There was in fact one extremely successful lawyer [who almost invariably won all his cases] who made it a point to take a break from his work about five months out of every year

 Sorry for not blogging for the people that have been loyal readers. I am finding learning difficult. I do not know if this is permanent or that I need to "give a rest". There was in fact one case of a extremely successful lawyer [who almost invariably won all his cases] who made it a point to take a break from his work about five months out of every year.--That is to completely forget about law. Maybe I also need a break. Or maybe I need to move on. [Anyway people have stopped looking at my blog- perhaps because my opinions do not follow the party line. (People lie to read opinions which more or less agree with their own and that includes me.) That seems to be at least one reason. Also in terms of Torah, I have not made much progress in laws of Gitin, so I have nothing to add. Also my thoughts have been about the USA Civil War which I am tending to go with the idea that the South was right--which is certainly not a popular opinion. So I can see why people would not read this blog anymore and I can well see their point.

psychologists are insane and attempt to use their pseudo science to normalize their pathological mental makeup

 I can not prove this, but I would like to suggest the idea that all psychologists are insane and attempt to use their pseudo science to normalize their pathological mental makeup and to disenfranchise normal functioning people. However there is nothing to regret. It is a part of normal human development that we encounter obstacles. Thus the psychologists are a normal obstacle for functioning humans and the only people that fall prey to them are those that deserve to fall prey to them. Normal people already know to avoid psychologists at all cost.

a lot of people claim to be learning Torah,

 I know a lot of people claim to be learning Torah, but all their claims can always be proven false by a simple walk into the doors of their supposed "yeshivot". This fact is too well known for me to go into this. [It is by means of their claim to be learning Torah that they ask for money from secular Jews.] Their lies only work on completely secular Jews who never bother to check the claims. The only people and places one can find authentic learning of Torah are Litvak yeshivot that go in the path of the Gra.

[Not that I have the merit to be in any Litvak yeshiva. But even if I do not have the merit of walking in the truth of authentic Torah, at least I can hope that my friend can have that merit. So I feel a responsibility at least to let people know the truth. There is a good reason why I name this blog on the name of the Gra. It is because that is what defines authentic Torah. After one has that then it is possible and even desirable to learn from Rav Nahman of Breslov. Still one does need to be careful about from whom one learns. As Rav Nahman himself pointed out the problem with Torah scholars that are demons in the LeM vol I perek 12 and 28. So one does need to be careful from whom one learns. I would go so far as to suggest that mot of what passes today as "Torah" is the "Torah of the Dark Side." [That is invariably what the  religious world claims as Torah.] 

So what I suggest is to learn in a Litvak Yeshiva or not at all. Better to have nothing to eat rather than chocolate pudding mixed with cyanide [which is what the religious world is]

I feel that the herem-excommunication of the Gra ought to be heeded to since the fat that it has been ignored has made an open door for the Sitra Achra to enter into the world of Torah. And that is the reason why you will only find authentic Torah in the yeshivot that walk in the path of the Gra. The rest is phony--just making an act to get money and power.  

The sad fact is that I myself did not merit to realize the greatness of the Litvak world that walks in the path of the Gra. This I think is because society is divided naturally into classes. [This is similar to the fact that even lobsters have a natural hierarchy. There is always one on top. In a similar way society does not just get one person on top, but divided naturally into layers like a wedding cake.] And thus people are drawn naturally towards their level. People with low traits are drawn towards people like that.  People with high standards are drawn toward others like that. Sadly I felt out of place in a great place like the Mir in NY.  Only much later did I begin to realize my mistake.

In Uman itself there was a large murder of Jews as commemorated there on a place outside Privat Bank [on Lenina Street--the main street].

 The Nazis had a sort of secret weapon --the assault gun which looked more or less like a tank. The StuG III Strumgeschutz that more or less allowed them to get through the Stalin Line which was the proper border of the USSR. The Red Army had a very smart Commander of the Western Forces (Bundyonny) who was able to escape [the 6th and 12th armies] at amazing speed which astounded even the Germans. Still the Nazis were able to form a pincher type of action which joined together at Uman which encircled the Red Army. Around that area was made a lot of very large prisoner of war camps.  Most of the prisoners died because they were not provided with shelter, and also were given very sparse rations. In Uman itself there was a large murder of Jews as commemorated there on a place outside Privat Bank [on Lenina Street--the main street].

I might mention that even among the German lines there were good hearted people. In one of those prisoner of war camps, a woman from Uman passed by and pointed to a prisoner and said to one of the German guards, "That is my husband," (even though she and he had never met before then). That prisoner of war was then let go (and married her) and became the father of a KGB agent whose  home I used to stay in when I came to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

z32 music file

z32 B flat major  z32 in nwc

music file z29

 z29  D major

Rosh Hashanah

 What people ought to do for Rosh Hashanah I believe is to go out into some forest or place where they can be alone and talk or commune with God. [This is what Rav Nahman calls Hitbodadut.] It is not meditation but rather actual talking from your heart towards God. Part of the reason for this I think can be explained thus: It is too easy to lose who you are. When one is surrounded all the time by other people  it becomes too easy to lose who you really are deep inside. (It can get to the point where one's inner essence disappears. All that is left is the  consciousness of the crowd.) You think all the time other people's thoughts. You worry all the time what others will think. That is why one must go out to a place where he or she can be alone and talk to God from his heart.

{This would be in balance with learning Torah. I myself was unclear about this issue. The Gemara makes it clear that every word of Torah is a mitzvah which equals all the other mitzvot. Still, to get to Torah for its own sake depends on being in contact with one's good essence.]