attachment with God [Devekut] is in fact a major goal of the Torah.

I think that the essence of Torah is clear from the context. If you look at the Torah itself it has a structure like a Mozart Symphony.  It has the first climax [which is is sometimes repeated depending on the conductor]. The first climax of the Torah --that everything is leading up to is the Ten Commandments. [I might note  that the minor climax --the Ten Commandments is in fact repeated later, but not in the same way as in a Mozart symphony. Another difference is the Torah has five movements, not four.] 

Then the final climax is of course the entrance of Israel into the Land of Canaan.

Also there is fear, love and attachment with God which is the purpose of the commandments.

This is stated openly in the verses. "You should do the commandments in order to love and fear and be attached to God." (Paraphrasing) [This is stated in many verses in Deuteronomy.]

So my contention is that attachment with God [Devekut] is in fact a major goal of the Torah. The Torah itself says that the commandments themselves are meant to bring one to attachment with God.

So what do you do with many places where it is said that learning Torah is worth more than all teh other commandments put together? [The mishna from Peah that everyone says right away in the morning right after the blessing on the Torah.]

You have to say that learning Torah is the major way of coming to become attached with God but the learning it in itself is not the final goal. The goal is the attachment.

[But as Rav Nahman pointed out there can be "Ribui Or" ("too much light"). So it is hard to know clearly how to limit oneself in this regard.]

The way to understand this "devakut" I think is only through the idea of Kelley Ross [the Kant Friesian School] of non intuitive immediate knowledge. It is a type of knowledge that is not emotion, not sense perception and not reason. A kind of knowledge the type that Plato describes--.\

I am not trying to avoid the question of how to come to true Devakut. It seems that it is a combination of good midot, learning Torah and Rav Nahman's idea of speaking with God as one talks with a friend, and being in Israel.

The forbidden relations of Leviticus [18 and 20]

 The forbidden relations of Leviticus [18 and  20] are among the most serious things in the Bible. They get up there with murder and idolatry. Together they make up the list of three things one must give up his life in order not to transgress. [I.e. in such a situation where one is given a choice]. There are plenty of other forbidden relations in Deuteronomy, but they are mere prohibitions. Not laws with the death penalty attached to them.

[There are exceptions which I ought to mention. My note above was just meant to give a general idea. Some exceptions are a menstruating woman. That is there is Leviticus, but without the death penalty. ]

[Maybe if people would learn the Bible, there would not be so much confusion about these issues.]

 In spite of the fact that Rav Nahman of Uman and Breslov had amazing insights into human life and Torah I would not recommend joining any Breslov group. Rather to get to understand authentic straight Torah, there is no where are great as pretty much any Litvak yeshiva based on the path of the Gra and Rav Shach. Only within the context of authentic Torah do the insights of Rav Nahman add depth and understanding. But his path does not stand alone;-- and also when it is taken alone, it tends to open the door to negative things.

JORDAN PETERSON

 

 I gained a lot by being in Uman for Rosh Hashanah with Rav Nahman of Uman and Breslov in terms of learning Torah and music. But that is not to say that this is automatic that everyone ought to be there. To me it seems at this point that it is better to be in Israel.  [עיקר הגלות הוא בגלל חסרון אמונה. LeM volume I section 7. The main exile is because of lack of faith.] And I ought to add that there was a period that I was trying to follow everything Rav Nahman said quite literally-- and that included coming to Israel. And in fact there was a sort of inspiration that I felt during that period which lasted seven years.

Nowadays I am not at all working on that program. Still I can see the great benefit in following the advice and ideas of Rav Nahman.  

the problem of Torah shelo Lishma (--Torah not for its own sake, but rather for the sake of power or a shiduch or money).

 The problems of the religious no one seems to associate with the problem of Torah shelo Lishma (--Torah not for its own sake, but rather for the sake of power or a shiduch or money).

The Ari means to say that the Talmud is mixed with good and evil like the tree of knowledge of good and evil was. See the Introduction of the Eitz Chaim. R. Zeira came to Israel and fasted forty days in order to forget the Babylonian Talmud and to start learning the Talmud Yerushalmi.

The reason is there is an aspect of holiness  and entry into holiness in Gemara. Like the Gemara says about one who has Torah but not Fear of God: "Woe to him who has the door but not the house."  It is a door for holiness if learned for its own sake. But when learned or taught for money, it changes its character into something negative.

When people see the general kinds of insanity and evil in the religious world, they almost never associate the problems with Torah not for its own sake,- but rather find flaws in the Torah itself.

But to me the answer seems to lay in the intention. סם חיים למימינים בה סם מוות למשמאילים בה 

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