Gemara, Musar, Physics, Math, Music and Survival

The reason my idea of a yeshiva having Gemara, Musar, Physics, Math, Music and Survival Skills, is to some degree based on the Rambam but also experience. [The Rambam's opinion about the importance of Physics is well known but ignored. So to bring it up would make no difference. If they ignore the Rambam already then why what I say make any difference.]
But the experience I have shows me the Torah alone approach rarely results in any kind of decent person. Sometimes you will have elevated people like Bava Sali, but that is rare. The general result of Torah alone is not very good. Religious fanaticism at the cost of being decent human beings seems like a bad trade off.

Plus the religious fanaticism does not result in Torah anyway, rather in fetishes like "zniut" and obsession with sex of other kinds of religious obsessions which have nothing to do with Torah.  And then they expect to get paid for their religious fetish and idiotic behavior. And then condemn anyone that does not conform their their confused sick ideas of what Torah is about.
Ultra-religious does not equal righteousness nor holiness. It just results in sanctimonious jerks.
I am not saying one should interrupt his Torah study to make money. Rather if one is in a situation where he can sit and learn Torah, then he should do so and trust in God to take care of his needs. [However I do consider the above six subjects to be a part of a Torah education as the Rambam also held.] 

Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot, Physics and Mathematics is the truth and the light. The path the Rambam specifically held is the path of Torah.

The Torah [Five Books of Moses] is the inspired Word of God. The Torah declares itself to be God-breathed, inerrant, and authoritative. We also know that God does not change His mind or contradict Himself. So the Torah  most definitely does not allow for traditions that contradict its message. This is not as much of an argument against tradition as it is an argument against un-Torah, extra-Torah and/or anti-Torah doctrines. The only way to know for sure what God expects of us is to stay true to what we know He has revealed—the Law of God תורת משה. We can know, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that The Law of God is true, authoritative, and reliable. The same cannot be said of tradition.

For example in Leviticus 18 it says these are the commandments that God commanded by which one may do them and live. So we know the Law of God gives life and the good. So there is no room to nullify the law of God. It is for all who want life and the good to come and learn and keep.
So if there are traditions that are anti Torah or contradict the Torah we must not listen to them. 

Traditions are valid only when they are based on the Law of God and are in full agreement with the Five Books of Moses. Traditions that contradict the the Five Books of Moses are not of God and are not a valid aspect of the  faith. Torah alone is the only way to avoid subjectivity and keep personal opinion from taking priority over the teachings of the Five Books of Moses.

Torah alone does not nullify the concept of  traditions. Rather, Torah alone gives us a solid foundation on which to base  traditions. There are many practices, that are the result of traditions, not the explicit teaching of Law of God. It is good, and even necessary to have traditions. Traditions play an important role in clarifying and organizing practice. At the same time, in order for these traditions to be valid, they must not be in disagreement with God’s Word. They must be based on the solid foundation of the teaching of Torah. The problem  is that many base traditions on traditions which are based on traditions which are based on traditions, often with the initial tradition not being in full harmony with the Torah. That is why we must always go back to Torah alone, the authoritative Word of God, as the only solid basis for faith and practice.

This is the reason the Gemara is always measuring itself against the verses of the Torah to make sure it does not contradict the Torah. 
Thus: learning the Oral and Written Law
Gemara, Rashi, Tosphot, Physics and Mathematics  is the truth and the light. That is the Oral and Written Law with מעשה בראשית מעשה מרכבה.
The path the Rambam specifically held is the path of Torah.



If the Gemara is always right is not the issue. Rather the issue is if it is not better to try to understand what work on Shabat is, rather than throw out the whole concept? Which approach would you say is more in accord with the Law of Moses,-to try to understand what work on Shabat is even at the risk of making mistakes or saying that one no longer has to listen to the word of God because someone already listened to the word of God once? Does the Torah say do not work on Shabat until someone comes along and does no work on Shabat. After that, you can then work on Shabat.  Similarly the Torah leaves no room for many other practices.
The only path that I know of that is in accord with this idea is the Litvish [Lithuanian] Yeshiva based on the approach of the Gra and the Rambam. 

This may sound like a critique on Christians but it is not. Rather I mean to exclude all groups that clock themselves in  mantle and clothing pretending to keep Torah while doing idolatry.

Rav Elazar Menachem Shach

I realize not everyone has the time to go through the entire Talmud while at the same time going to university to learn a vocation. So I thought to myself what could encapsulate in   an easy way the basic essence of the Oral Law so that even the simplest person could understand it.
In other words I understand the idea of time limit.
So it occurred to me the best way to do this is to take almost at random any chapter or essay in Rav Shach's Avi Ezri and learn it well in connection with the sources he brings.

You could ask why not Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's Chidushei HaRambam?

First of all because Rav Shach is understandable and even easy to understand once you are familiar with the Gemara and Rambam that he is discussing. Second, I simply think it is a better book. I have great respect for Reb Chaim, but I think Rav Shach saw further and better.



There is a degree you have to trust my judgement on this issue. After all anyone learning any vocation has lots of difference of opinions than his mentors. It is just something that anyone and everyone has to go through to learn any subject properly. You just have to take my word for it until you yourself have gone through Shas and enough poskim rishonim and achronim to see what I am saying.
I had the same doubts when I was learning Gemara. I also thought, "What good is the in-depth learning, when I have not even finished Shas once yet?" Eventually I began to see that people that did not learn in-depth at the beginning of their yeshiva years, never even begin to understand Talmud. They think they know what they do not know.