe  is formed and then attached that makes the mikveh no good. But if it is attached and then hollowed out that is OK. To the Rashbam that is a pipe of stone or wood.
But later the Gemara says that is only according to the idea that drawn water is no good only from the words of the sages. But if drawn water is no good from the Torah then even attached and then hollowed is no good. And that applies to either rain water or even drawing off from a spring.
So the issues just keep getting more and more.


[Unless we would go with R. Isaac who in fact holds a mikve made of drawn water is no good only to the sages and that would leave the teaching of the Gemara in its place-snce the Gemara itself says it is going according to that opinion. A further point is that Tosphot says the case is if the pipes were made to receive and hold something in them--not just to have something passing through them. According to that, the plastic pipes or wood would be  fine since even when made and later attached they do not receive uncleanliness.]

Further reason to say one needs a river is the Rambam that brings the statement of the Gemara of a pipe plainly -not like Tosphot that says it has to be מקבל טומאה. But one reason to be lenient is that R. Hananel and the Rashbam hold the law is like R. Eliezer that what is attached to the ground is like the ground.


[I should mention that I would feel a lot better about this if I would have either spent more time on Tosphot or have learned it with my learning partner. Here I am just giving the basic outline of the subject but there is plenty of work that I still need to do on Tosphot.]


All I am saying is if you have a spring or river or ocean, anywhere around, that is the best idea.
I know girls have trouble in this area because most rivers are pretty cold. I hope that girls start to develop a rougher bark and get less delicate.

In NY a woman could go to the ocean on the seventh day and be OK at night. In Israel there are often springs and rivers around. [A sea or ocean are not  springs, so do not work for a zava. But are okay for a nida. ]

[Since my general approach is that once there is a Rishon that allows something, then one can depend on that, then one could just go with R. Isaac and the first Tosphot in which case things are OK. The only thing is it is clearly better to go to an authentic natural body of water because of R. Tam.]

I want to make it clear that even in cold winter it is possible to go a cold river much more easily that people realize. The reason is if you put your foot into cold water and then take it out, the body automatically starts to drawn the blood from the outer areas. So when you put your foot in a second time it does not feel cold at all. And the same goes with one's legs. So to dip in a river is possible if one does so gradually in small steps. That is to put the feet in an then take them out. Then the legs. Then the whole body. Also going   in with  clothing that is not tight also makes it much easier.