Nearly a hundred years ago there was a really bitter debate about the right interpretation of Kant. There was the Marburg school and opposed to it was Leonard Nelson  That is the Kant-Fries School.. I have to admit I think that Nelson was right but the bitterness of the debate surprises me,
The simplest way to understand it is the concept of immediate non intuitive knowledge.That is things that you know not through any thing but direct awareness. And also not through the senses.
My own feeling about this is more or less  is this: I looked at the Kant Fries web site of Kelley Ross and was astonished at his insights--so I more or less decide to follow that point of view even though other Kantian school also had some good points.

You might wonder what is the need for Kant? After all Musar [Medieval Ethics ] is already a perfectly good synthesis between Torah and Plato/Aristotle. The reason is mainly because of some good points that were raised by Descartes that no one answered very well until the Kant Fries approach came along.

Search for Certainty

Billington in his Fire in the Minds of Men mentions the visceral search for certainty after the French revolution. And draws parallels from that period to the 1960's. 

To me it seems the world nowadays is also in this search for certainty mode.

My feeling about this is that one should learn  Math and Physics  and hard core  natural sciences if one is in search for certainly and a stable frame of reference. Also the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach and the Musar of the disciples of Rav Israel Salanter.

{The search for certainty means of course a world view that encompasses everything. And though Musar [the Ethics of the Middle Ages] does not openly present a philosophical world view but still it is built on a synthesis of neo Platonic thought and the Gemara. And that seems to me to be about the bet thing out there.]
The fact that Medieval thought was a synthesis of Plato, Aristotle and Plotinus contributed highly to the advance of Western Civilization.

And least you say that Physics and Rav Shach are hard, let me just say you need to simply say the words and go on.  And also to lean in small segments. That is just set out to do one page. Then when you have finished put in a place marker and the next day start from where you left off.

But how can we tell nowadays what other lunatic ideas have taken over our minds?

Toxo Plasmosis is a parasite that causes the mouse to think the cat is attractive.
Dr Sapolsky  from Stanford asks in the video where he talks about this "Who knows what else is out there?"

You see a similar things with wasps and caterpillars. It is not just that the wasp uses the caterpillar's body as a hot house for its eggs, but that the mind of the caterpillar is taken over as you can see in this article.

This brings to the larger problem of the fact that the Dark Side can take over people's minds. People can become possessed by forces not of their own making.

[The force of the Dark Side I got an impression about by reading about the many revolutionary movements of the 1800's. The main idea there was that just by throwing out the "System", and all authority, everything would somehow become peachy. People would just work for altruistic reasons. There would never be a worker who slacked off. Now it is easy to see the lunacy of the political movements of the 1800's. But how can we tell nowadays what other lunatic ideas have taken over our minds?

For this reason it is a good idea to have a simple and small set of principles that one sticks with at all cost --principles that can protect one from the Dark Side. [e.g., the Ten Commandments].

medieval Musar [Ethics]

In medieval Musar [Ethics] learning Torah is not considered equal to learning the wonders of God (פלאי הבורא), as you can see in Obligations of the Heart חובות לבבות in  שער חשבון הנפש. In particular in number 23 which is different from number 24. 23 is about the wonders of God and 24 is about learning Torah.
This is seen in almost all Musar books from the Middle Ages.
The idea I think is that inside of the Work of Creation is hidden Torah. [This you can see in the writings of the Ari and also Rav Nahman of Breslov in his book vol. II:78. In fact, this comes up often in the writings Rav Nahman of Breslov.]

After the Enlightenment  this aspect of Torah was lost or forgotten. Thus almost all Musar books written after the Middle Ages denigrate all secular learning. Some just put it on a low level or even barely permissible down to downright forbidden.

The reason I think this is important is that I believe there are aspects of Torah that are hidden in the work of Creation that one misses if he learns only what is the standard fare of the Oral and Written Law.

Thus my basic impression of a proper learning schedule is (1) to learn the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach and or Gemara with Tosphot. (2) Physics/Math. (3) Musar/ Ethics. 

Music for the Glory of God

V-11 D Major
V-12

 V-15 C Major   V-16 F Major



V-17 C Major  

בבא בתרא ע''ו

I was looking at my notes and I realized what I had written was kind of stupid. I simply did not understand that the question of the ר''י was based on the sages of ר' יהודה הנשיא; not the first  opinion in the teaching on ר' נתן, On the other hand I also realized that there is a possible way to answer for ר' תם.That is in two steps. One is that perhaps the גמרא did not want to speculate that the argument between ר' יהודה and the sages is in  an alley because that would mean that ר' יהודה הנשיא would have to say that מסירה [handing over] works in an ally even when the owner said "Go and pull." But the ר''י could answer that the גמרא is speculating anyway and modifying the sages. So why not modify ר' יהודה instead. But there is a more powerful answer for ר' תם why the גמרא does not want the argument to be in the alley. The reason is because then the statement of ר' יהודה would have to be this: he is מוסר the object from the alley into the public domain. That is just like the גמרא concludes that the sages have to means he pulls the boat from the public domain into the alley. But then the ר''י could answer this. He can answer that in any case to ר' תם if מסירה is better than pulling then ר' יהודה can easily say that it works in an alley even without his doing מסירה from the alley into the public domain.
But then ר' תם could turn that argument against theר''י and say that if pulling is better than מסירה then why does the גמרא have to conclude to the sages that he pulled from the public domain into the alley. After all, if pulling is so much better than מסירה, then let it be effective in a public domain also!


השאלה של ר''י התבססה על החכמים של ר' יהודה הנשיא; לא הדעה הראשונה בהוראה של ר' נתן. גם הבנתי שיש דרך אפשרית כדי לענות בשביל ר' תם בשני שלבים. האחת היא כי אולי גמרא לא רוצה לומר כי הטיעון בין ר' יהודה וחכמים היא בסמטה שהרי המשמעות היא כי ר' יהודה הנשיא היה צריך לומר כי מסירה עובדת  גם כאשר הבעלים אמרו "לכו ותמשוך." אך הר''י יכול לענות כי הגמרא  ממילא עושה שינוי בדעת החכים. אז למה לא לשנות ר' יהודה במקום זה. אבל יש תשובה חזקה יותר עבור ר' תם מדוע הגמרא אינה רוצה שהטיעון יהיה בסמטה. הסיבה לכך היא כי הרי האמירה של ר" יהודה היה צריך להיות זה: הוא מוסר את האובייקט מהסמטה אל המרחב הציבורי. כלומר בדיוק כמו הגמרא מסכמת כי החכמים צריכים לומר שהוא מושך את הספינה מן המרחב הציבורי אל הסמטה. אבל אז ר''י יכול לענות על זה באופן זה, בכל מקרה אם ר' תם תקין שהמסירה עדיפה ממשיכה, אז ר' יהודה יכול לומר בקלות כי זה עובד בסמטה אפילו בלי  שהוא עושה מסירה מהסמטה אל המרחב הציבורי. כלומר בדיוק כמו הגמרא מסכמת כי החכמים צריכים לומר שהוא מושך את הספינה מן המרחב הציבורי אל הסמטה. אבל אז ר''י יכול לענות על זה. הוא יכול לענות על זה בכל מקרה שלדעת ר' תם אם המסירה עדיפה ממשיכה, אז ר' יהודה יכול לומר בקלות כי זה עובד בסמטה אפילו בלי שהוא עושה מסירה מהסמטה אל הרשות הרבים. כלומר בדיוק כמו הגמרא מסכמת כי החכמים צריכים לומר שהוא מושך את הספינה מן המרחב הציבורי אל הסמטה. אבל אז ר''י יכול לענות על זה. הוא יכול לענות על זה בכל מקרה כדי ר' תם אם המסירה עדיפה ממשיכה אז ר' יהודה יכול לומר בקלות כי זה עובד בסמטה אפילו בלי שלו עושה מסירה מהסמטה אל הרשות הרבים. אבל אז ר' תם יכול להפוך הטענה נגד ר''י ולומר שאם משיכה עדיפה ממסירה, אז למה יש צורך לגמרא להסיק לחכמים שהוא הוציא מן המרחב הציבורי אל הסמטה. אחרי הכל, אם משיכה כל כך הרבה יותר טוב מאשר מסירה, אז תנו לזה להיות יעיל גם המרחב הציבורי גם.

Gemara Bava Batra 76

I was looking at my notes and I realized what I had written was kind of stupid. I simply did not understand that the question of the Ri was based on the sages of R. Yehuda; not the first  opinion in the teaching on R. Natan, On the other hand I also realized that there is a possible way to answer for R. Tam.That is in two steps. One is that perhaps the Gemara did not want to speculate that the argument between R. Yehuda and the sages is in  an alley because that would mean that R. Yehuda would have to say that mesira [handing over] works in an ally even when the owner said "Go and pull." But the Ri could answer that the Gemara is speculating anyway and modifying the sages. So why not modify R Yehuda instead. But there is a more powerful answer for R Tam why the gemara does not want the argument to be in the alley. The reason is because then the statement of R. Yehuda would have to be this: he is moser the object from the alley into the public domain. That is just like the Gemara concludes that the sages have to means he pulls the boat from the public domain into the alley. But then the Ri could answer this. He can answer that in any case to R Tam if Mesira is better than pulling then R. Yehuda can easily say that it works in an alley even without his doing mesira from the alley into the public domain.
But then R. Tam could turn that argument against the Ri and say that if pulling is better than mesira then why does the gemara have to conclude to the sages that he pulled from the public domain into the alley. After all, if pulling is so much better than mesira, then let it be effective in a public domain also!