OMER 2020 HONOR ROLL
We are grateful to the following individuals whose support made it possible to count the Omer with our community. Eileen AbelPhyllis AbendDavid AbramsomJoe AckersteinJeff AgronSusan AkshaySammy AlzofonJeffrey AmerJulie AugustSasha BakenRick BankheadElizabeth BauerDaniel BeaupainMarian BellJudith BeltzElizabeth BernsteinRoger BernsteinKen BirenbaumWendy BleiweissBarry BlockJoni BrennerDaliah BrillPaula BroseLarry ChaitynKaren ChapmanLeslie-Anne Copes-FinkeBelinda DennTodd DoctorJudith EdelsteinMark EdelsteinAndy EdwardsBarbara FermonAvi FertigDavid FertigPat ForemanEmily…
Read MoreREDEEMING SADNESS
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 period that begins with the fast of the 17th of Tammuz and climaxes with Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of the month of Av. This is traditionally a period of mourning for…
Read MoreWHAT IS MUSSAR?
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 help individuals understand their true nature as holy souls, then to break through the barriers that surround and obstruct the flow of inner holiness or light. The goal of Mussar…
Read MoreMUSSAR CHANTING
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 inherent truth of the concept resonates within one’s life. That is how the concept moves from being information to transformation. The steps or stages have not changed over the centuries.…
Read MoreAXELRAD SCHOLARSHIP FUND
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 programs accessible for all worthy Mussar students. A Note from Alan Morinis about the Alexrad Memorial Scholarship Fund: Sam was someone who wanted to include everyone in Mussar study and…
Read MoreCHEVRUTA STUDY
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 to learn a text. This is the traditional learning form called chevruta, which is traditional in large part because it is such a very effective way to learn. … Reading…
Read MoreMUSSAR PRACTICE
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 the pathway starts with learning, knowledge needs to come to life. Practice is what embeds the learning in the heart so that it becomes the fabric of who you are.…
Read MoreALAN MORINIS, A LEADING VOICE IN CONTEMPORARY MUSSAR
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 and communal spiritual tradition that was nearly lost following the Holocaust. A filmmaker, Rhodes Scholar, and anthropologist whose focus had been Hindu religious pilgrimages, he reached a personal turning point…
Read MoreBRIEF HISTORY OF MUSSAR
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 that has been going on in the Jewish world ever since. Before the nineteenth century, Mussar was an introspective, solitary practice. However, in the mid-1800s Rabbi Yisrael Salanter called on…
Read MoreWHAT ARE MUSSAR MIDDOT?
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 word for traits of the nefesh is middot. The singular form is middah. While many middot are discussed in Mussar literature, in his book, Everyday Holiness, Alan Morinis explores 18 middot and lists 58 in the Soul Trait Inventory,…
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