13.1.17
objective morality and Torah
My approach to Torah mainly depends on the idea of Kant and Schopenhauer of the Ding An Sich. That is an area of value in which pure reason [un -derived from experience ] can not enter.
That is to say that there is an area of objective morality that is not dependent on the observer. That is to say,-- that even though this world is radically subjective [The electron has no value, spin or otherwise, until measured.] that does not bear on objective morality. Objective morality is rules --universals. Those are objective.]
Thus I look at any person doing an act that is objective good and moral as a good person. So I look on Torah as revealing morality, not as creating morality. This is very much along the lines of the Rambam that has two levels. First Natural Law as revealed to Abraham and then later to the Ancient Greeks. Then the Law revealed at Mount Sinai.--That is a higher degree of Revelation.
But that also means that I do not negate all spiritual experiences at all. Rather I believe that sometimes God can inspire a person in unforeseen ways in unforeseen paths. Prophecy and the Divine Spirit do not have to follow human ideas of what is proper. Just the opposite. However as I wrote in the last few essays, most of spiritual experiences are from the wrong side of things. Still there are such things that are real and from God.
That is to say that there is an area of objective morality that is not dependent on the observer. That is to say,-- that even though this world is radically subjective [The electron has no value, spin or otherwise, until measured.] that does not bear on objective morality. Objective morality is rules --universals. Those are objective.]
Thus I look at any person doing an act that is objective good and moral as a good person. So I look on Torah as revealing morality, not as creating morality. This is very much along the lines of the Rambam that has two levels. First Natural Law as revealed to Abraham and then later to the Ancient Greeks. Then the Law revealed at Mount Sinai.--That is a higher degree of Revelation.
But that also means that I do not negate all spiritual experiences at all. Rather I believe that sometimes God can inspire a person in unforeseen ways in unforeseen paths. Prophecy and the Divine Spirit do not have to follow human ideas of what is proper. Just the opposite. However as I wrote in the last few essays, most of spiritual experiences are from the wrong side of things. Still there are such things that are real and from God.
religious world
In the religious world there is something seriously wrong. What it is, is not at all clear,, but there seems to be some underlying problem that many have noticed, but offer different suggestions about what is the problem and what to do about it. That makes it hard to recommend Torah as a practical path since keeping Torah for most people means to join the religious world and that is clearly a terrible mistake because of the aforementioned previous problem that no one seems to be able to define.
I myself have offered a few suggestions, but I have not really gotten to the basic problem. The best suggestion I can see is to stick with authentic Torah as taught and practiced in the well known great Lithuanian yeshivas, like Ponovitch, Mir, Chaim Berlin, and Torah VeDaat.
If you are not in the area of an authentic Litvak yeshiva, the best thing is to stay home and learn Torah on your own. That is getting through the Old Testament, Two Talmuds, Musar books [medieval ethics based on Torah].
But even though the religious world claims to be doing Torah, there is something under the surface that is clearly not kosher and very very wrong --even though there is no clear indication of what it might be.
Part of the problem is fake religious organizations which undermine authentic Torah values. [Most Jewish religious organizations are pure poison, and thoroughbred cults of the most pernicious type.]
[Once I was part of the yeshiva of Rav Freifeld, Shar Yashuv in NY, and later the Mir. I soaked up the words of Torah like a fish that can not be out of water. But that world is what is called the "Yeshiva world." It is very different than the religious world that is the home of the Dark Side. But there is no well defined border between them, so the demonic forces of the Dark Side have also penetrated in to many yeshivas.] Nowadays I go to no synagogue, since I think they have been taken over by the Dark Side.
[New comers are largely unaware of this, and thus become victims of the cult by not being street smart. תקרובת ע''ז אסורה בהנאה. By becoming victims of the cult or the Leviathan, they no longer can escape and their lives are finished even if they do manage to escape in time. As the Sages said "things sacrificed to an idol remain forbidden forever."]
In fact, most yeshivas today I would have to say are cults. The best thing is to follow the basic path of the Rambam at home on your own- learning the Old Testament, and the Oral Law [the Two Talmuds plus the books of Musar {Torah ethics}, Modern Physics and the Metaphysics of Aristotle.]
For an introduction to the Law of Moses it is good to learn the Mishne Torah of the Rambam page by page along with the Keseph Mishna of Rav Joseph Karo, and in a separate session to go through the entire Avi Ezri of Rav Shach. As for the ethics of Torah, the main thing is the book of the Middle Ages, Obligations of the Heart חבובות לבבות by Bechayee Ibn Pakuda.
As for Physics, the main thing is String Theory, but it takes some background to get there. The main background is Quantum Field Theory. (The best way to get to that I am not sure of. As for myself, I learned a lot of Joos's book Theoretical Physics, and I think it was good preparation for me, because it did a very thorough job on waves, and in fact I used it to help me in my talks at Hebrew University on Differential Equations.)
Concerning Metaphysics, obviously the Rambam was referring to the books of Aristotle by that name, but I also recommend the books of Kant and Schopenhauer.
The Torah itself--the Old Testament should be read in Hebrew and finished at least once.
In fact that is my idea about mitzvot. That there is such a thing as doing a mitzvah completely. Thus the mitzvah of Torah learning means to finish the entire Oral and Written Law at least once. [Tenach, Two Talmuds with Tosphot and Maharsha, Tosephta, Sifra, Sifri, Torah Kohanim, Midrash Raba, the Rambam with Avi Ezri and the Keseph Mishna, Tur, Beit Yoseph and all the books of Musar of the Rishonim and the disciples of Reb Israel Salanter
All the above I believe ought to be in every public school and be taught as part of the curriculum. [They already teach The Book of Job very well, but the whole Old Testament should be taught as they do in Israeli public schools.] The aspect of the Oral Law that should be in public schools is mainly Tosphot. That is to learn how to analyze a sugia with Tosphot. [That is "to learn how to learn."] But I do not believe in tests when it comes to Torah, because I believe that is using the Torah for personal gain. [Most everything else they teach in public schools should be thrown out. Especially the Humanities and Social Studies departments as already mentioned by Allen Bloom in The Closing of the American Mind.]
So I foresee a kind of religious revival that is necessary, but not one based on the Bible alone but rather this Four Part System: The Old Testament, the Oral Law, Metaphysics and Physics. But this revival would have nothing to do with the present day religious Jewish world which is pure poison. Rather it would be in connection with Reform and Conservative and Zionist Judaism.
But the world of religious Judaism is totally wicked and depraved. The Torah is desecrated there in deed while honored in word.
I myself have offered a few suggestions, but I have not really gotten to the basic problem. The best suggestion I can see is to stick with authentic Torah as taught and practiced in the well known great Lithuanian yeshivas, like Ponovitch, Mir, Chaim Berlin, and Torah VeDaat.
If you are not in the area of an authentic Litvak yeshiva, the best thing is to stay home and learn Torah on your own. That is getting through the Old Testament, Two Talmuds, Musar books [medieval ethics based on Torah].
But even though the religious world claims to be doing Torah, there is something under the surface that is clearly not kosher and very very wrong --even though there is no clear indication of what it might be.
Part of the problem is fake religious organizations which undermine authentic Torah values. [Most Jewish religious organizations are pure poison, and thoroughbred cults of the most pernicious type.]
[Once I was part of the yeshiva of Rav Freifeld, Shar Yashuv in NY, and later the Mir. I soaked up the words of Torah like a fish that can not be out of water. But that world is what is called the "Yeshiva world." It is very different than the religious world that is the home of the Dark Side. But there is no well defined border between them, so the demonic forces of the Dark Side have also penetrated in to many yeshivas.] Nowadays I go to no synagogue, since I think they have been taken over by the Dark Side.
[New comers are largely unaware of this, and thus become victims of the cult by not being street smart. תקרובת ע''ז אסורה בהנאה. By becoming victims of the cult or the Leviathan, they no longer can escape and their lives are finished even if they do manage to escape in time. As the Sages said "things sacrificed to an idol remain forbidden forever."]
In fact, most yeshivas today I would have to say are cults. The best thing is to follow the basic path of the Rambam at home on your own- learning the Old Testament, and the Oral Law [the Two Talmuds plus the books of Musar {Torah ethics}, Modern Physics and the Metaphysics of Aristotle.]
For an introduction to the Law of Moses it is good to learn the Mishne Torah of the Rambam page by page along with the Keseph Mishna of Rav Joseph Karo, and in a separate session to go through the entire Avi Ezri of Rav Shach. As for the ethics of Torah, the main thing is the book of the Middle Ages, Obligations of the Heart חבובות לבבות by Bechayee Ibn Pakuda.
As for Physics, the main thing is String Theory, but it takes some background to get there. The main background is Quantum Field Theory. (The best way to get to that I am not sure of. As for myself, I learned a lot of Joos's book Theoretical Physics, and I think it was good preparation for me, because it did a very thorough job on waves, and in fact I used it to help me in my talks at Hebrew University on Differential Equations.)
Concerning Metaphysics, obviously the Rambam was referring to the books of Aristotle by that name, but I also recommend the books of Kant and Schopenhauer.
The Torah itself--the Old Testament should be read in Hebrew and finished at least once.
In fact that is my idea about mitzvot. That there is such a thing as doing a mitzvah completely. Thus the mitzvah of Torah learning means to finish the entire Oral and Written Law at least once. [Tenach, Two Talmuds with Tosphot and Maharsha, Tosephta, Sifra, Sifri, Torah Kohanim, Midrash Raba, the Rambam with Avi Ezri and the Keseph Mishna, Tur, Beit Yoseph and all the books of Musar of the Rishonim and the disciples of Reb Israel Salanter
All the above I believe ought to be in every public school and be taught as part of the curriculum. [They already teach The Book of Job very well, but the whole Old Testament should be taught as they do in Israeli public schools.] The aspect of the Oral Law that should be in public schools is mainly Tosphot. That is to learn how to analyze a sugia with Tosphot. [That is "to learn how to learn."] But I do not believe in tests when it comes to Torah, because I believe that is using the Torah for personal gain. [Most everything else they teach in public schools should be thrown out. Especially the Humanities and Social Studies departments as already mentioned by Allen Bloom in The Closing of the American Mind.]
So I foresee a kind of religious revival that is necessary, but not one based on the Bible alone but rather this Four Part System: The Old Testament, the Oral Law, Metaphysics and Physics. But this revival would have nothing to do with the present day religious Jewish world which is pure poison. Rather it would be in connection with Reform and Conservative and Zionist Judaism.
But the world of religious Judaism is totally wicked and depraved. The Torah is desecrated there in deed while honored in word.
12.1.17
Witchcraft and heresy and political desire to overturn the government are related.
The rise of witchcraft was oddly enough after the middle ages at the beginning of the age of Enlightenment and was highly connected with the desire to undermine the rule of kings and princes.
To see this documented look here
What I wanted to bring out is that this was highly related to the enlightenment project of overturning the rule of kings.
That is witchcraft became subsumed into political movements which were directed to overturn the established order.
And this has continued until today. The KGB in fact was very aware that in the USA and in any society there are always a good number of malcontents that want to overthrow the established order.
The policy of the KGB was to encourage these elements in the USA and to give them funds in the hope of overturning the USA.
In any case even after the KGB is no longer around their effects are still apparent.
The rise of witchcraft was oddly enough after the middle ages at the beginning of the age of Enlightenment and was highly connected with the desire to undermine the rule of kings and princes.
To see this documented look here
What I wanted to bring out is that this was highly related to the enlightenment project of overturning the rule of kings.
That is witchcraft became subsumed into political movements which were directed to overturn the established order.
And this has continued until today. The KGB in fact was very aware that in the USA and in any society there are always a good number of malcontents that want to overthrow the established order.
The policy of the KGB was to encourage these elements in the USA and to give them funds in the hope of overturning the USA.
In any case even after the KGB is no longer around their effects are still apparent.
crackpots
The main trouble in the religious world is crackpots that try to bring you into their "thing."
And they always target people that are interested in that particular area, but not able to tell the difference between authentic value and pseudo value and fraud.
But this problem is pervasive and ubiquitous in the religious world.
The main job of a Jew is not to get fooled by these charlatans and their groups, no matter how respectable they try to make themselves seem. In fact, the more respectable they try to make themselves, all the more dangerous they are.
Some groups, which are content with being fringe groups are mainly OK, because they do no pretend to be other than what they are.
But in any case, for the sake of one's soul, it is best to avoid all the crackpots.
[The religious world is prone to this for the exact same reason that make them religious. Most religious people have schizoid personality disorder. That is they are sensitive to that area of value of holiness and unholiness. But since most of this world is evil as the Ari (Isaac Luria) says therefore the vast majority of the religious are open to the areas of value of unholiness that they mistake for holiness. Thus their favorite slur is to call someone they do not like as "insane." Not "evil". It is a classic case of projection."
The best approach to Torah is balance. That is,-- one ought to learn and keep Torah, and be sensitive to the holiness area of value. But with balance along with the other areas of value.
And they always target people that are interested in that particular area, but not able to tell the difference between authentic value and pseudo value and fraud.
But this problem is pervasive and ubiquitous in the religious world.
The main job of a Jew is not to get fooled by these charlatans and their groups, no matter how respectable they try to make themselves seem. In fact, the more respectable they try to make themselves, all the more dangerous they are.
Some groups, which are content with being fringe groups are mainly OK, because they do no pretend to be other than what they are.
But in any case, for the sake of one's soul, it is best to avoid all the crackpots.
[The religious world is prone to this for the exact same reason that make them religious. Most religious people have schizoid personality disorder. That is they are sensitive to that area of value of holiness and unholiness. But since most of this world is evil as the Ari (Isaac Luria) says therefore the vast majority of the religious are open to the areas of value of unholiness that they mistake for holiness. Thus their favorite slur is to call someone they do not like as "insane." Not "evil". It is a classic case of projection."
The best approach to Torah is balance. That is,-- one ought to learn and keep Torah, and be sensitive to the holiness area of value. But with balance along with the other areas of value.
11.1.17
nationalism
I really hate to be arguing for Hegel, but nationalism makes sense in his context and only in his context. I just can't see it anywhere else in Kant or anywhere in the German idealists. But since Hegel has limitations the only way I can salvage him is with Howard Bloom and his ideas about the social meme and the super organism. That is nationalism built around the basic set of values of Judaeo-Christian Civilization. [That is revelation in the Bible and reason {Aristotle}.]
That is nationalism based on a certain social meme is justified. But nationalism based on evil is not justified. --So it would not be like Hegel. It might what Hegel was really thinking but it would not be that the "State" is the Divine ideal embodied on earth. Rather it depend on what the state is built on. Moral principles? Then fine. But if built on some false or evil meme, then No.
In other words, there is no idea here of self determination. Rather people that are savages should be set far away.
[I have no idea what the power that Hegel has over people is. I can see a lot of good. I still feel he is an important part of German idealism. I would not dismiss him so off hand like Schopenhauer did. That is to say when he says things that seem to make no sense, I would prefer to try to find what he was getting at instead of dismissing him.]
So I am really arguing for states that are based on Torah principles. For example Israel, the USA. That includes states that have a balance between church and state like Russia and England where Torah principles are embodied in the fabric of the state.
But people whose sole ambition is the destruction of Western civilization ought to be sent far away. That pretty much means any groups that are against Western civilization.
Or as someone said on the blog Amerika: When someone comes for you, you have a moral responsibility to your woman and your offspring to put their asses in the grave 1st. But before it gets there, do everything possible to maintain peace without being enslaved yourself.
I can not speak for Communists. I think they were thinking in terms of “progress” and Hegel. I just do not think that the flaws in communism were all that apparent to good hearted people. At any rate, I did notice people like Richard Epstein, and Pamela Geller that are on the right track. They seem to be are invincible when it comes to defending Western values.
That is nationalism based on a certain social meme is justified. But nationalism based on evil is not justified. --So it would not be like Hegel. It might what Hegel was really thinking but it would not be that the "State" is the Divine ideal embodied on earth. Rather it depend on what the state is built on. Moral principles? Then fine. But if built on some false or evil meme, then No.
In other words, there is no idea here of self determination. Rather people that are savages should be set far away.
[I have no idea what the power that Hegel has over people is. I can see a lot of good. I still feel he is an important part of German idealism. I would not dismiss him so off hand like Schopenhauer did. That is to say when he says things that seem to make no sense, I would prefer to try to find what he was getting at instead of dismissing him.]
So I am really arguing for states that are based on Torah principles. For example Israel, the USA. That includes states that have a balance between church and state like Russia and England where Torah principles are embodied in the fabric of the state.
But people whose sole ambition is the destruction of Western civilization ought to be sent far away. That pretty much means any groups that are against Western civilization.
Or as someone said on the blog Amerika: When someone comes for you, you have a moral responsibility to your woman and your offspring to put their asses in the grave 1st. But before it gets there, do everything possible to maintain peace without being enslaved yourself.
I can not speak for Communists. I think they were thinking in terms of “progress” and Hegel. I just do not think that the flaws in communism were all that apparent to good hearted people. At any rate, I did notice people like Richard Epstein, and Pamela Geller that are on the right track. They seem to be are invincible when it comes to defending Western values.
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