I also noticed the Obligations of the Heart says all you can use reason for about God is that he exists and is One and eternal; but after that, we can only know Him by his works. All other questions about God are not knowable to Rav Ibn Pakuda [the author.] (note 1) But even more so. He says thinking about God any further that those three facts makes one insane. And that it clearly why the religious world is in fact insane in a collective way.

(note 1) The concept of location does not apply to God. Rav Ibn Pakuda makes a point of this fact. Asking, "Where is God?" is like talking about the color of air. He is not in space or time at all but also space and time are not empty of Him. Place is simply not applicable.

But this is really just one example of the problem that Rav Nahman of Breslov goes into concerning the issue of Torah scholars that are demons that falsify the teachings of Torah. Thus it came about that the entire religious world is built on false Torah [ Or as Rav Nahman puts it "Torah of the Sitra Achra."] because of this problem with Torah scholar demons.

To find authentic Torah is not easy unless you just want to get the basic books yourself and learn at home. Obviously the great Litvak yeshivas of NY and also Ponovitch get the closest to the real authentic light of Torah.

The problem is that it is almost impossible to find any place to study Torah that has not been infiltrated by the Dark Side.

I met one fellow who had blue threads on his garment [tzitzis]  and and asked if that was of the Gra or Breslov. He said of the Gra. How was I surprised! [That is to say the blue thread they make in Efrat is different from the one they use in Breslov. This led to a short conversation and he suggested that it would be  a good idea to make study halls or yeshivas on the name of the Gra and Rav Shach in Israel.[That means places that would specifically go by the path of the Gra with no compromises.]
I was pleased to hear that there are people interested in the Gra besides the Silvermans in the Old City of Jerusalem.

From my point of view, it would be great to have a study hall nearby that would be going by the Gra so that I could start to learn authentic Torah. The problem is that it is almost impossible to find any place to study Torah that has not been infiltrated by the Dark Side. So to have a place nearby that would go by the Gra and Rav Shach would be for me a great joy.


[The type of blue that is use in Breslov seems to me to be not from the original Khilazon [the kind of creature that was used to make the dye], but rather the kind used by the people that go with the Gra. I had looked into this some years ago and that was my conclusion.] The Gra kind of blue thread is made from a fish. The Breslov one is not from a fish but a kin of small octopus. 

There are some commandments that are ignored.

There are some commandments that are ignored. One is honor of one's parents. Though there are plenty of cases where reason dictates that one's parents are not worthy of honor or respect because they are crazy, still there are lots of cases in which one's parents are good people and still the commandment  is ignored.

Living in Israel is another one.  The Ramban' (Nachmanides) counts it as one of the 613.
The Rambam (Maimonides) does not count it, but it might still be a branch of the command to conquer the Land of Canaan.

Bitul Torah [not learning Torah when one is able] is certainly one of the most wide spread problems.

But one that I would like to include is Physics and Metaphysics as brought by Maimonides. Somehow that opinion of the Rambam is ignored even thought it is more or less repeated by many other Rishonim.

I also have an ambition to start a place to learn Torah on the name of the Gra and Rav Shach for I feel that there is no place where one can learn Torah nowadays that is not a den of the Sitra Achra [Dark Side] .[Unless there are already places that make it their business to walk specifically in the straight path of the Gra and Rav Shach with no compromise what so ever.] The trouble is that immediately when people want to start walking on the path of Torah, that is when the Sitra Achra gets them. And gets them for keeps.

So there is a lot of things that people do that they think are mitzvot that they actually will have to repent on.

Music for the Glory of God [These are all in midi format since i could not access mp3 when they were written.]

V-54 A major

V-53 (F Major)  [New version of v-53]

V-49 F Major

V-48 E Minor

V-50 A Minor

[I apologize for the fact that i can not put this into mp3 or into orchestral form. Even the amount of time I have to write this is limited nowadays.] 

People are disappointed with Post Modern Philosophy

Some people are so disappointed with Post Modern Philosophy that they decided to go back to the Middle Ages. I am thinking mainly of Dr. Feser. And to some degree this already the approach of the Litvak Yeshiva World that recognized the superiority of thought of the Rishonim. [Mediaeval sages].
And even outside of Gemara thought the whole Musar movement was based on the idea of the superiority of the Ethic of the Rishonim.

Francis Bacon paved the way for more rigorous thought in the Natural Sciences.

Faith is knowledge that is not implanted, but recognized.

The 'Rambam (Maimonides) has a very favorable attitude towards Aristotle. The Ramban' (Nachmanides) just the opposite.
The Reason with Revelation approach of the Rambam ((Maimonides)) stems mainly I think from Saadia Gaon. The approach of the Ramban  (Nachmanides) however is at least based on Rav Hai Gaon-as far as I  recall.
The fact that both approaches are considered legitimate is mainly due to the efforts of the Ramban  (Nachmanides) himself who defended the Rambam (Maimonides) rigorously and intensely, even though he did not agree with him on major points. This was pointed out to me by David Bronson who was deeply involved in learning all the writings of the Ramban (Nachmanides).

David also pointed out the mystical approach is a direct descendant of the Rambam.

I guess I have to say I go more with the Reason with Revelation approach which to me seems more sturdy. But that is not to say I ignore the importance of the Ramban and the Ari. The Gra also (I should mention) combined both approaches. He saw no contradiction between them. The reason is that there is a limit to reason as the Critique of Pure Reason makes a point of. This point ought to be expanded I think along the lines of Leonard Nelson. But at any rate the point is clear. There are areas where pure reason can not penetrate: the "ding an sich"/thing in itself. And that is where faith takes over--immediate non intuitive knowledge. Things that you know, but not by reason nor by sense perception. (Or to put it better things that you recognize as true, but not by means of manipulating definitions nor by the senses.) [That is knowledge that is not implanted, but recognized.]

There is a difference in approach towards Aristotle between the Rambam (Maimonides) and the Ramban (Nachmanides).

The Obligations of the Heart [חובות לבבות] brings in his introduction the obligation to learn a kind of science that he considers not to be Torah but to be necessary for Torah that is what was called in Arabic אלעלם אלהאהי which to my mind surely means the metaphysics of Aristotle. He was not referring to  mysticism which the Muslims in Spain in his time were not learning.
Clearly this meant to him not just the Metaphysics of Aristotle and Plotinus but also the later commentaries of Al Farabi. []

The Hovot Levavot/Obligations of the Heart also mentions this idea in the section of Service of God where he says people that know Torah but not logic [Aristotelian] will be fooled by the evil inclination to misinterpret Torah since they are not good at logical reasoning. [So we see that both Aristotle's  Logic and Metaphysics are necessary for the service of God.  This would be according to the basic approach of the Obligations of the Heart, Saadia Gaon and Rambam. The Ramban (Nachmanides) obviously would disagree.]

This is also reflected in the Rambam who holds for Torah one needs to know both Aristotelian Physics and Metaphysics.

[However along with Aristotle's Physics I think Modern Physics ought to be added. After all the Rambam did not specifically mention  Aristotle in this connection but rather the subject that the in ancient Athens was called Physics. So he means the subject matter.

The same goes for Metaphysics. I feel along with Aristotle the Rambam must have meant to subject matter.