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MUSSAR 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 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 IS A VA’AD OR GROUP, WITH A PARTNER OR CHEVRUTA, AND IN SOLITUDE
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 partner, and differently again when we discuss things with other people, who bring additional experience and perspectives to the issue. When you work in a va’ad, the main form of interaction…
Read MoreMUSSAR CLASSICS
The Duties of the Heart, by Bahya ibn Pakuda Gates of Repentance, by Rabbeinu Yonah Orchos Tzadikim, anonymous Mesillat Yesharim, by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto Cheshbon ha-Nefesh, by Rabbi Menahem Mendel Leffin Strive for Truth, by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler
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