block of metal of R. Aba נסכא דרבי אבא

I would like to suggest that what Rav and Shmuel said about the block of metal of R. Aba exactly like the gemara in bava metzia page 100.  They said he keeps it and the gemara in bava metzia first asks, "let's see in whose domain it is." From that we see we look first at where the object is now and only if that doe not work then we look at  the first owner.And that does not disagree with the gemara in Nida about the חזקה מעיקרא being stronger because the חזקה of money is different than a חזקה about איסור והיתר .So then why does the Rashbam say the reason of Rav and Shmuel is because of a migo? Answer: The Rashbam is posek like Sumchos. Now this depends on the version in Bava Metzia. If the right version is  הא מני סומכוס then sumchos agrees that we look at the domain where the object is now. But if the version is אלא הא מני סומכוס then sumhos says even when there is a present domain still ממון המוטל בספק חולקים then he would need a migo. The trouble with this is  the Rashbam holds the first version that I mentioned is right. Therefore we need to go to Nida page 2 and the Tosphot there where there is an opinion  חזקה מעיקרא וחזקת השתא  are equal. So here we have  מרא קמא and חזקת רשות which should be equal except the migo turns the weight of evidence towards the person that grabbed the נסכא

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Fast learning, learning in depth

Fast learning was a "thing" when I  was growing up. So to some degree it made sense to apply it to learning Torah. In particular there is the classical musar book אורחות צדיקים that places a heavy emphasis on it.
On the other hand when I got to Far Rockaway [Shar Yashuv] and the Mir the emphasis was just the opposite. Learning in depth--biyun. And my learning partner also was into that kind of learning. He would not move until everything was clear.

For me it seems there are kinds of learning that going fast seem to make the most sense. And other times the in depth thing seems best. I do not think there is any kind of resolution to this problem except what they do in Litvak yeshivas--the morning for in depth and the afternoon for fast learning.

[Fast learning however in the Mir was what most people call learning in depth with Tosphot. But when I say fast learning I mean to say the words as fast as possible and to go on. Not to worry if one understand or not. The learning gets absorbed anyway.]

to not learn Torah when one is able is a sin.

Bitul Torah--to not learn Torah when one is able is a sin. Not just that, but just like learning Torah is equal to all the mitzvot, so bitul Torah is equal to all the sins. [This is brought own in the Gemara Yerushalmi.] This leaves the idea of Physics and Math ambiguous. [When I was in  yeshiva I was unaware of the opinions of the Obligations of the Heart and Saadia Gaon.]
There is a separate issue about secular pseudo wisdoms [the so called soft sciences] which are surely pure bitul Torah because they are false. Even if one can make money by practicing them they are still bitul Torah.

the whole religious world running into this world of the Dark Side.

The two most powerful yeshiva experiences I had were in Shar Yashuv and later in the Mir in NY. But the same search for truth that led me to those two great places was the exact same thing that later led me  to leave and go after false doctrines. The issue really  was addressed by the Gra- in a powerful statement --the top signature on the letter of excommunication [חרם].
The trouble is the people get caught in a zone of illusion where they believe they have merited to great spiritual levels and Divine Light while in fact being led by the Dark Side which imitates holiness.

I wrote about this years ago but deleted everything since I wanted to keep my blog on a positive note.

Some of the problems that I wrote a lot about but deleted were these:
(1) Ego inflation. Once they imagine they are seeing great light they begin to think of themselves are super beings.
(2) He thinks his imaginations are  true revelations from above.
(3) becomes possessed by an archetype--which he thinks is some higher level but in  fact is  a lower level than and sometimes from the Dark Side itself. And that is were his visions and miracles come from.

I wrote a lot about this but at some point it was getting me down and upsetting seeing the whole religious world running  into this world of the Dark Side.

be part of a Litvak [Lithuanian type] yeshiva

If one has merited to be part of a Litvak [Lithuanian type] yeshiva it seems to me to be a terrible sin to leave that  situation.  That does not imply not to make aliyah-but rather if one has come from exile back to Israel that within Israel one ought to continue with the Litvak approach[based on the Gra and Rav Shach.]]

The temptations are that other groups put out effort to show themselves on a higher level. And sometime in the Litvak world not enough emphasis is devoted to keeping out the black plague hidden inside those groups. The easiest targets are the newly religious who do not have enough expertise in Torah to be able to tell the difference between authentic Torah as opposed to Torah of the Sitra Achra [Dark Side].

I ought to add that I also think Mizrachi yeshivas are excellent. and in some ways even better since they also have a connection with IDF. [They have a kind of program where they serve in IDF for some time and then back to learning --.. etc back and forth and also get job training in IDF.]

The basic reason why I approve of IDF and also the State of Israel is mainly because of Rav Moshe Feinstein and also Rav Aaron Kotler. Both said more or less the same message "דינא דמלכותא דינא"the law of the country is the law. from Shmuel in Bava Batra.
This disagrees  with the Satmar Rav, Rav Joel and the general litvak approach. And even though Rav Joe was a very very great tzadik, still it seems to me that in terms of strict halacha that he had no case against Rav Moshe and Rav Aaron. His entire book on the subject is made from quotes from Midrashim.   And if I wanted to prove any law from the Midrashim I could prove almost anything.

The laws of Lashon Hara [slander] do not apply to an apikorus [heretic], what is an apikorus?

The Hafetz Haim makes it clear in a few places in the book Hafetz Haim that the laws of lashon hara [slander] do not apply to an apikorus [heretic]. But he does not go into the arguments about what that means exactly. The only place where he more or less makes it clear is in Klal 8 where he defines it as one who denies the תורת משה [the Law of Moses], including the Oral and or Written Law.

It seems this is too fluid. Too undefined.  The undefined nature of this category means anyone can label anyone they do not like with this label "apikorus" and be free to hurt them at leisure. And others that he does like but in fact have created a religion of idolatry with all the dressings and ornaments of Torah and say that it is it lashon hara [slander] to disparage them.

Further I wonder why he did not mention Joseph Albo, or the Abravenal or other opinions in the rishonim about what actually are the principles of faith.

The whole problem seems to be that the whole gist of the "lashon hara thing"--seems geared to disenfranchise Reform Judaism and secular Jews even though they very much believe in Torah--just they do not make a public display out of it  in order to get other people' money and allegiance.And it seems to whitewash the religious world that simply explain away what ever does not agree with them in Torah. And that is just another way of denying the Torah

 I noticed when I was at Shar Yashuv and the Mir in NY that success in Torah always seemed to depend on Fear of God. I can not really explain this now years later. It was not a matter of who was learning the most Musar. It was something else. In fact I recall that there seemed to be people who were overdoing it with the Musar thing --and that certainly did not help. But the people that had the most success in learning seemed to have a certain degree of fear of God that was a bit more than usual.

In any case, to me today it seems that the Musar yeshivas developed the right balance. Two short sessions in Musar every day and the rest of the day learning Gemara in depth.