combining faith with reason that was universal with Muslims, Christians and Jews.

 My son, Izhak, was aware of the importance of the teachings of Rav Nahman of Breslov, But at the same time was aware of the pitfalls of Breslov.  The tendency in Breslov is to go off on tangents that have nothing to do with Torah. One gets excited about Rav Nahman, and then learning Gemara goes out the window. +in the middle ages there was a general approach of combining faith with reason that was universal with Muslims, Christians and Jews. But how this worked was not unanimous. The Rambam wrote the Guide For The Perplexed in order to answer this question, and he has some good points. However I think Rav Nahman does a much better job. That is not to say that this was his only intension, However in the way that Rav Nahman answers this question, I think he does a better job. Of course, he had the help of Rav Izhak Luria in order to do so. Without the insights of the Ari, clearly Rav Nahman would not have been able on his own to show the reasons and reasonableness of the commandments.

Even though I am not really sure why the Guide seems not very great, still Rav Avraham Abulafia, the great mediaeval mystic, saw in the first 40 chapters the redemption of Israel. [my suspicion is that the translation might not present an accurate picture of what the Rambam was saying. The original was in Arabic.   ]

 In some subjects I find that getting through the whole book straight, and then doing that again four times helps to gain understanding more that doing lots of review on one single chapter. Ii think I see this effect in some subjects like Shas, or mathematics. In other subjects like Rav Shach' Avi Ezri or Reb Chaim of Brisk's Chidushei haRambam, i find staying on one chapter  with lots of review is more beneficial. 

And i might mention that this learning is of benefit to all Israel, as you can see in the Nefeh Hachaim of Reb Chaim of Voloshin the disciple of the Gra.

 It has been noted that the USA is a great help for Israel, but that does not mean that Israel has to carry out its demands. I  think Israel ought to finish up in Gaza and not make artificial distinctions between Hamas and the civilians. Like  General Sherman said  War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it; and those who brought war into our country deserve all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. 

marriage laws-- worship of women that puts men as their slaves is idolatry.

  This approach of men not marrying is because of marriage laws that encourage women to do wrong. This problem could be solved if women and men accepted their respective roles as given in the Torah. That is the man learns Torah and trusts in God for parnasa [a living] and the wife stays home.

I am not saying not to work as you see in the Le,M of Rav Nahman [Breslov] that work can also be service of God. ''By the 39 types of work one awakens the letters of the work of Creation.'' And as Rav Nachman said twice in the Le.M, ''It is possible to serve God through everything.'' In particular, nowadays there is a mitzvah to serve in the IDF.

But the important thing about learning Torah is that it requires a commitment to the degree that even if people disagree--, you still stick with it. That means even if one's own wife demands that you give it up and find a job, you stick with it anyway. [If she leaves because her husband wants to learn Torah for its own sake, then good riddance. ] Not only that, but also if the whole community disagrees with it and throws you out because you are learning Torah for its own sake, you still stick with it. Only that degree of commitment brings to success in learning and keeping Torah. [If one can give up one's values because of the demands of others, then he never had any values in the first place.]

I might mention here that the best way to get through Shas is to do a half page per day with Tosphot and Maharsha. Doing a whole pg. seems to me to be too much to do with Tosphot and Maharsha. Besides that to get through the basic Achronim, the Avi Ezri, Reb Chaim's Chidushei haRambam, etc. 

I may not mention it much, but I also think the Ari and Shalom Sharbi [Reshash] are good to learn if one has been through shas twice.

In the Zohar is brought that when R. Shimon bar Yochai saw beautiful women he said the verse, ''Do not turn to the idols.'' THUS worship of women that puts men as their slaves is idolatry.  

everyone should be involved in one profession only

 In the Republic of Plato there is a virtue that is thought to be needed to the degree that anyone violating it should be put to death--that is the virtue that everyone should be involved in one profession only. But how would that work in a Torah area? First of all, no one is allowed to make money off of Torah. The fact that they do anyway just shows that they do not believe in Torah. They just feign belief in order to go along and get ahead. [If they can let go of their belief in Torah in order to make money that show they never believed in Torah in the first place.]But even for those whose learning of Torah is sincere, knowledge of Torah requires knowledge of the Seven Wisdoms. [This idea come from the Gra who said "A lack of knowledge in any bit of knowledge in the Seven Wisdoms  will result  that that person will lack knowledge of Torah hundred times more.] 

algebra-You want to teach math or whatever?--get someone who is good at it.

 A lot depends on a teacher's excitement about his or her subject. I think Singapore does well because they invest in good teachers. I think the best idea for schools is to hire teachers in math that have Ph.D's in math, not in education. This applies to learning Torah also. I had the benefit of learning from "Alter Mirer's" people that had been in the Mir in EUROPE. And in school I had the benefit of a great music teacher, Mr. Smart, who was amazingly talented and able to turn high school students into a great orchestra.

Whether in the USA or Israel,- all teaching degrees are worthless. You want to teach math or whatever?--get someone who is good at it.

 My main teacher at the Mir, Reb Shmuel Berenbaum was a very deep thinker, but never wrote anything. The classes were in Yiddish, and the later ones were recorded. It would be great if someone would translate them and publish them in Hebrew. During his life, he was considered the  most difficult to understand of any rosh yeshivah. People everywhere I went said,  ''If you can understand Reb Shmuel Berenbaum, you can understand anything.'' [I think you can get something of a taste of this in the Avi EZRI of Rav Shach.]

religion to be a personal matter, but not political

 There is a certain kind of insight in the founding fathers of the USA that wanted religion to be a personal matter, but not political. Not that you can have private organizations like Litvak yeshivot based on the principle of learning and keeping down to every last detail. But there is a point where things evolve from small organization  to become political. In ancient Athens, it was understood that that amount is about 20,000. That is the point where the rules change. Just like the connection between physics and chemistry and biology. It is not that biology violates the rules of physics or chemistry, but that the rules are different.