God created the world from nothing, not from Himself.

 Even though the Nefesh Hachaim [by Rav Chaim of Voloshin] is a great and important book, still I have to disagree with one aspect. He says that from the aspect, or point of view of God, there is nothing besides Him. But from our point of view, things are not Godliness.

The problem with this is it does not explain anything. Things are all God, or they are not.

The other problem is that the point of view of the Rishonim was that God created the world from nothing, not from Himself. [Not like a spider that makes its web from itself. God is not a spider. He made the world from nothing., not from himself.]  Even the Ari brings this very idea that Creation was from nothing in the very beginning of the Eitz Chaim. The world is definitely not Godliness  in the very beginning of the Eitz Chaim.  [The reason all this is not clear nowadays is he religious leaders are stupid and do not understand what they are reading.]

Ex Nihilo is the view of Torah.

Slav is not interchangeable with WASP.

 In the West the fall of the USSR was thought to be a liberating moment. And for many perhaps it was. But when I talked to people on the street the attitude was the opposite. They always said things were better during the time of the USSR. (But they  could not say this aloud to others because of fear of being informed on, and often violently attacked. Only to me, a stranger, did they feel safe to express their real feelings.) )And my experience shows this to a large degree. 

There was something that was hard to understand that was going on there. All I can say is: "People" is not a term that is interchangeable between one group and the other. Our DNA says a lot about how we act. Just like the chemical composition of water H2O says a lot about how it react to cold--as opposed to H2O2 boiling point.

Slav is not interchangeable with WASP. [What works in the USA or England in not the same thing that can work--over there.] WASP is not interchangeable with black. 

[So my impression is not to interfere because in a city like the ones I was in, most people are not at all interested in fighting.] See the verse in Proverbs: כאוחז באזני כלב כן מתערב בריב לא לו  "One who gets involved in a fight that is not his is like one who grabs the ears of a dog" 

  

 The simple explanation of Torah in the stories is mystic and in the laws-literal. That is the way I understood things. When reading the Ari Isaac Luria, I saw that he was understanding the the simple explanation of the seven days of Creation was that it was referring to the higher sepherot. The point of Torah is the commandments. Those are meant literally, But even the commandments are meant to bring to natural law as we see in the argument between R Simon ben Yochai and the sages about if we go by the reason for the commandments or the letter of the law. But to both the reason is known. So R Shimon says one can take the garment of a rich widow.  

 Not all secular learning is secular. Even though Rav Nahman and many others  say to stay away from secular studies, still not all that is listed as secular is in fact so. On one hand, some are clearly man-made and not a part of Torah, however there are wisdoms that include the wisdom of God. So you find Rishonim (mediaeval authorities) that include Physics in the category of the things one is supposed to learn every day. And among those Rishonim are Ibn Pakuda. the author of the Duties of the Hearts.-

So while in the Mir in NY, one was not allowed to attend Brooklyn Collage  while at the Mir, still when I asked the rosh yeshiva [Rav Shmuel Berenbaum] about this policy, he said one can learn Physics for the sake of making a living. But as deep a thinker he was, I think that this distinction  he did not make.

The wonders of God hidden in the work of Creation

 

אזכור מעללי יה כי אזכרה ממקדם פלאיך "I will mention the wonders of God, for from ancient times I will mention your wonders. The wonders of God hidden in the work of Creation are no less wonderful  that if they had been written in the Gemara/Oral Law

I should mention some of the many places in the LeM of Rav Nahman of Uman where learning Physics is thought to be learning the wisdom of God.  And that is wisdom that does not depend on the opinion of any person to check and see if it is correct, but rather Nature. One place that comes to mind is טבעו בארץ שעריה  "Her gates are buried in the ground." Her gates refers to the depth of understanding of the Torah. They are buried in the ground. This is in Lamentations. That means the depths of knowledge of Torah after the Destruction of the First Temple are buried in the dirt. That is in the very substance of physical matter- that is where to find the wisdom of Torah.

Another place in the LeM is that the hidden Torah in  the work of Creation which is the highest Torah.

Another place is that to reveal open Torah to a wicked person would make him worse. So Torah must be revealed to him through secular things.-things that do not seem holy.  

The point is there s hidden Torah in mundane things and that one can reveal the hidden Torah inside of secular things. It is possible to serve God through what seem to be secular but in fact in hidden holiness. 

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 ויתר מהמה בני הזהר עשות ספרים הרבה אין קץ ולהג הרבה יגיעת בשר  קהלת י''ב פסוק י''ב This is verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes, "And more so my son be careful. To making many books there is no end and they are a joke and tiring out of flesh." 

As my learning partner once told me, "There are too many books." The point is brought out by Rav Shach. He explains books that go into the details of the Gemara -this is a great and important thing. But books that  supposedly are about the foundations of faith are a waste of time.

The Midrash Kohelet on this verse  says the word "מהמה" is an unusual construction. (It could have said, "מהם.")The reason is to hint to the idea that it refers to מהומה (confusion).  Making many books that you see in the religious world just brings more confusion, not clarity.

This is especially so in light of the Rif and Rosh on the Mishna in Sanhedrin (perek Chelek) that explain "outside books" means books that explain the Torah but not based on midrashei Chazal==the explanations of the sages of the Mishna and Gemara. 

So outside books does not refer to books on natural science but rather to the vast majority of the stuff the religious are always putting out which all explain the Torah, but never according to any midrash of the sages. 

I admit I got tired of the mind tricks the religious are always playing, and decided instead to learn straight Gemara, with the natural sciences, especially  Physics and Mathematics. Better to find out what the Torah really says instead of depending on the insane religious world.

The reason to learn Physics is that it does not depend on people's opinions. Thus it connects you what is real. To what is really real, not to people's opinions about what is real. [Besides that there is the point of the Gra that any lack of knowledge in the seven wisdoms results in a hundred times fold lack of knowledge of Torah.]

That is to say, it can be tested. Reality can prove or disprove a theory. 

Thus it is objective knowledge not knowledge about what other people think--which is not knowledge at all.

And I should add that I have started with doing the ten times of review  of every paragraph. I keep fast learning in reserve, but for now I feel I need to get the idea before going on.]

I do not think people should be paid to learn Torah.

 I do not think people should be paid to learn Torah. See the Gemara Taanit pg 7 side a where the verse is brought יערוף כמטר לקחי מלשון הריגה על הלומד תורה שלא לשמה שנעשית לו סם מוות [My teaching will flow like rain--from the same word root as to break a neck--to kill. That is my teaching will kill like rain. This refers to one whole learns Torah for the sake of making a living. The Torah become for him poison.]

But it is not that I am looking to be extra strict. Rather it seems to me that the mixture of Torah with money is what ruins it. 

Rav Nahman of Uman brings a midrash

 Rav Nahman of Uman brings a midrash that says after the event of the Golden Calf God says to Israel, "You have lost the 'we will do,' so now at least hold onto 'we will hear.'" אבדתם את הנעשה עכשיו תאחזו בנשמע [note 1] And he brings a proof from that that hearing  is even more important than self learning--

I have not mentioned this in this blog before because it is hard to get to hear a true Torah scholar give over Torah lessons. But I know that it was by listening to the son in law of Rav Friefeld in Shar Yashuv,  and Rav Shmuel Berenbaum  (Mir) and David Bronson in Uman that opened the door for me to any degree of understanding of Torah-- what so ever.

And in fact I found the same thing in my STEM studies. Listening does a lot more than reading the text yourself, even you learn by saying the words and going on for the fast session --or doing lots of review. Listening to is better.

[note 1]At Mount Sinai, Israel had said, "We will do and hear all the words of the Covenant."