The issue about the need for knowledge in the writing of the get [divorce] or kidushin is unclear to me like I wrote a few days ago. The main point of confusion is the Ramban brought by the Ran that for a get one needs both for her sake and the husband should write it. That is how the Ramban gets out of the problem about why he could not say to a messenger [or two] to go and tell so and so to write a get and give it. The answer מילי לא מימסרי לשליח ''words are not given to a messenger'' clearly does not work as the Ramban himself noted. After all you can tell a messenger to take trumah or to write a document of ownership and give it to someone--and lots of things that require intension. But if you need the man to write the get, then that should be that. I noticed that Rav Shach deals with this issue, and I imagine many of the other Achronim also try, but to me the whole issue is unclear. [I might just give up. Or i might wait until i can gain clarity by learning further on.]
Belief in God is rational. Everything has a cause. So unless there is a first cause, then you would have an infinite regress. And then nothing could exist. Therefore there must be a first cause. Therefore God, the first cause, exists. QED.
17.10.23
I get the impression that most people do not have an idea about learning Torah. They see it is only applicable to people that want to use it to make money.
And I think that the fact that people in kollel use Torah to make money adds to this misimpression.
But it should be obvious that learning Torah is incumbent on every person, and that no one should use it to make money.
But while I am on the subject, I would like to suggest and offer here my approach. That is- I think people should learn in depth in the morning right when they wake up and learn fast in the afternoon when it is harder to concentrate. So the morning should be like in the great Litvak yeshivot-- with staying on one page of Gemara for a few weeks. That is either in depth with Reb Chaim of Brisk or Rav Shach or the other great sages of the Litvak world [i.e., Birchat Shmuel, Shaari Yosher of R. Shimon Shkopf etc.] The afternoon for getting through Shas with Tosphot and Maharsha. Also there should be a few sessions in Mathematics and Physics-- to get through fast the basic material. [I mean to get through it,-- and then review.]
Kant's synthesis between empirical knowledge and rational knowledge has been a problem as soon as the ink was dry on the first Critique as was immediately noted by Schulze and Maimon. The answer to their objections I have thought was best answered by Jacob Fries until I noticed what I think is the similar answer given by Reinhold. [I saw this answer in a paper by Peter Sperber]. Schulze had objected to a sort of circularity in Kant [that sense perception works by way of cause and effect. The object outside of oneself causes the perception. But if causality is the only thing that makes perception possible, then it can't be part of perception.][The problem is that without causality, perception is pure delusion] and Salomon Maimon had objected to any possible contact between a priori concepts and empirical senses. The answer is there are concepts that are known immediately without have to go through reasoning process--they are the categories of where, when, how, why, etc.
16.10.23
Kidushin page 9
I have been puzzled about a Rambam that says if one writes a document of marriage and it is given to a messenger of the woman, then it must be written with the agreement of the messenger. The Magid Mishna brings there [Laws of Marriage chapter 3-law 18] that the Ramban disagrees with this and says it has to be written with the knowledge and agreement of the woman. This is just like the fact that a husband can not say, ''Tell so and so to write a divorce doc and give it to my wife.'' The Ramban is bringing this from a Gemara in Kidushin page 9 that says a doc of marriage has to be written with the knowledge of the woman. [ That is an argument there, but this is the agreed upon conclusion.] What is the puzzle about this to me is the general law, ''Words are not given over to a messenger.'' That means one can appoint a messenger to do things, but not to say things. And for a divorce doc to be for a particular woman requires the husband to say so. But this in itself is the source of my confusion. Why is it that a scribe could not write a doc of divorce for a particular man and wife? If we say a scribe is ok to write the doc, then why should he have to hear it from the husband. If we say the verse says that the husband himself has to write it, then why should a scribe be ok-- even if the husband tells him to write it?
The sages of the Gemara [Talmud] said that Gog and Magog [Armageddon] would come three times against Israel and that at the third time they will reach Yerushalaim [Jerusalem]. That is based on Yechezkel [Ezekiel] chapters 38 and 39. Then in the next chapters, Yechezkel [Ezekiel] goes into the dimension and building of the third temple. Now it is clear that Russia, China and Iran are aligned against Israel. So even if Israel would be able to finish off Hamas, that would do nothing to take care of the larger threats. [That is, even if Israel would have any specific targets inside of Gaza. But there is no such thing. The entire population is determined to destroy Israel. There is no specific target.] So what ought to do is to learn Gemara, Rashi and Tosphot every day as the sages said: ''What should one do to be saved from Armageddon--learn Torah.'' [But to learn Torah as a mitzvah means not to take money for doing so. To get paid for learning negates the value.] [And I might add here my basic approach to learning Torah. It is divided into in depth learning in the morning and includes the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, Mathematics, and Physics. The afternoon or evening is for fast learning, I.E., to get through the Talmud with Rashi, Tosphot, Maharsha, and then the Yerushalmi, plus getting through the basic math and physics, Algebraic Topology, Quantum Field Theory, String Theory. There should also be a few hours for exercise.][string theory is important as the only viable explanation of gravity. To see what i mean, take a look at Feynman's papers on Quantum Gravity showing that it is not renormalizable.]
[People are too discouraged from the hard subjects because of lack of faith in God. They ought to believe that by saying the words and going on, that they will eventually understand. This is like the same way trust in God works in other areas where one does a minimum amount of effort and trust God to do the rest.]
13.10.23
There is a sort of Achilles heel in Breslov in that in spite of the tremendous advice of Rav Nahman, there is a kind of tendency for it to take people away from straight Torah. The advice really works best in a context of a place that is devoted to learning Gemara.--i.e. a regular Litvak yeshiva. This is hinted at in a letter Rav Nahman wrote to his group in Breslov מאסתי בישיבת ברסלב ''I have become disgusted with Yeshivat Breslov'', -Even though the intension of the letter was to say that he was upset with the town and would no longer dwell there, still there is a hint in that letter.