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Heading By Shoshana Litman In the past I have convinced myself that it is fine to learn and practice Mussar on my own. I kept a daily Cheshbon HaNefesh (Accounting of the Soul) diary, chose a new middah (soul trait) every two weeks, established kabbalos (practices I took on to bring the middot home), and composed simple tunes for affirmative verses gleaned from related texts. That seemed like enough to keep me in line. Besides, I’d taken most of the Mussar Institute’s on-line programs so I should know what to do by now and I was way too busy to initiate a group here in our small coastal community at the edge of the Jewish world. Then someone from the community – a Rabbi, a Rebbetzin, a Hebrew teacher – would ask me to teach or organize a Mussar course and I jumped to respond as if my life depended on it. In a way, it does – my spiritual life that is. Once things got rolling I realized why. The learning that occurs in the company of other souls attracted to this type of inquiry is more powerful than anything I could ever do on my own. I feel cleansed and rejuvenated through the sharing of this material and have found that those who participate are all leaders in their own right. You can see this for yourself in the words of my generous Hebrew teacher and friend, Hadar Thirlwell, who introduced and hosted our first Mussar Reading Group session in March 2007. “Honya Ballard, a talented pianist and singer, first told me about Alan’s talk in Victoria three years ago. Honya purchased “Climbing Jacob’s Ladder” for me when I couldn’t attend the presentation so I have a very nice dedication from Alan. Honya always brings me words of wisdom and an excellent array of books, which are my precious collection. “Elysha Mincey, besides being the best hair dresser in the world, astonishes me with her desire and persistence at learning Hebrew, Jewish tradition and practices of Torah. “Shoshana teaches by example with her humble ways and deep soul connection to Torah. So with Elysha’s quest for knowledge and Honya’s previous study of Jacob’s Ladder, the idea to ask Shoshana to teach us came up. Blessedly, Shoshana agreed to facilitate so here we are and may we all go from strength to strength.” We followed the Mussar Reading Group with a Season of Mussar I and II. Honya left after the reading group for other learning adventures and Annie Klein, a spiritual director and healer, joined us in her place. We all enjoy the material so much, we repeated each season twice. With the help of HaShem, our work together will be the first of many such groups in our city, an externally beautiful place with one more jewel of internal sweetness to add to its growing collection of spirited learning opportunities. Shoshana Litman is a maggidah, a Jewish story teller, inspirational speaker and teacher who lives in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She can be reached at www.maggidah.com. |
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