We see a lot of idolatry in the religious world. Thus Gra signed the letter of excommunication. But the result is that anything dedicated to idolatry is forbidden.

The prohibition of idolatry is a bit subtle. On one hand like my learning partner David Bronson explained to me that one can not be  guilty of the death penalty unless he worships a physical object.
But even not of the side of legal guilt, clearly there is guilt if one worships in the abstract.
You can see this in the Rambam in the 13 principles of faith [and also in Mishne Torah] that idolatry is worship of anything in heaven or earth, any of the four elements, any angels etc. That is anything other that the First Cause.

But what is worship exactly? Well there are the regular four services [sacrifice, bowing, burning pouring] that one is guilty, but then there is included the specific type of worship that is done for that idolatry even if it is not one of the four services.
And Rav Shach explains the basic essence of idolatry is the fact that someone believes that idol can save. That is how he explains the argument between R Yochanan and Reish Lakish about an idol that fell apart by itself. So people would say, "If it can not help itself, how can it help me?"

We see a lot of idolatry in the religious world. And there is in particular a commandment to get rid of it whether in Israel or outside of Israel. [Outside of Israel one is still required to get rid of idolatry but not required to pursue it.] Clearly this was the reason the Gra signed the letter of excommunication, and it seems to me to be a good idea to take that letter seriously,--even to the degree of considering it valid according to the letter of the law.

Plus there is a further result: Idolatry is not just forbidden to do, but any objects that are set aside for use of idolatry are also forbidden.

w96 G Minor   w96 midi   w96 nwc

The Kennedy approach to communism was to not let it come anywhere near the USA. He was willing to risk nuclear war to keep the Soviets away as the Cuban missile crisis showed. 


The same approach today would make sense. Keep Communism out of the USA. But how when already it saturates all schools and universities? There is not a front to fight at since it is everywhere.

[Allan Bloom already pointed out the problem years ago in his Closing of the American Mind. His said openly that the Social Studies and Humanities departments of universities are the problem. The implication is to get them on track or close them.]

Elon Musk is planning on settling on Mars.  The way to do that is to have a moon base that can serve as a launch site. It is easier to go to Mars and bring supplies from the moon than from Earth. My feeling about this is I would rather not have mankind confined to the Solar System. So my idea of how to get to space at this point is simply to study String Theory and General Relativity to see how a worm hole might be constructed.
The stars are there. There must be some way how to get there.

Now on one hand space is hard to bend. You need lots of gravity to do so. But there is something odd about electricity that does effect space. Like the Aaronov-Bohm Effect that changes the mathematical structure of space easily. So it does not bend, but it changes its basic structure. So there must be ways of changing spacetime that does not require gravity.

w95  w95 midi

 w95 nwc

Balance of Values.

One needs a balance of values.

From my parents home I learned the importance of self sufficiency and that was said and emphasized quite openly. But there were other unspoken lessons like Menschlichkeit, [to be a decent human being with good character], common sense, balance, family values, and by example my dad was an inventor of things for the USA part time and other times he went into business for himself. He made the Infra Red telescope in space that is not being used by NASA. (See Life magazine in 1954 July pages 24-26 showing that my dad was the inventor of the Infra Red Telescope--i.e.  Philip Rosenbloom) [The James Webb Space Telescope is an orbiting infrared observatory] Also Laser communication between satellites that is now being used by Space X.
So besides his example, there was a definite kind of appreciation for Math and Physics. [So this emphasis I saw in two places. First my parents home. Later I saw this in the Guide and Mishne Torah of the Rambam.


Later I went to Shar Yashuv in NY and learned also some important lessons. Learning Torah, gratitude, to avoid bitul Torah [i.e. the sin of not learning Torah when one has the opportunity to do so,], and also the emphasis on deep "iyun" [learning in depth] of Tosphot and not just to quickly skip to "Lumdut". [learning  in depth along the lines of Rav Haim of Brisk]This kind of learning I never saw afterwards until I met David Bronson in Uman.

In the Mir in NY,   is where I did in fact begin to appreciate the importance of "Lumdut" [Lumdut means learning in depth in a certain way--in a global fashion as you can see in Rav Haim of Brish or Rav Shach's Avi Ezri] also, plus Musar and Rav Israel Salanter, and great caution in laws that deal with monetary issues. [That is not to touch that which does not belong to you.] Plus there was a great emphasis on not speaking lashon hara [slander.]

In Israel I began to see in fact the importance of the Math and Physics thing again. Plus seeing the importance of the state of Israel,  and the land of Israel.

So all together I learned a lot of very important lessons. But how to combine them and fulfill them is not so simple. Still I am grateful for the great lessons I have learned and still hope to fulfill.

[I forgot to add that I learned some great lessons from the books of Rav Nahman of Breslov and Uman, Speaking with God as I would speak with  a friend. That is kind of like prayer in some ways but different in that one connects with God directly by speaking from the deepest truth that is in one's heart. Also the path of learning fast, not just fast but very fast--saying the words and going on.]

[Socrates at first held that virtue and knowledge are different and his opponent said it can be learned. Then through debate they changed their positions. Socrates held that Knowledge and virtue are one and in that context that meant it can be learned.]

So there is little doubt about what the good and true values one ought to stick with, The only question is the proper balance-how much to emphasize each one and which have priority and how to apply\ them in any given situation

A disciple of the Gra wrote a translation of Euclid into Hebrew. In the introduction he quotes the Gra ''When one lacks knowledge of the seven wisdom one will lack understanding Torah 100 times more." לפי החסרון בשבעת החכמות כן יחסר לאדם בידיעת התורה מאה פעמים יותר.

The Rambam that held learning Physics and Metaphysics are higher than Talmud.
That is from the Guide in the parable of the king in his country. The "Talmudiim" are outside the palace of the king. The physicists and philosophers are inside the palace. The Rambam could not have been clearer if had even tried.

[But I have to add here that I do not hold from watered down versions of things. (Popular introductions). Either learn the real thing, or do not learn it at all. While popular introductions can be useful to a small degree, but not as the main area of effort].

[You do not need to understand every word. Say the words and go on. See the Conversations of Rav Nahman 76 where this is explained in detail. But it is brought in the Gemara itself. And you do not need talent. You can discover more and great things even without talent. Wernher von Braun (the builder of the Saturn V that got man to the moon) failed at both Mathematics and Physics. Not did poorly. He failed. So you see you can excel.]