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 What is idolatry? Bowing, burning, bringing close, slaughter and service according to its way.[note 1] And it helps to have a clear idea of what idolatry is so that one is not tempted to use it as a general catch all phrase for whatever one disapproves of.

[So when I say that the religious world is doing idolatry, I am not saying going to Uman to pray in the merit of Rav Nahman is any kind of problem. Rather the issue is attitude. And even if one can not be legally guilty, it is helpful to have an idea of what the actual essence of the issue is. As the Gra said to judge any action one needs both to know the law and also the situation.

[note 1] These are the four services done in the Temple. If done for an idol, the one doing them is guilty of idolatry. Bowing is understood. burning is like in the Temple when one brings  a burnt offering. If that same act is done for an idol, it is idolatry. The rest are understood. The last one means this: sometimes an idol has a certain kind of service that is unique for that idol. So that is also idolatry if one does it. Now what is an idol? Anything. It does not need to be an object. But any object will do. So in the religious world when worship is done towards dead people, that constitutes idolatry.] 

 The idea of the "infinite light" does not get into philosophy much or even religion. The reason is that it is not grasped, but given. And even when it is given, it is only one area of value. This you can see in the diagram of Kelley Ross about the modes of necessity on the z axis and the mode of the transcendent in  the x direction. [https://www.friesian.com/system.htm]

So even if one merits to have some flow of the infinite light, that does not mean he or she has any connection with the other  areas of value. They might not have any particular insight in anything or even in spiritual values.

And the problem with each area of value is there is an equal and opposite area of negative value that mimics the authentic area of value. [The Dark Side. The Sitra Achra.] (That is the reason the religious world is so messed up.)

[This is based on Kant's dinge an sich--the areas where reason does not enter. And Leonard Nelson's particular approach which was adopted from Fries with some modifications.]

[Though the Kelley Ross, Leonard Nelson  approach makes the most sense to me I tend to see a lot of good points in Hegel also.]

[This approach makes sense to me because Hegel sees everything as leading to God as the absolute idea through reason. That would be so if the only emanation of God was logos. But with the Kelley Ross, there is a whole area of transcendental which  can not be grasped by reason. ]

The pervasive idolatry that one finds in the religious world is upsetting.

 I tend to see Reform and Conservative as more in accord with Torah because these groups lack the idolatry aspect that one usually gets in the religious world . But I can not account for why this is. It would seem that the more people would be interested in keeping Torah, the farther away from idolatry they would get. But in practice, the effect seems to be just the opposite.

And to stay away idolatry is not just a minor issue in Torah. It is the major point.

You can see this in for example the case of a עיר הנידחת a city that has been seduced to serve idolatry that is burnt. That is the whole city. And even its ashes are forbidden to be be used for any purpose. And in fact because of this, I tend to stay away from the religious. The pervasive idolatry that one finds in the religious world is upsetting. 

[You would think that since idolatry is the one and most issue in Torah that it would have the most weight.  Yet the religious seem to ignore the issue. So the best idea is to avoid the religious world unless this issue gets fixed.]

[I should add that this problem seems to be a lot less in the Litvak world which goes by the Gra. Still no one in the religious world seems innocent in this regard. Clearly the Gra himself saw this problem and for that reason signed the letter of excommunication. But the Gra in this very important issue is ignored,]

[There is also an odd fact that everyone sees this but no one mentions it--like the king's clothes. And I think that one ought to object. After all even if one's objection is not heeded, still there is an obligation to show that the religious does not represent the Torah at all, since the idolatry makes the whole thing forbidden.]  

[It is no accident that the vast majority of Jews do not want any connection with the religious because the fact that the religious put on this show and dance about how they supposedly keep Torah, but in fact worship dead people.]

Just to give an idea of how serious the issue of idolatry is let me mention that not just עיר הנידחת the city that has most of its peopled doing idolatry needs to be burnt to a crisp but even the ashes are forbidden to be used. Or at least that seems clear from the Tosephta and Gemara.   

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There is a major point that I gained from the advice of Rav Nahman that I wanted to share. One is the path of learning. Even though the idea of learning fast is common place in the great Litvak yeshivas based on the Gra, still Rav Nahman puts it in a way that makes it possible for even small mediocre people like me to get to  levels of learning. Say the words and go on even without understanding. The deeper reasons he said this might be many. However I found this to be a great benefit, whether in Torah, or also later in Physics.  For if I had gotten stuck on  every single point in learning before I could go on, I never would have gotten anywhere. However, the only way to get to authentic Torah learning is through the Gra and the great Litvak yeshivas. But if one is in a authentic Litvak yeshiva then the advice of Rav Nahman is an amazing help.

[And in Litvak yeshivas there is an emphasis on review and learning in depth. What seems the best to have some kind of combination. For example, half learning in depth and the other half just saying the words and going on.]

You can see that the Torah takes a dim view of worship of any being besides God alone.]

Laws of Idolatry. When the Torah says "this and that" there is an argument between R Yoshiyahu and R Yonathan whether it means this or that or both, or if it means it has to be both. This comes up in Bava Metzia chapter 11.

This might explain the the fact that the Rambam says a city that has been seduced to serve idolatry "ir hanadachat" is from 100 to the majority of a tribe but also that the number of people that have been seduced can not be less than 100. However anywhere from 200 and up, it is enough to have the majority of the city. So it looks like the Rambam is understanding you need two conditions in order to be a ir hanidachat. It has to be a city of no less than hundred and that you need no less that 100.

This way of looking at that Gemara does require some explanation. The way Tosphot understands it along with most other rishonim is the city has to be no less than 100 but the actual number of seduced people is just the majority; i.e. 51 in a city of 100. Why in a city of 100 you need the whole city is hard to understand unless the Rambam is understanding that you need the city itself and the number of those seduced to be two condition that you need both like the opinion when the Torah says this and that it means both together.

[You can see why I stay away from the religious world as far as possible since I think they all are deeply into idolatry except for the people that follow the Gra. You can see that the Torah takes a dim view of worship of any being besides God alone.]