There is an מחלוקת between ר' שמעון בן יוחאי and the חכמים if one can marry a woman who is a gentile but not from the seven Canaanite nations יבמות דף כ''ג ע''ב.

 There is an מחלוקת between ר' שמעון בן יוחאי and the חכמים  if one can marry a woman who is a gentile but not from the seven nations של כנען יבמות דף  כ''ג ע''ב. To the חכמים this is allowed since the actual verse forbids specifically the seven nations. And in fact that is how the טור decided the halacha which is against the רמב''ם. That verse says more or less לא תתחתן בם בתך לא תיתן לבנו ובתו לא תיקח לבניך Now ר' שמעון says this is not allowed since דורשין טעמא דקרא. The well known question here is clear. ההלכה היא שלא דרשינן טעמא דקרא

 Now רב שך answers based on a גמרא in סנהדרין. In an argument there on page כ''א ע''א the חכמים say a king can not marry more than eighteen wives לא ירבה לו נשים. Now ר' יהודה says he can have more as long as they do not turn his heart, i.e. he goes only  by the reason. ר' שמעון says you go by both the literal meaning and also the reason. So even one that turns his heart, he can not marry. And more than eighteen even like Abigail wife of king David. So what רב שך is saying is the Rambam in fact goes by the first sage תנא קמא not like ר' יהודה nor ר' שמעון. And when the גמרא says the תנא קמא of ר' שמעון can marry a gentile is meaning ר' יהודה. He would allow this because he goes the reason alone. רב שך is saying the verse itself he says is in fact talking about the seven nations but we do not care about that and rather go only by the reason which expands it to all gentiles. THAT IS he is saying the רמב''ם understands that גמרא in יבמות differently that we usually understand it. לי יש קשה. For to ר' שמעון  we go by the reason for the verse and so we forbid marrying all nations עובדי עבודה זרה עכו''ם. And ר' יהודה goes by the reason for the verse when the reason is written into the verse and so he forbids only the seven nations. So I have to admit I am confused here. I assume there must be a way of answering for רב שך but it does not occur to me this minute.  

יש מחלוקת בין ר 'שמעון בן יוחאי לחכמים אם אפשר להתחתן עם אישה שהיא גויה אך לא משבע האומות של כנען יבמות דף כ''ג ע''ב. לחכמים זה מותר שכן הפסוק אוסר רק שבעת האומות. ולמעשה כך החליט טור את ההלכה שהיא נגד הרמב''ם. הפסוק הזה אומר לא תתחתן בם בתך לא תיתן לבנו ובתו לא תיקח לבניך עכשיו  ר’ שמעון אומר שזה לא מותר בגלל שדורשין טעמא דקרא. השאלה הידועה כאן ברורה. ההלכה היא שלא דרשינן טעמא דקרא עכשיו רב שך עונה על סמך הגמרא בסנהדרין. בוויכוח שם בעמוד כ''א ע''א הוא כך. אומרים החכמים מלך לא יכול להינשא ליותר משמונה עשרה נשים לא ירבה לו נשים. עכשיו ר' יהודה אומר שהוא יכול לקבל יותר כל עוד שהן לא הופכות את ליבו, כלומר הוא הולך רק לפי הסיבה של הקרא . ר' שמעון אומר שאתה הולך לפי המשמעות המילולית וגם הסיבה. אז גם אחת שמסירה את ליבו, הוא לא יכול להתחתן איתה. ולא יותר משמונה עשרה אפילו כמו אביגיל אשת המלך דוד. אז מה שרב שך אומר הוא שהרמב"ם למעשה הולך לפי התנא קמא לא כמו ר 'יהודה ולא ר' שמעון. כשהגמרא אומרת שהתנא קמא של ר 'שמעון יכול להתחתן עם גוי פירושו ר' יהודה. הוא יאפשר זאת כי הוא הולך לפי הסיבה לבד. רב שך אומר שהפסוק עצמו הוא אומר מדבר על שבעת האומות, אך לא אכפת לנו מזה, אלא הולכים רק לפי הסיבה שמרחיבה את הפסוק לכל הגויים. כלומר הוא אומר שהרמב''ם מבין הגמרא ביבמות אחרת שאנחנו בדרך כלל מבינים את זה. לי יש קשה. כי לר' שמעון אנו הולכים לפי הסיבה לפסוק ולכן אנו אוסרים להתחתן עם כל העמים עובדי עבודה זרה עכו''ם. ור 'יהודה הולך גם לפי הסיבה לפסוק כאשר הסיבה כתובה לפסוק, ולכן הוא אוסר רק על שבעת האומות. זאת נראית סתירה  

An argument between the Tur and the Rambam if one can marry a woman who is a gentile.

There is an argument between R Shimon ben Yochai and the Sages if one can marry a woman who is a idolater but not from the seven Canaanite nations [Emori, Hiti, etc.] [Yebamot 36b]

To the sages this is allowed since the actual verse forbids specifically the seven nations. [And in fact that is how the Tur decided the halacha which is against the Rambam ] R. Shimon says this is not allowed since you go by the reason for the verse.

[That verse says more or less "Do not marry a woman from them (the context refers to the seven Canaanite nations) because they might tilt your heart"] 

The well known question here is clear. The law like the sages. 

Rav Shach answers based on a Gemara in Sanhedrin. In an argument there on page 21a the sages say a king can not marry more than eighteen wives [לא ירבה לו נשים] R Yehuda says he can have more as long as they do not turn his heart, i.e. he goes only  by the reason. R. Shimon says you go by both the literal meaning and also the reason. so even one that turns his heart he can not marry. and more than 18 even like Abigail wife of king David. So what Rav Shach is saying is the Rambam in fact goes by the first sage [Tana Kama] not like R. Yehuda nor R. Shimon. and when the Gemara says the sages of R. Shimon can marry a gentile is meaning R. Yehuda. he would allow this because he goes the reason alone. Rav Shach is saying the verse itself he says is in fact talking about the seven nations but we do not care about that and rather go only by the reason which expands it to all gentiles. THAT IS he is saying the Rambam understands that Gemara in Yevamot differently that we usually understand it.

I have to admit I am having trouble understanding Rav Shach. I definitely need to spend a lot more time on that section. For to R Shimon we go by the reason for the verse and so we forbid marrying all nations that worship idols [Akum]. And R Yehuda goes by the reason for the verse [when the reason is written into the verse] and so he forbids only the seven nations. So I have to admit I am confused here. I assume there must be a way of answering for Rav Shach but it does not occur to me this minute.  

[Just information for the general public. Idol worshipers means people that worship idols, not all gentiles. But because of the censors it is hard to know what the original Gemara was saying.

[Later note: In a later blog entry I answered this. The basic idea is that the argument in Yevamot is not between R. Shimon and the sages that always go by the literal meaning, but R. Shimon and R Yehuda who goes only by the  spirit of the verse when both are written. R Shimon goes by both when both are written. So back to our case: 

To R Shimon only the 7 nations are forbidden because of the spirit of the verse. To R Yehuda all nations are forbidden since the seven nations are not in fact mentioned openly in that specific verse. 

x40  E Flat Major

Schools of thought that have gone after Kant and other kinds of schools that have gone after Hegel.

 As is well known there has been a lot of  friction between the schools of thought that have gone after Kant and the other kinds of schools that have gone after Hegel.

Most of the critiques on Hegel seem to focus on his political ideas, and how the Communists took over parts of his ideas to justify their actions.

My feeling about all this is that the later schools that took off from Kant are mostly ready for the trash as Robert Hanna goes into excruciating  detail to show. [That is he shows the flaws of all the off shoots of Analytic philosophy of the 20th century.] His motto is "Forward to Kant". Yet I think that the school of thought of Kelley Ross and Leonard Nelson is a great development of Kant.

[Some of the questions on Hegel were answered by Cunningham and McTaggart. I feel that there is no system that cannot be misused. So the fact that Hegel is not a socialist at all should count. He does not hold of government control of industry or property.] 

I would be happy if it was possible to take the good on the Kant Fries School of Nelson and Ross and at the same time not ignore the important contributions of Hegel.

So my point here is what is worth spending time on? I mean you only have  a certain amount of hours in each day. So to spend more time on philosophy than is really needed, I would rather not do. I want to get the best, and then move on to other things [the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach and Physics] that I need more urgently. So to get a good picture of philosophy it is helpful to have people that are good at building a system or making improvements on existing systems. It is even more helpful to have people that can critique and show the flaws of some supposedly well thought out systems. For example Habermas showed his real genius in a short paper that blew Rawls's Theory of Justice out of the water. Robert Hanna nuked twentieth century philosophy. So by default who is left standing? Kant and Hegel. But there were plenty of detours that lead to dead ends like Marxism and other kinds of off shoots. So that is why I am saying Kelley Ross and Leonard Nelson are the  best developments of Kant and Mc Taggart and Cunningham the best to show what Hegel is all about.

the subject of ספק ספיקא

 I wanted to go into the subject of ספק ספיקא in short. The wife of a kohen was found not to have been a virgin, so she is forbidden since the sex might have been after she was betrothed. Tosphot asks what about the status that she is assumed Ok חזקת כשרות until proven otherwise? Answer: the  prior status of the body חזקת הגוף goes against that since it shows she remained a virgin until the last possible minute. That pushes the act to be during the time she was betrothed. R. Akiva Eigger asks but status of "now" [חזקת השתא] pushes that back in time. I.e. we assume the way things are now goes back in time until the farthest possible moment. He answers that status does not join with status of her being allowed to her husband since these two different kinds of status say different things.(החזקות לא מצטרפות)

Rav Shach asked that R Eigger himself say elsewhere that that point itself is subject to an argument between Rav and Shmuel. His answer requires showing his point from a lot of places, but the short of it is that status of now only can put a prior status in doubt if the prior status was already weak. But if it is strong, then the status of now does not count at all.

 A lot of people get affected by some mental trap. There is a remarkable cure for this from Rav Nahman of Breslov: i.e., the prayer of Chavakook the prophet. That is the last part of that book. You can find this in the Bible in the minor prophets.

The fact is that nowadays with the whole world going insane, this seems like a good idea for people to say and even to say it as they are walking on the street. For the Evil Inclination, the Satan is attacking everyone in their thoughts. Bringing people to think exactly the things that are wrong and hurtful for them to think. This is a new technique of the evil inclination. For in former years people had to seek out evil ideas and insanities. Now these same evil thoughts come to everyone uninvited.  

[the prayer is השם שמעתי שמעך יראתי  השם פעלך בקרב שנים בקרב שנים תודיע ברוגז רחם תזכור Load i have heard about you and i was afraid. Lord you works are in the midst of years, in the midst of years let there be known, in anger remember to have mercy, etc.]

"Iyun" in depth learning and combine that with fast learning.

The idea of saying the words forwards and backwards as a way of doing "Iyun" in depth learning I found amazingly helpful when I was at Polytechnic Institute of NYU. I certainly see that it can get one bogged down if he does no fast learning either. Still in a situation where I found I had a time limit on how much I could study before exams, this method of saying the words forwards and backwards was helpful.

You can see this method in Rav Avraham Abulafia, a mystic of the Middle Ages [who is brought a lot as an authority by Rav Haim Vital and the Remak/Rav Moshe of Cordoba.]

When I first got to Shar Yashuv [beginner's yeshiva in NY] my first year was very difficult because there were no structured classes. I had to beg people to teach me anything. But I did manage to sort of get started. The second year was Hulin and that is when I began to understand the Litvak emphasis on "Iyun" in depth learning. The third year there was a class but instead I joined the group of Naphtali Yegger and then I began to see the depths of Gemara and Tosphot. But I could not do that own my own. So on my own I did just Tosphot along with the Maharsha and whatever Rishonim that seemed relevant to the sugia.

But all that time I had my separate sessions of learning fast in order to finish each tractate with Rashi and Tosphot. So I began to gain an appreciation for the idea of combining these two kinds of learning.