Mutual Aid groups

Mutual Aid groups seems like a natural development in the Christian world since kindness towards others is considered the major goal in life and the major way of serving God. But when this is applied to the institutions that are supposedly learning Torah,the whole concept seems to fall flat on its face.  As my learning partner expressed it "They are just private country clubs."
But to gain respectability they do have to present an image of helping others. But in fact the whole thing seems like a kind of scam. Naive people of college age are drawn in by the scam but later experience shows that they are not what they present to the outside world. And woe to the individual that gets taken in by the scam.
There are however legitimate places like the great NY Litvak yeshivas [e.g. Mir, Torah VeDaat, Haim Berlin] that pretty much stick with the basic formula of Reb Haim From Voloshin about what a yeshiva is supposed to be.

I am wondering about the issue of yeshivas and I can see the point of Reb Haim in starting the Yeshiva Movement. [That seems all the more important in so far as the contracts that the "Kahal" had held in Poland were about to be nullified starting with the Russian Czar.]
Still outside of the few great Litvak Yeshivas in NY and Bnei Brak, the whole things looks like a scam.  A way to make easy money. Besides the fact that almost every yeshiva in Israel was made by vegetable stand owners that could not make living any other way than getting a few people to sign up and getting an automatic income--and the people that signed up were mainly interested in getting out of serving in the IDF.
[However I have heard great things about off shoots of Ponoviz, like Tifrah [תפרח]  and in Netivot I was very impressed with Rav Montag's yeshiva which is continuation of Yeshivat HaNegev. 

attacks on Hegel

Hegel has received a series of attacks. The first was in Germany in 1843-1845. Also WWI spelled the end of Idealism and the beginning of  dumb movements in philosophy. But even people that accepted some of his ideas in part like Marx and Kierkegaard were certainly no Hegelians

To me it seems the weak part of Hegel is in politics. When he ties ideas to politics that where he seems to have gotten off on a wrong foot.
Even the attacks on Hegel from Karl Popper and  Dr. Kelley Ross seem to focus mostly on the way his metaphysical system was subsequently applied to politics. But that is what seems to be the weakest part of his system.

[On the other hand looking at the founding fathers of the USA I tend to be very impressed. It seems to me that the geniuses of England and the USA spent a lot of time and thought on politics and that is where their expertise was. In Germany the great minds there simply spent their best efforts in other directions].

But I am not saying the system of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson would be applicable to China or Russia. The founding fathers of the USA were definitely basing themselves on England especially the England of the 1700's. But  that whole foundation depends on the kind of people the English were. You could not transfer that to czarist Russia where the problems were very different.The Czars had an empire that was composed of many groups with high percentages of criminal DNA and bad genes. James Madison had to write a Constitution for people that had good intentions, but their good intentions conflicted with other people's good intentions. That is a whole other ball game. 

U-65 G Minor   [U-65 midi]

[U-65 nwc format]

There is a certain amount of support for respect towards Jesus which can be found in the words of Rav Avraham Abulafia. He is more well known for going to debate a certain pope. Orders were given to arrest him as soon as he  got to Rome but everyone that tried to lay a hand on him died. His attitude can be found easily in his writings. He thought the Catholics were not on the right path. Not just because of ביטול המצוות nullification of the commandments; but also because of the problem of idolatry.  Still his attitude towards Jesus himself is different; and is certainly one of respect.
The way I tend to look at this is that sometimes a saint is born to bring some higher aspect of things into the world. Not only that, but that once they have come into the world -then it is no longer possible to get to that aspect of things without faith in that saint.

We find in the Ari that at the breaking of the vessels שבירת הכלים that the trait of kindness (חסד) fell into foundation (יסוד). And that is what I think happened in this case.


This type of attitude is not usually well received, but it seems to me to be accurate.

I was asked that Rav Abulafia also brings a גמטריה (numerical value of the letters that reflects badly on Jesus.  I have  a few answers for that, but the basic one is that it is fairly well known that גמטריות are often used as זה לעומת זה [This against that]. For example the numerical value of the name of Moses is the same as שמד [heresy] with the value of the word itself being equal to 1.


[In this way I can understand a little of how people with faith in Jesus often act out of kindness that is not found elsewhere.]  [It is fairly well known that the Rishonim say that the Jesus referred to in the Talmud is not the same person because of the fact that the one is the Talmud was in the era of a person that lived around 100 B.C.]

[You can see support for this also in the beginning of Nahar Shalom by Rav Shalom Sharabi and in the Ari himself. Not to mention the well known treatment of this subject by Rav Yaakov Emden.]

Even if this opinion is not very PC [Politically Correct] and is rather unpopular there does not seem to be any reason to reject it.We find that ירבעם בן נבט Jeroboam was afraid of losing the support of the people if they would go up to Jerusalem so he fell into sin. So we see that losing popularity is not  a reason to reject what is true,

What I think Tosphot in Bava Batra 92 [ד''ה וזו]  means is that in the הוה אמינא of the Gemara Ravina had said all virgins have a קול. Therefore the Gemara concludes that witnesses would not help.  Then the Gemara says that what Ravina had really said was that most virgins have a קול. That was therefore a help to Rav that now witnesses would help. Then Tosphot asks from Ketuboth 28 that all we really need is גילוי מילתא בעלמא. So I think what Tosphot means to ask is that it s too big a step to go from witnesses not helping at all to witnesses being believed even as a גילוי מילתא בעלמא להעיד בגדלן מה שראו בקטמן because of the difference between all virgins and most virgins.

What I think תוספות in בבא בתרא צ''ב ע''ב   means is that in the הוה אמינא of the גמרא רבינא  had said all virgins have a קול. Therefore the גמרא concludes that witnesses would not help.  Then the גמרא says that what רבינא had really said was that most virgins have a קול. That was therefore a help to רב that now witnesses would help. Then תוספות asks from כתובות כ''ח that all we really need is גילוי מילתא בעלמא. So I think what תוספות means to ask is that it is too big a step to go from witnesses not helping at all to witnesses being believed even as a גילוי מילתא בעלמא להעיד בגדלן מה שראו בקטמן because of the difference between all virgins and most virgins.


מה שאני חושב הוא שתוספות בבבא בתרא צ''ב ע''ב כיוונו לזה. ההוה אמינא של הגמרא הוא שרבינא אמר לכל בתולות יש קול. לכן הגמרא מסכם כי עדים לא יעזרו. ואז הגמרא אומרת כי מה רבינא באמת אמר היה שלרוב הבתולות יש קול. זה היה אפוא לעזור לרב שעכשיו עדים יעזרו. ואז תוספות שואלים מכתובות כ''ח כי כל מה שאנחנו באמת צריכים זה גילוי מילתא בעלמא. אז אני חושב שמה תוספות רצו לשאול הוא שזה גדול מדי צעד ללכת מן העדים לא עוזרים בכלל לעדים נאמנים  אפילו בתור גילוי מילתא בעלמא להעיד בגדלן מה שראה בקטמן בגלל השוני בין "כל הבתולות" ל"רוב הבתולות"

It is also helpful to learn the books of the Gra and Reb Israel Salanter's disciples.

The path of God --the law of Moses is hard to figure out in a practical sense. There is a great deal of conflict in figuring out the general rules and also in my individual life how to apply the law of Moses in any given case.

It is a sure bet that if things are not going right in one's life --that for sure he has been transgressing on the Law of God. But even things might not be going well even if you have started to walk in God's Law.  The reason is that the ability of repentance to fix things is limited. As the Gemara says עובר על מצוות עשה ועושה תשובה לא זז משם עד שמתכפר לו. עבר על לא תעשה תשובה תולה וים הכיפורים גומר. עבר על לא תעשה שיש בו כרת תשובה ויום כיפור תולים ויסורים מכפרים

You might think that to figure out what the actual obligations of the Law of God are it would be best to open up the book itself along with the Oral Law to see what they say but that is kind of  a long route. The simplest way to go about this is to learn what s called "Musar" which refers to books written during the Middle Ages that more or less explain the basic obligations of the Torah in the most simple fashion possible.
It is also helpful to learn the books of the Gra and Reb Israel Salanter's disciples.

However in terms of what the practical application of Musar I find it best to try to emulate my own parents and my Dad in particular who came about the closest that I can imagine to the true ideals of Torah. [Even though our home was basically Reform and I do think that keeping all the Laws of the Torah is important but in terms of the basic goals of Torah our home was the best thing I have seen in terms of actual fulfillment of the basic obligation of the Torah to be a decent human being and to work honestly for a living and to keep the Ten Commandments etc.]

I am not thinking that I have any great access to "the Truth". Rather my best estimation of the right path is basically based on my parents and what I learned at the Mir Yeshiva in NY.

There is something in the גמרא בבא בתרא צ''ב ע''ב that I find hard to understand. רב said in money issues we go by the majority. Not like שמואל said. They bring a question on this from כתובות ט''ו ע''ב where it says  a man says his wife was not a virgin and she says she was. If there are witnesses that she went to the marriage with the ornaments of  virgin she gets for her כתובה מאתיים and if not then only מנה.
Since most women are married as virgins, then why not just go by the majority, like רב said.
רבינא answered her majority is weak because there was no קול as is always the case when a virgin gets married.
The גמרא asks on that then if there was no קול, then why does it make a difference if there are witnesses? Since there was no קול even when there are witnesses they are false witnesses.
The גמרא then amends the statement of רבינא to say "Most women are married as virgins  and since most women that are married as virgins have a commotion and this one did not, then her majority is weak. The גמרא here means that there is one majority on one side (most women are married as virgins) and another majority against it (most virgins have a  קול and this one did not). So we have a majority against a majority and it is a doubt. So we go by the witnesses.
First that we would say witnesses are false because of a lack of a קול is curious to me.
It seems a bit hard to figure out this idea that since most virgins have a קול and this woman did not that is  a negative majority.
The two types of majorities to תוספות are not equal. To תוספות the majority of women that are married are virgins is stronger than the majority of virgins have a קול.  But תוספות needs that idea to answer a question he has from כתובות. But then it would seem that then the original question of the גמרא would return. We ought to go by the majority of women that are married are virgins, and so why do we need witnesses? I am not saying this is a strong question, but more along the lines of a comment because I can still see that one majority against another ought to require witnesses.
Furthermore the majority of virgins is a subset of the majority of women. So it is not clear to me that this would constitute a majority against the majority of women. But perhaps that is the exact point of תוספות that it is a weaker majority than the majority of women. The question of תוספות also is hard to understand. The question of תוספות is going on the הווא אמינא of the גמרא. That is the original statement of רבינא, not the amended version of רבינא. So obviously תוספות thinks his question would apply even on the amended version, but it is hard to see why. What I mean is this: The גמרא brings the law we believe her when there are witnesses. The question on רב is why not go by the majority. רבינא answers all virgins have a קול. The גמרא asks if so then why do witnesses help? If there was no קול then the witnesses are false. The גמרא answers רבינא meant most virgins. תוספות asks from the גמרא in כתובות that these witnesses are believed to testify what they saw before they came of age. The גמרא asks why? And they answer this. Because it is just revealing what the facts anyway already suggest to be the case. גילוי מילתא בעלמא.

תוספות asks this. But according to our גמרא here in בבא בתרא,  if there is a קול then we do not need witnesses. If not, then witnesses do not help. But that question of תוספות is only on the  הווא אמינא of the גמרא. If we go with the conclusion that  witnesses help because there is only a majority of virgins that have a קול. So the question of תוספות seems to fall off. Witnesses help because it is only a majority of virgins that have a קול. So witnesses help.
 Furthermore תוספות says his question is not on שמואל. That means since we do not go by the majority then witnesses help. But still one can ask why? If the majority does not help then how can the witnesses testify בגדלן מה שראו בקטנן?

בבא בתרא צ''ב ע''ב. יש משהו הגמרא בבא בתרא צ''ב ע''ב שאני מתקשה להבין. רב אמר בדיני כסף הולכים לפי רוב. זה לא כמו ששמואל אמר. הם מביאים שאלה על זה מן כתובות ט''ו ע''ב איפה שכתוב גבר אומר שאשתו לא הייתה בתולה והיא אומרת שהיא הייתה. אם יש עדים שהיא הלכה לנישואים עם קישוטים של בתולה היא מקבלת עבור הכתובה מאתיים, ואם לא אז רק מנה. מאחר שרוב הנשים נשואות כשהן בתולות, אז למה לא ללכת לפי הרוב, כמו שרב אמר? רבינא ענה הרוב שלה הוא חלש בגלל שאין קול כמו שתמיד קורה במקרה כאשר שמתחתנת בתולה. הגמרא שואלת על זה, אז אם לא היה קול, אז למה זה משנה אם יש עדים? מאז לא היה שום קול גם כאשר ישנם עדים הם עדי שקר. גמרא אז מתקן המשפט של רבינא לומר "נשים הנשואות לפי רוב הן בתולות, רוב בתולות יש להן קול ולזו לא היה קול, אז הרוב שלה הוא חלש. גמרא כאן פירושו שיש רוב אחד בצד אחד (רוב הנשים הנשואות הן בתולות) ורוב אחר נגדו (לרוב בתולות יש קול ולזו לא היה קול). אז יש לנו רוב נגד רוב וזהו ספק. אז אנחנו הולכים על ידי עדים. ראשית כי לומר העדים הם שקר בגלל חוסר של קול הוא קצת קשה. עוד קצת קשה. זה נראה קשה להבין את הרעיון הזה כי לרוב הבתולות יש קול ולאישה זו לא, כי הוא רוב שלילי. עוד יש לשאול שני סוגים של רוב לפי תוספות אינם שווים. לתוספות רוב הנשים נשואות כשהן בתולות חזק מרוב בתולות יש קול. אבל תוספות צריך הרעיון כדי לענות על שאלה שיש לו מן כתובות. אבל היה נראה כי אז השאלה המקורית של גמרא תחזור. אנחנו צריכים ללכת על ידי רוב הנשים כי שנשואות כשהן בתולות, ולכן למה אנחנו צריכים עדים? אני לא אומר את זה הוא שאלה חזקה, אבל יותר בכיוון של הערה כי אני יכול לראות כי רוב אחד נגד אחר צריך לחייב עדים. יתרה מזאת יש שאלה. רוב הבתולות היא קבוצת משנה של רוב הנשים. אז לא ברור לי שזו תהווה רוב נגד רוב הנשים. אבל אולי כי היא הנקודה המדויקת של תוספות שרוב הזה חלש מרוב הנשים. שאלה של תוספות גם קשה להבין. שאלת התוספות הולכת לפי ההווא אמינא של הגמרא. (זוהי הגרסה המקורית של רבינא, לא הגרסה המתוקנת של רבינא). אז ברור תוספות חושבים ששאלתו תחול גם על הגרסה המתוקנת, אבל קשה לראות מדוע. כוונתי היא זו: הגמרא מביאה את החוק שאנו מאמינים בה כאשר ישנם עדים. השאלה על רב היא מדוע לא ללכת לפי הרוב? רבינא עונה יש לכל בתולות קול. הגמרא שואלת אם כך אז מדוע עדים עוזרים לה? אם לא היה קול, אז העדים הם שקריים. תשובת הגמרא: רבינא התכוון לרוב בתולות. תוספות שואלים מן הגמרא בכתובות כי עדים אלה הם נאמנים להעיד מה שראו לפני שהגיעו לגיל. הגמרא שואלת למה? והם עונים זו. בגלל זה הוא רק חושף את מה שהעובדה ממילא כבר מציעה שהיה המקרה. גילוי מילתא בעלמא. תוספות שואל על זה. אבל על פי הגמרא כאן בבא בתרא, אם יש קול אז אנחנו לא צריכים עדים. אם לא, אז עדים אינם עוזרים. אבל השאלה של תוספות היא רק לפי ההווא אמינא של הגמרא. אם נלך עם המסקנה כי עדים עוזרים כי יש רק רוב של בתולות שיש להן קול. אז השאלה של תוספות נראית שנופלת. עדים עוזרים כי זה רק רוב של בתולות שיש להן קול. אז עדים עוזרים. זאת ועוד תוספות אומרים שאלה שלו היא לא על שמואל. כלומר, מאז אנחנו לא הולכים לפי רוב אז עדים עוזרים. אבל עדיין אפשר לשאול למה?אם הרוב לא עוזר אז איך יכולים העדים להעיד בגדלן מה שראו בקטנן

These are the simple kinds of questions my learning partner David Bronson would be asking. But so far I have no good answers for Tosphot. I figure I need to spend more time and effort in trying to understand what Tosphot is saying.