Mussar In Action: Advanced Practice in Conscious Living
The enduring issue of Mussar learning and practice is how to sustain the activity. Practice is how you systematically pursue your soul curriculum and it needs to be consistent over time to have any effect. Rabbi Yisrael Salanter knew this and spoke of it in the 19th century, as did Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto in the 18th. Very few people can sustain any sort of practice or discipline without a framework that provides input, guidance, encouragement and support, and so it just may not be realistic to think that involvement with the soul-work of Mussar will continue for you without some kind of programmatic structure.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Those who have completed both prior levels—Everyday Holiness (Course I) and The Path of the Soul (Course II)—are eligible for the more intense personal inner work of Mussar in Action.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
We offer this Mussar in Action program that runs for 26 weeks, starting in the fall and wrapping up at the annual Mussar Kallah in the spring. This course will satisfy the need for daily and weekly spiritual practice while not being too time-consuming or onerous.
COURSE OUTCOMES
At this level, you receive the training you need to become a lifelong Mussar learner and practitioner, both independently and as part of the growing Mussar community.
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
The materials and methods we work on will be there to support your on-going learning and practice in years to come. It involves several components of Mussar learning and practice:
1. You will receive a bi-weekly reading written by Alan Morinis and focusing on a specific middah. We will deal with 13 middot (some revisited from Everyday Holiness, formerly The Courses in Mussar, some new) and will focus on each middah for 2 weeks, making a total of 26 weeks.
2. "Accounting of the Soul" is the core of daily practice, and to support keeping a daily diary, we have developed a looseleaf worksheet for a cheshbon ha'nefesh diary that we will provide for you to print out and use (if you wish).
3. Several times during the program, you will be asked to comment by email on your experiences working on a specific middah, along with any responses you might have to the bi-weekly reading.
4. You will be matched to a compatible chevruta partner with whom you will have a meeting or telephone discussion every second week.
5. Your small va'ad group of 4-6 people will meet in the alternate week (between chevruta meetings) to discuss a small pre-assigned section of the book "Musar for Moderns" by Rabbi Elyakim Krumbein.
6. In order to bring your Mussar practice into your world (and to firmly avoid the self-absorption that is a potential pitfall of any spiritual practice) and to strengthen the bonds of community across the distances that separate us, I will invite you to engage in a project with other people that will be, in effect, "Mussar in action".
7. Process Reports at the mid-way and end of the program will be reflections on how your middot work shows up and applies in the active, engaged context of the project discussed above.
8. You will be invited to have two telephone conversations with Alan during the course of the program, for personal interaction, questions and guidance. He will be available throughout the term to answer questions by email.
9. Finally, Mussar in Action will wrap up with the Shabbaton and the annual Mussar Kallah which will take place in the spring. The Shabbaton and Kallah are optional to the program (though highly recommended!) and modest additional costs will apply. To find out more about Mussar Kallah or to register click here.
REGISTRATION & FEES
REGISTRATION: Registration will open soon.
START DATES: Fall 2008
DURATION: 26 weeks
FEE: $450.00 (US or Cdn)
REFUND
POLICY
For withdrawal before the program has begun:100% refund
For withdrawal within the first two weeks after the program has begun: 50% refund
For withdrawal after the first two weeks after the program has begun: no refund
We are very happy and excited about this program
and we hope it kindles enthusiasm in you. If it does
but there are issues, please be in touch so they
can be addressed. Email info@mussarinstitute.org with
any questions.That way, our Mussar work together will begin
even before the program formally commences!
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