In Torah, people are not gods nor become gods.

In the religious world there's a confusion of the boundary between the divine and the human that's common.  [For this reason it is important not to go anywhere near religious areas.] It is also  common in pagan religion.  The confusion of the divine and human realm is at the basis of the pagan belief in apotheosis -- humans becoming gods; perhaps after death for example becoming immortal, or very often  to  become gods.


In Torah, people are not gods nor become gods.

This is in itself a good reason to pay heed to the warnings of the Gra.

A second version of what Reb Israel Salanter started.

I suggest starting  Musar Movement 2.01. [Musar means books of Ethics of certain sages of the Middle Ages.] That is a second version of what Reb Israel Salanter had started. Even though in many Litvak Yeshivas, Musar is learned in two short sessions, I feel they are too short and also do not take into account the world view issues that those same sages had written on.

For example one well known Musar book is the שמנה פרקים of the Rambam on Pirkei Avot. But for some reason his Guide for the Perplexed and the Musar books of his son and grandchildren are not learned--and not considered a part of Musar.

But I am not thinking about what books people want to learn as the big issue. The big issue is this: the original Musar yeshivas were really into it. They really spent a great deal of time and effort on correcting their traits and coming to Fear of God. It was (24/7) 24 hour seven days a week project.


[I do not have an opinion about the different schools of thought however. They all seem worthy of respect. However I had a particular like for the Musar approach of Navardok  which emphasizes trust in God. Maybe the reason is that that is one area I am deficient in. ]

But even the very short time I was involved in learning Musar I must say it gave me encouragement  in great directions. Correcting my own traits, getting to Israel, personal prayer, speaking the truth. I must say the amount that I gained from it in that short time was immeasurable.

[I mean to say it gave me motivation to not make excuses. Thus when I saw the commandment to get to Israel I took it seriously. "Israel or Bust" was the idea. ]

Musar also has a close connection with Rav Joseph Karo. The best way to learn Rav Karo's books on law I have generally found to be to learn the actual Gemara that the law is based on. Without that it is hard to get any clear idea of what he is saying.

A good example comes up in חושן משפט [circa 155] where Rav Karo goes with the opinion of the Ri MiGash and the Rambam and Ramban that placing something that can cause damage to a neighbor's wall can put put on the borer before there is  a wall. But still this does not apply to היזק ריאה In terms of opening a window into a "חורבה" empty broken down building because of "maybe you will fight with me in court" . To see why both decisions are right you need to see the Gemara and Rav Shakh's Avi Ezri. Rav Shakh says that maybe you will fight with me in court is a good plea and a good reason to stop the fellow from opening a window because היזק ראיה already has a category of being a מזיק. But things that you can put next to a boundary when there is no wall do not have a category of being causes of damage until there is a wall built. Rav Shakh is saying that is the opinion of Rav Joseph Karo-. He suggest that Rav Karo derived this from the Ramban [M. Ben Nahman].
From that it looks like that to Rav Karo there would be חזקה for היזק ראיה. This actually came up once in my experience when one neighbor asked  another to put up a wall even though the area had been open for years. . But I guess that the expenses would be shared in that case.


But in any case without learning the Gemara, I think it is impossible to understand what is going on there.[Rav Shakh answers that היזק ראיה is already a היזק before the place is rebuilt.]

Best idea is to avoid spiritual stuff, philosophy, politics.

When people are extra sensitive to spiritual values  that implies an extra ability to absorb wrong energies also. This idea is more or less based on Kelley Ross of the Kant/Fries philosophy.
At any rate, the idea is once one is sensitive to one area of value, that can deteriorate into it opposite area of value.
This shows why Litvak yeshivas like Shar Yashuv or the Mir in NY tend to discourage and over amount of interest in spiritual values.
So people that are aware of the delusions in the spiritual side of things then often go off into Philosophy or Politics to find meaning.  Both of which are dead ends.

Best idea is to avoid spiritual stuff, philosophy, politics.

[In politics I favor free market and freedom as practiced in the USA and Israel. But I also realize the need for the USSR --the kind of Hegelian stat that is needed in extreme cases. After the fall of the USSR all those same problems are beginning to rise again very fast.]

I see in Vietnam they brew the coffee for a few minutes in a sock. See this website: https://freenorthcarolina.blogspot.com/

 However I just put the coffee grains and tea grains directly into the pot. [both coffee and tea together. later in the day to put in green tea also.]

In any case I heard in fact from my mother in law Rita Finn to have to coffee simmer for at least 30 seconds in order to get the strength out it.

I saw the drip idea but that did not make any sense to me.

The main thing about coffee is to get it into the pot itself. None of the drip nonsense.

There are different kinds of diversity.

To me it seems that President Trump is getting things back on track. Not just that but also there is a significant fact that a lots of Americans voted for him. That seems to suggest that Western Civilization is not lost.

"The squabbling is mainly over diversity. Diversity was the catalyst for the creation of leftist thinking - motivation is hatred of the white race." Missey


I think: There are different kinds of diversity. One kind brings everything up. The other kind brings everything down.

Therefore it is impossible to say diversity is good. Everything depends on who is diverse.

Musar would perhaps have been a good idea.]

The way to learn Torah that I was taught in Shar Yashuv [Far Rockaway, NY] was to not spend time on introductions. Rather the approach was to get into Gemara and Tosphot.
That approach apparently helped me a few year later when I was accepted at the Mir in NY.
This went against the grain and desire of most of the new students that were more interested in introductory material.

My impression is that that approach [of Shar Yashuv] was correct. And that is what I think applies to anyone.

The degree this was taken in Shar Yashuv was in fact even more Litvak than most other Litvak places in that they did not learn Musar. And there was a general disapproval of signs of overt devoutness.

[Looking back however I think a drop of Musar would perhaps have been a good idea.]

State of Israel

My original idea of  coming to Israel was based on the Ramban--[Rav Moshe ben Nahman]. He counts settling in the Land of Israel as a positive commandment. That means an obligation.
The importance of settling in Israel is also brought by the Rambam.
The question that was not clear at the time was: how does one look at the State of Israel? I had not really looked at the question at all. There is also the point that many people have made about the establishment of the State is what is called "The beginning of the Redemption." And that seems perfectly valid to me.

[The idea of the "Beginning of the Redemption" has to do with the coming of a new level of consciousness into the world.]
But the political aspect seems to have been needed in order to have a state at all. One can over-do the importance of a state as Hegel does. But you can also under-do its importance.

One can list the abuses of a Hegelian state as was the USSR, but also not notice that without the USSR there were also terrible abuses that the USSR came to correct.
Same with the State of Israel. All human good and flourishing requires a state. Without a strong state, everyone would be easy prey to criminals.

The kind of state that Israel is now is now closer to the USA form of government.
[In any case, I am not in Israel now, but I feel that if God would have mercy on me and help me to get there again, I would like to never leave there again.]

[In one house where Jews were staying in the time of the last czar, they had made a tunnel under their house--a mile long and reinforced with bricks. That is how terrified they were.]


It seems to me that the whole question is can I gain enough appreciation to decide to get to Israel and stay there once and for all and never leave again.