I tend to do better in discernment by means of negative results. That is by making mistakes I tend to learn more than by any kind of inherent intuition. That is the reason that I hold by a small set of things that I concentrate on. I tend to see that by deviating from this set that things go haywire.
Not everyone I know is like that. My learning partner seems to have an inherent compass. He tends to see fallacies in different groups even before getting involved in them. Not me. I need to jump into the boiling water to find out how hot it is.
So this explains why my priorities are things that my parents told me and I did not listen to. I learned eventually that they knew a lot more about the world and the way things are that I ever could.
This also makes me see the importance of the State of Israel, and also learning Torah. It is not that I have such great appreciation for any of the above. It is just that when I see when either I or others abandon any of these things that highly negative results follow.
My parents were very much into the idea of being a mensch--a decent moral person with all that implies.The Ten commandments. Working for a living and never asking for and never accepting charity. Going to university [and not to be a rabbi under any circumstance]. Never to use the Torah for money. But to learn Torah and keep it in every last detail. Learning Physics and Math also was very high on their list of priorities. And also Mozart. and general classical music.
They sent me to Beverly Hills High School and they chose that kind of secular education on purpose.
We were Beverly Hills that reason alone. My Dad had to work on satellite communication for NASA and SDI in a place that was far away from Beverly Hills. He had to commute every day for an hour and a half, [i.e.each direction]. Beverly Hill was chosen only because of the high school.
And this path they certainly thought was the Torah path. Religious Fanaticism was very far away from their idea of what Torah is about.
But within that framework, I would like to suggest: 1) finishing the Oral and Written Law. Tenach [Old Testament], the Two Talmuds, Sifra, Sifi, Tosephta, Mechilta, Torat Kohanim, Midrash Raba, Midrash Tanchuma. That is one session for the oral law and the other for the written law. Also one small session for halacha--Rambam, Tur, Beit Yoseph and the basic commentaries on the Rambam the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, and Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's Chidushei HaRambam.--from the first word to the last.
This is really not a big deal. There was one school I applied to that was into having the students read and finish about five books per week. I never went there but this shows that what I am saying ehr is not a big deal. It just sounds like a big project because of the evil inclination that wants to stop people from learning and keeping Torah. In one hour per day alone you can finish the whole Talmud in one year and still have time to surf in Malibu or become and astronaut.
Not everyone I know is like that. My learning partner seems to have an inherent compass. He tends to see fallacies in different groups even before getting involved in them. Not me. I need to jump into the boiling water to find out how hot it is.
So this explains why my priorities are things that my parents told me and I did not listen to. I learned eventually that they knew a lot more about the world and the way things are that I ever could.
This also makes me see the importance of the State of Israel, and also learning Torah. It is not that I have such great appreciation for any of the above. It is just that when I see when either I or others abandon any of these things that highly negative results follow.
My parents were very much into the idea of being a mensch--a decent moral person with all that implies.The Ten commandments. Working for a living and never asking for and never accepting charity. Going to university [and not to be a rabbi under any circumstance]. Never to use the Torah for money. But to learn Torah and keep it in every last detail. Learning Physics and Math also was very high on their list of priorities. And also Mozart. and general classical music.
They sent me to Beverly Hills High School and they chose that kind of secular education on purpose.
We were Beverly Hills that reason alone. My Dad had to work on satellite communication for NASA and SDI in a place that was far away from Beverly Hills. He had to commute every day for an hour and a half, [i.e.each direction]. Beverly Hill was chosen only because of the high school.
And this path they certainly thought was the Torah path. Religious Fanaticism was very far away from their idea of what Torah is about.
But within that framework, I would like to suggest: 1) finishing the Oral and Written Law. Tenach [Old Testament], the Two Talmuds, Sifra, Sifi, Tosephta, Mechilta, Torat Kohanim, Midrash Raba, Midrash Tanchuma. That is one session for the oral law and the other for the written law. Also one small session for halacha--Rambam, Tur, Beit Yoseph and the basic commentaries on the Rambam the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach, and Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's Chidushei HaRambam.--from the first word to the last.
This is really not a big deal. There was one school I applied to that was into having the students read and finish about five books per week. I never went there but this shows that what I am saying ehr is not a big deal. It just sounds like a big project because of the evil inclination that wants to stop people from learning and keeping Torah. In one hour per day alone you can finish the whole Talmud in one year and still have time to surf in Malibu or become and astronaut.
