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10.7.15

Ideas in Bava Metzia  Here is a link to a small booklet of ideas.
Ideas in Shas  This is another link a small booklet on Shas.

Music link  q4




Now as far as Halacah [learning Law] is concerned I think that just learning Shulchan Aruch without knowing the sources in the Talmud is a bad thing thing. The power of delusion is always going about searching for a person to inhabit and when it finds  a person that is "שונה הלכות" it enters him or her. [The word here is שונה which does not means to learn in depth. It means to learn the basic meaning and to go on. And I have seen enough examples of this.


So my suggestion about learning Torah is to have a fast session for about an hour or more per day in which one goes through מקרא משנה גמרא קבלה. That is to start at the beginning of the Old Testament and put in a place marker and just say the words and read a whole page. Then when you turn the page put in the place marker [and then the next day come back to that same place where you left off and continue.] Then put aside the Old Testament and pick up the Mishna. And do the same. Read through one page and put in a place marker and then the next day pick up where you left off. Same with Talmud and the same with the writings of Isaac Luria  and the Remak (Moshe Kordovaro).

Then have a in depth session in Talmud with a  learning partner. If you can't find a partner then take one page and work on it daily with Tosphot and the Maharsha until it becomes clear

All together that is two hours of learning. If you can add to that I recommend Math and Physics based on an idea from Maimonides. The way to do Math and Physics is the same as above. Take one basic text and plow through saying word after word until you get to the end and then review.The reason for this you have to take on faith in the Rambam.



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9.7.15

Introduction.
1) This is just a first glance at a subject about the borders of Israel and presenting a question on the Rambam.
2) It is generally understood that קדושה ראשונה קידשה לשעתה ולא קידשה לעתיד לבא. The first sanctification sanctified the land only for its time and not for when Jews went into Exile. And קדושה שנייה קידשה לשעתה וקידשה לעתיד לבא. The second sanctification sanctified the Land for its time and for all the future.
 But there is an option that the first sanctification sanctified it permanently. We will see Rashi has to use that option to explain and mishna in Sheviit.
3) Sichon and Og were kings that attacked the Jews and lost the war and their lands. This area is beyond the Jordan River. It was settled by Jews coming out  of Egypt. According to the grandson of Rashi [Rabbanu Isaac known as ''the RI''] all or part of it was settled by Jews coming back from the first exile in Babylon.
But to Rashi none of it was settled by Jews returning from Babylon.






Tractate Yevamot  16a
To Rabbainu Tam the land conquered by the Jews coming out of Egypt does not determine the borders of Israel today.
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To RT if an area was settled by עולי בבל then it has the holiness  of the Land of Israel and is חייב in ביעור in the seventh sabbatical year. In his first answer that land is the part of Sichon and Og that was the original land of Sichon. But land that Sichon conquered from Moav [in the Torah] was not settled by Jews coming back from Babylon. And so the parts of Sichon that were conquered by Sichon were not settled by those Jews and so in the sabbatical year have to bring the tithe given to the poor.

The second answer of RT leaves all the land of Sichon as one and considered it to have been settled by עולי בבל. So it is חייב in ביעור בשביעית. And Amon and Moav that are obligated in tithes to the poor are areas never owned by Sichon. At this point I don't have any idea what he would say about an area conquered by עולי מצרים. Off hand it makes sense to say he would go like the Rash Rabbainu Shimshon.

This second answer of Rabbainu Tam widens the borders of Israel considerably.



Rashi holds Sichon and Og is synonymous with Amon and Moav and are obligated in Truma and maasar by rabbinical decree. As for the Mishna in Sheviit one can say that is like the person that said קדושה ראשונה קידשה לעתיד לבא. [Rav Shach].

That leaves us with the Rambam. He holds עבר הירדן which is עולי מצרים is not holy, because it was conquered by Jews coming out of Egypt alone. Not Jews coming out of Bavel. And yet it is not worked in the sabatical year and it is חייב in ביעור.


American should not be worried about losing the battle to sick homosexuals that are trying to destroy America.
 God allows the wicked in win in court in order to protect the righteous.
People don't understand this because they cant see how losing an important battle could possibility be a good thing. First you cant see this except after many years have passed. Only then is it possible to see how winning an important battle would probably have had effects that only after a long time can you see would have been bad.

The law of limited returns

To a large degree I am still in high school mode. For myself I try to set up a daily schedule of the basic things I think are important. And I even recommend this idea often in my blogs. But I admit this idea is only for a very limited group. For a person to excel at something I admit they have to spend all their time at that one thing.


But for me this does not work very well. For myself I have found that the optimum is attained by dividing the day into small sections. An hour of learning Talmud, an hour of Physics or Math, an hour exercise,  etc.

To some degree this is based on Rav Shick with whom I was involved for a number of years. His idea of learning he based on an idea of the Talmud in Tracate Shabat 63a (say the words and go on) and also on this idea of what he called שיעורין כסדרן [sessions in order]. In modern Hebrew that would have to be called קביעויות sessions in order. [Because today the word  "שיעור" means "class" as in giving a class].
At any rate, this idea originated with the Ari who said to learn every day a session in the Bible, a session in Mishna, a session in Gemara, and a session in Kabalah.


Spreading my learning I have found is better for me. But I can see that there are people that it would benefit to concentrate on one thing alone and by that to excel in it. But for me that never works. I tried it with the violin and I discovered "the law of limited returns." That is for me there is a low threshold of  effort that crossing that threshold does nothing. The  "law of limited returns," can be stated simply like this: There is certain number of times that kissing you wife will not add to marital bliss.
As for the violin practicing more that a certain amount hurt my playing--and my ears. As for Gemara learning I spent about 10 hours a day learning Gemara in NY two great Lithuanian yeshivas in NY.

But in that also there seems to have been a point that I reaching where more learning resulted in less.

The law of limited  returns strikes back.