This is another example of a post type. You can create News posts in the WordPress backend by checking the "News" category. This post gallery will automatically filter whichever category you choose, in this case, it filters the News category.
FEATURE ARTICLE:

CHESHBON HA’NEFESH – Accounting of the Soul

By Devorah Fuchs | April 4, 2022

Alan Morinis, Taste of Mussar – an introductory course in Mussar

The core of Mussar practice is an “accounting of the soul,” a direct translation of the Hebrew phrase “cheshbon ha’nefesh.”  

Rabbi Y.B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993) pointed out that in the story of creation in Genesis, after different things were created each day, God looked back at the day and evaluated it: “And God saw that it was good.” Since one of the guiding principles of Mussar practice is to “walk in God’s ways,”10 in other words, to learn from and try to emulate the divine, so, too, should we be looking back at our actions and evaluating them. That means doing an Accounting of the Soul.  

Done in a systematic and thorough way, this practice provides clear knowledge of the forces and contours of your own inner landscape. That interior world of personality, thought, values, wisdom and emotions, along with its eternal essence, is what we know as “soul,” and a rigorous process of soul-accounting delivers up penetrating insight and, ultimately, change. 

Identify or purchase a journal and dedicate it to your Mussar practice.

Write your intention (kavanah) at the beginning of your journal.

Reflect on your daily experience with regard to your inner trait.

Keep your notebook beside your bed, along with a pen. A blank journal of any kind can be used for this practice, but we recommend that you print out the loose-leaf journal pages that we have prepared and provided just for this purpose. 

Typically, Mussar journaling is done just before you go to bed, when you look back over your day to see what you can identify that in any way reflects experience you had with any of your inner traits. Was there a situation in which you were impatient? Or patient? Perhaps you didn’t express gratitude to someone who helped you. Or perhaps you went out of your way to say thank you to someone. And so on through any the other traits that might come to your attention on reflection. 

When writing in your journal, be on the lookout especially for any breakdowns, problems or troublesome feelings that arose, as well as any positive motivations, actions or successful behaviors you can identify in relation to your personal attributes.  

Notes in your journal should be brief, just an outline of the facts that reveal something of how you experienced the event/feeling. Don’t worry if what you write won’t pass as literature. No one but you ever need see this notebook. The point of the writing is to bring your spiritual curriculum to conscious awareness. That is the first step in doing an Accounting of the Soul, and we will add further steps to the practice as time goes on. 

NEWS ARCHIVE:

REDEEMING SADNESS

By Devorah Fuchs | July 9, 2020

Redeeming Sadness: A Mussar Appreciation Chaverim-only Webinar with Dr. Alan Morinis Sunday, July 26, 4:30 p.m. ET (Free and Open to Current Chaverim as of 7/24) We are in the three-week…

WHAT IS MUSSAR?

By Devorah Fuchs | May 24, 2020

Mussar is a traditional Jewish path of spiritual development that leads to awareness, wisdom, and transformation.  It is a treasury of teachings and practices that…

MUSSAR CHANTING

By Devorah Fuchs | May 24, 2020

The goal of this Mussar practice is to cause key concepts to penetrate deeply, far more profoundly than intellectual knowledge, to the point where the…

AXELRAD SCHOLARSHIP FUND

By Devorah Fuchs | May 24, 2020

The Dr. Sam Axelrad Memorial Scholarship Fund of The Mussar Institute The Dr. Sam Axelrad Memorial Scholarship Fund is intended to make Mussar courses and…

CHEVRUTA STUDY

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

Alan Morinis, Everyday Holiness “It is very heplful to set up a learning partnership with someone else whom you meet with every week or two…

MUSSAR PRACTICE

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

Practice is inherent in the Mussar tradition. In order to develop, change, or transform on a journey toward holiness, knowledge in itself, is inadequate. While…

ALAN MORINIS, A LEADING VOICE IN CONTEMPORARY MUSSAR

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

Dr. Alan Morinis, Founder of The Mussar Institute, is a leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Mussar movement, a 1,100-year-old authentic Jewish personal…

BRIEF HISTORY OF MUSSAR

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

The study of Mussar began in tenth-century Babylonia when Sa’adia Ga’on published his Book of Beliefs and Opinions and launched an inquiry into human nature…

WHAT ARE MUSSAR MIDDOT?

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

Through the study and practice of Mussar, students balance the characteristics or traits of their nefesh (soul) that cause the light within to dim. In Hebrew, the…

WHAT IS A VA’AD OR GROUP, WITH A PARTNER OR CHEVRUTA, AND IN SOLITUDE

By Devorah Fuchs | May 22, 2020

A va’ad is a unique facilitated group learning environment that is traditional to Mussar. While we learn a great deal on our own, we learn differently with a…