Musar for Our Times

JewishThought Rabbi Eliezer Ben Zion Bruk, z”l, (?-1985). Musar The Revival of Musar: for Our Times: A Modern Movement By Alan Morinis The Missing Ingredient usar is a little-known and but seldom as anything more than a in musar has one hundred students, and less practiced Jewish discipline making subject on the curricula of some yeshiv- I am aware of at least a dozen similar its way back onto the Jewish agenda in a ot. Typically, a few lines of a classic programs running in various cities. way not seen since the Musar Movement musar text would be expounded, but Musar study groups can also now be Photo: Joel Orent of nineteenth-century Europe. By musar, this is only a pale shade of the teach- found in cities across North America, I meanM the teachings and methods that ings, personal practices, deep introspec- from Danbury, Connecticut, to were part of the Musar Movement start- tion and intense exercises that were Portland, Oregon. Such groups, which ed by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter in Lithuania integral to musar in prewar times. meet in private homes, synagogues, around 1850 (though some musar texts Musar learning and practice is once yeshivot and kollelim, are delving into and practices are much older). Musar’s again taking root. Currently, hundreds classic musar texts like Chovot purpose is to help people understand the Halevavot (The Duties of the Heart by ways of the soul and to guide them in Rabbi Bachya ibn Pakuda) and Mesillat overcoming the obstacles that keep them Yesharim (The Path of the Just by Rabbi Photo courtesy of Agudath Israel Archives from inner wholeness (shelemut), holi- Musar study groups can now Moshe Chaim Luzzatto). These groups Photo courtesy of Agudath Israel Archives Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch, z”l, ness (kedushah) and closeness to God. are also bringing to life the methods Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, z”l, (1860-1930). Only a generation ago musar seemed be found in cities across that were developed in musar circles in (1875-1936). destined for oblivion. So many of the past centuries, including contempla- teachers and institutions that were the North America, from tion, chanting, diary keeping and other cornerstones of musar learning and practices. Additionally, several musar- t has been 120 years since Reb Yisrael pains of others. He taught us that the prohibition practice had been swept away in the Danbury, Connecticut, to focused societies have recently been Salanter passed away. Though he was recognized against causing pain to others is every bit as severe ravages of the Holocaust. Then, after founded. The AishDas Society, started by thousandsI and lived long after the advent of as the prohibition against eating pig. Reb Yisrael the War, musar fell into neglect as the Portland, Oregon. in 1994 by Micha Berger of Passaic, Jewish world focused on rebuilding the and probably thousands of people are New Jersey, is committed to advancing photography, there are no photographs or portraits was also a subtle and profound thinker [See Mark basic institutions of communal life, like learning musar. This past June, over meaningful worship and mitzvah-obser- of him (for that was his wish). He shunned the Steiner, “Rabbi Israel Salanter as a Jewish yeshivot, mikvaot, et cetera. This was one hundred people attended a forum vance in the Orthodox Jewish commu- spotlight, yet his impact was indelibly impressed Philosopher,” The Torah U-Madda Journal, 9 the obvious priority, ahead of musar’s called “How to Do Mussar” that I con- nity. The Salant Foundation, named for on all those who met him. Most people either con- (2000)]. He wrote about the unconscious many concern for refining the qualities of the vened in New York. The Torah Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, the founder of centrate on their own development or lead others. years before psychoanalysis, and raised the ques- individual soul. Musar continued to be Learning Center of Northbrook, the Musar Movement, promotes musar taught in the post-Holocaust period, Illinois, a leading center of Jewish out- study and practice. Started by Rabbi Reb Yisrael was a marvelous mix: he was able to tion of why a person is created in such a way that reach, recently added musar to its cur- Zvi Miller, this Israel-based foundation focus on the shortcomings and needs of Klal his actions may be determined by unconscious Dr. Morinis is the author of Climbing riculum. Partners in Torah, an organiza- is bringing out a translation and anno- Yisrael and on his own personal inner develop- motivations (see Reb Yisrael’s profound essay in Jacob’s Ladder: One Man’s Journey to tion that provides men and women tation of Ohr Yisrael, the writings and ment, both in an all-consuming manner. Etz Peri). His teachings help create Jews imbued Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition with their own personal Torah study teachings of Rabbi Salanter. (New York, 2002). He holds a doctorate partners, has been receiving an increas- There is no question that we are witness- Reb Yisrael taught us how to know ourselves as with the totality of Torah and help to foster unity from Oxford University and currently ing number of requests for musar learning a revival of musar. The question is why? well as how to sensitize ourselves to the needs and in a sorely split world. writes about and teaches musar. ing. My own distance-learning course I will present a few of the major factors I Winter 5764/2003 JEWISH ACTION Winter 5764/2003 JEWISH ACTION see to be at work, though relentless in inventing ways to invade and interest in musar, I am often greeted his innovations in musar, Rabbi there are undoubtedly direct our lives. As long as one rides on with amazement. This reaction is usual- Dessler responded, “What should I others as well. the advertising-saturated public transit or ly followed by a story about the musar do? If I give them musar as it used With the blessing uses a cell phone (all of which will soon class the particular individual was to be given, they will just run away.” and the help of God, be Internet equipped) or even walks forced to endure as a teenager and how The same is true today. the Orthodox commu- down the street amid the billboards, that session was either the most boring Contemporary musar is again differ- nity has largely suc- newspaper headlines and innumerable or the most frightening hour of the ent from what Rabbi Dessler offered to ceeded in rebuilding other provocations, one is vulnerable to week. One of the reasons musar is gain- his war-torn generation. But just like itself in the aftermath these negative influences. ing in popularity today is because con- Rabbi Dessler and all the ba’alei musar of the Holocaust. Most temporary musar teachers have been before him, contemporary musar is large cities now boast finding ways to make its insights more concerned with helping people foster thriving synagogues, palatable for contemporary students. the inner clarity, wholeness and holi- schools, kosher bak- The musar of previous generations ness that the Torah tells us is both the eries, batei medrash and tended to be of the fire-and-brim- obligation and the promise of being all of the other facilities his is especially problematic in stone variety, threatening people part of Klal Yisrael. that support an obser- regard to our youth. Walls and physical Of all the remarkable achievements of vant life. With these separations offer no real barrier against the Jewish people throughout our history, institutions firmly in these negative impacts, and every day Some people who have felt surely one of the most remarkable is that place, people are turn- our children, who are often competent we are still here. Where today can you find ing to focus on making withT electronic media, are liable to the Hittites and the Jebusites, Amalekites their Judaism to be less their religious lives receive all sorts of messages that con- and Moabites who were once our contem- more meaningful. As a flict not only with Torah values but than fulÞlling have found poraries? We have always been free to turn result, the needs of the Photo courtesy of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research also with simple decency and whole- away from doing the Divine Will, and soul have risen in prior- The synagogue of Navardok. someness. Even if you ban television that musarÕs time-tested have continually done so, though never to ity, and since these needs happen to be and movies and try valiantly to moni- the point of being totally destroyed. What the age-old concern of the musar mas- tor the influences to which your child methods help bridge the gap has saved us, repeatedly, is our return to ters, the wisdom of musar has sudden- of a very shaky world. other spiritual traditions. These seekers is exposed, in this increasingly wired Hashem through the reinvigoration of our ly become relevant. An all-too-common complaint is assumed they had to go outside of the world in which the Internet will soon between mind and heart. interior lives. The current revival of musar that Judaism is all ritual code and no Jewish world to find contemplative be the only way to book an airplane reveals this same theme. In fact, Rabbi soul. Judaism can also be overly intel- spiritual practices, but exposure to ticket or do banking or send a letter, with ferocious punishment for their Shlomo Wolbe, one of the senior musar lectualized or reduced to being little musar introduces them to a Judaism there is no longer any effective way to misguided actions.

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