If you look at the chapters in Deuteronomy [5-12] about idolatry you will see why the Gra signed the excommunication.  Idolatry can be Jewish. What makes it to be idolatry is the worship of any being besides God-- the First Cause.--not dead tzadikim, [or live ones either.]

 One thing I understood from my son, Izhak is that one ought not add to the commandments in regard to the chapters vayikra Leviticus 18 and 20 and that adding to these prohibitions means subtracting.

As regards to the actual subject--adultery means sex with a married woman. You can see this in vayikra Leviticus 18 and 20. Chronicles I chapter 2 verse 46

[See responsa of the Radvaz and Maharam of Egypt.--beside the already well known treatment of this in Rambam, Ramban, Raavad and in the Shulchan Aruch.]  

 Rav Nahman did not hold of learning philosophy at all even, -- of the great sages of Israel,  To some degree that make sense. But utter ignorance leaves one to prey of the many glittering ideas out there that with the most cursory examination fall to pieces. You need  sense to know what to learn.

  My suggestion is Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Kant, Leonard Nelson [a Jew that started a new sort of approach to Kant.]

[rav nahman was right about everything else. in particular he said not to learn the guide of the rambam and i can  see his point.

what is more I would like to recommend the two treaties of government by john locke

 

 I realize taking a chapter of a book on math or a page of gemara 400 times is a lot if you do not know the context.  Even 40 times. So what i have been thinking is to take one section and  read it straight through 4 day in a row. if at that time nothing i clear--go to the previous section. [you can not always start at the beginning because it is material you have already learned. ]

new song based on a song of my son izhak ben avraham

 za3

Lashon Hara, [slander, or even saying what is true about others unless 7 conditions are satisfied.]

 There is a lot of stuff going on in the world which i would write about but for the problem of lashon hara [slander]. And this is a delicate issue because of the severity of the issue. I might be required to warn someone about hanging out with the wrong sorts of friends, but if my words are not accepted --,is that lashon hara?

And the whole issue  tend to be forgotten on the larger scale. So I try to mention only the positive things that I and  others ought to concentrate on--learning Torah "beiyun" in depth with lots of review. Going through the Gemara with Tosphot, Maharsha, Hidushei Reb Chaimof Brisk, Mathematics Physics, exercise, coming to Israel etc. 

i mean to say, if you are careful about Lahon Hara, what else is there to do but to learn Torah?

[7 conditions: for benefit, not to cause more harm than what would be in a court, to see it yourself, to not judge it except by the law of the Torah and not to rush to judgment, to rebuke beforehand, no other way to reach that benefit.] 

Haywires in the American Democracy

 There is something going haywire in the American democracy. I think the reason is it needs a firmer foundation in theory. For the basic model was put together in an ad hoc fashion with theory coming only later. It is based largely on the English model of government--the Magna Carta and Provisions of Oxford. Only after James II fled, and William and Mary became the monarchs, did the theory arise that the government is supposed to be for the people, not visa versa.

The American Constitution is just a slightly modified version of English law.

John Locke lacks the glitter of the gothic dialectic of Hegel and Marx.

And sadly enough the Frankfurt School also brings a corrupted version of Kant to support their ideas.

I could suggest a version of Kant called the Friesian school based on Leonard Nelson, But after things have gone so off the rails, it is hard to imagine that anything could help. [Allan Bloom had suggestions in his Closing of the American Mind, but it seems too late for that. ]