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Practicing Mussar To Plan a Mussar KallahBy Gary Shaffer Your mission, should you agree to accept it: take the lead in planning the logistics for the sixth annual Mussar Kallah. Your goals are twofold: First, make sure the Kallah comes off, when and where as advertised. Second, personally engage every middah in the Mussar repertoire. Faith, humility, generosity, patience, anger, order, gratitude, truth, forgiveness, zeal, and strength will be your constant companions. In varying degrees of course. The fifth Kallah was held in the warm environs of Miami’s South Beach, where black-hatted teachers could walk by the beach near skimpily clad beachgoers, in some madman’s Mussar test of endurance. The first Kallah had been held in the more controlled setting of the Manhattan JCC, when I was a newcomer to Mussar practice. Like many other attendees at that Kallah, I had been drawn into Mussar partly through reading “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” and was curious to find out more. Now, five years later, thousands of people across the country have been exposed to Mussar practice and a return to New York would be a way to touch base with the beginnings of the renaissance that Alan helped create through his books, courses, and lectures. The JCC also seemed like the right fit with its good location and a building that could accommodate both the large gathering needed for opening and closing sessions, and lunch. It also came with a secret weapon: Susie Kessler. Susie runs several programs at the JCC and has vast experience planning events. She knew all the questions to ask, and suggested answers for them as well: you probably want folders with pens and pads inside; here are some lunch ideas; if you have this many people for these sessions here’s where we can put them; here are the names of people we’ve used in the past to make audio recordings; here’s a draft budget. Name tags? You plan details not so everything will go as planned, but so that if you’re lucky 80% does, and then you only have to contend with the remaining 20%. As Branch Rickey said, luck is the residue of design. So, the first question: what’s a good date? November 2? After the holidays, but not too close to Thanksgiving. The JCC would have the needed spaces available. Perfect. We had a date. At least until several weeks later when someone said, “Isn’t November 2 the date of the New York City Marathon?” Whoops #1. November 9th? JCC isn’t available then. November 16? To make a long story short, the 16th was available. Sometimes luck is better than design. We solicited help from others for various preparations. Most people who offer help come through and burdens are suddenly lifted; some do not and we scramble for a solution. Emails go unanswered, including from me. Which teachers are confirmed and which are not? Can we get discount hotel rates? Someone wants to attend but can’t afford to pay. How many people will sign up as beginners or advanced? We won’t fully know until a few days before the event and what if 50 people sign up for the session on equanimity and only 10 for the one on gratitude? Susie and I become like an old married couple with frustrations, but also a growing mutual trust and fondness. Our Mussar training becomes critical for moving forward and working through practical problems. Eventually the event fell into place, or more appropriately people helped put it into place. To the extent the Kallah was a success, it was because its implementation exemplified the Kallah theme of building bridges: individual commitments yielded creative efforts and established connections with both other individuals and a larger spiritual community. |
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