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 z89

What is idolatry-the worship of any being besides the First Cause

 The very word ''idolatry'' is being used in a sloppy fashion. While people may have things they over emphasize, that is not idolatry. And things that are idolatry are thought to be kosher since they are Jewish.

What is idolatry-the worship of any being besides the First Cause by any one of the four services or are according to its way.[חגשה הקטרה שחיטה השתחוויה] Bringing close to an altar, burning [incense or similar], slaughter bowing, or according to its way.

So when I say worship  of tzadikim  is idolatry I mean the last sort of service, I.e.,  doing what they say as a way of serving them is idolatry.

So when i say the religious world is doing idolatry I mean this in a literal sense.

[however to become an object of idolatry is easy. all one needs is to say ''serve me''.] see Sanhedrin 64 and onwards for a few pages and the Tosephta over there from where I got this last law.

[However I consider Rav Nahman of Breslov to be a great tzadik so even if some people might apply his teachings in odd ways, that does not diminish his importance for understanding and fulfilling of Torah]

 There is such a thing as trust in God without effort. and in fact I had hoped todo this in terms of learning Torah--and in fact things did work out well as long a i stuck with this path. however at some point I thought to find work. But instead of finding work, things fell apart. but i never thought the generally accepted view in which people sit in kollel and get a paycheck for learning Torah could be kosher at all.  

 There can be reasons why you might join a group that seems spiritually enlightened and yet seems to be low in morality. To them lying, defrauding , is okay. I think this is a common source of  test for many people. When thy fall into the group that seems spiritually enlightened-- this is the beginning of their fall. That is when their lives go wrong because they fell from what is truly good to that which gives the appearance of good, but in fact they are low lives for whom lying and cheating of others are ok.

marriage

  Reb Yaakov Emden in his sidur has a section on marriage and goes into great length to say that sex than can bring children should be only Friday night after the middle of the night because that is when holy souls come into the world. 

But at any rate, I would like to suggest this practice to people that wish for good children. This might not be a guarantee, but I believe that this certainly helps. And knowing how hard it can be to have good children, it makes sense to do what ever can help.

yom kippur.

 Yom Kippur. For those people who find fasting impossible, I should mention that half amounts are better than full amounts.  What is a half?  For food it is anything less than a volume of an olive [within a dividing interval of about 4 minutes]. For drink it is less than the amount one can hold in one cheek. [the interval between sips is much less to the Raavad. It is about 10 seconds.]

Since the main idea of Yom Kippur is repentance I think that one ought to make a commitment to learn Musar [i.e., works on ethics from the Middle Ages] 

[There are four major works, but about thirty of the less well studied. Then also there are the books of the disciples of Rav Israel Salanter .] [''Musar'' became synonymous with religious fanaticism after the first generation--but religious fanaticism is a mistake..]

  Most Rishonim and Rav Hai Geon hold the night begins after 72 minutes.  [18 is 3/4 of a mil if you hold a mil is 24 minutes. It also might make sense from the ''three stars''.] [The Gra says the night starts at 3/4 of a mil which is either 13 minutes or 18 minutes. But that is the opinion of a minority of rishonim]

There is no question that Putin will use tactical nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory and that he has already declared the three eastern provinces as Russian territory. So what makes the most sense is to knock down the tension a few notches.