PATHWAY TO THE INNER LIFE

A Beginning Course in Mussar

In Three Parts

In this exciting, new course, you will learn from three revered Mussar teachers: Dr. Alan Morinis, Founder of The Mussar Institute, Rabbi Amy Eilberg, the first ordained woman Rabbi in the Conservative tradition, and Rabbi Avi Fertig, the Director of Mussar at TMI. Each of these teachers will introduce the main concepts and context for one of the three parts.

Your course will be guided by a Mussar facilitator as you work in your va'ad or small group and with your chevruta or partner. You will refine your understanding and develop new skills as you grow in awareness and wisdom, and transform your sense of your own inner nature, your relationships with those closest to you, and your relationship with the Divine Presence.

Pathway to The Inner Life is a course in three parts, each eight weeks long, and intended to be taken sequentially.

Part I: Connecting Self and Soul, introduction by Alan Morinis

Part II: Transforming Relationships, introduction by Rabbi Amy Eilberg

Part III: Engaging the Divine Presence, introduction by Avi Fertig

In all three parts, you will experience Mussar practices, such as text study, cheshbon ha'nefesh or accounting of the soul, visualization, chanting, meditation, and kaballot or exercises. You will study on your own, with a chevruta or study partner and in your va'ad or small group.

How the Course is Delivered

You'll begin each of the three parts with an essay and recorded podcast followed by bi-weekly texts and practices to help you prepare for four weekly va'ad sessions and four chevruta sessions.

Tuition Per Part: $180 for non-Chaverim and $150 for Chaverim. The Chaverim Initiative is a sustaining membership program that is open to all.

Part I: Connecting Self and Soul

In the Jewish perspective, the soul is the primary essence of who we are. However, we do not necessarily experience our inner lives in this way, and instead develop a belief that our selves, our egos, form our primary identity.

In following the path of Mussar to build our inner lives, we have to come to appreciate the difference between self and soul, and especially to develop an understanding of the ideal relationship we can foster between these two dimensions.

In the first part of this three-part course, we bring these ideas to bear by focusing on four inner traits (middot) that with deeper understanding and balance can give us insight into and brighten the light of our soul. These are:

Humility/Anavah
Simplicity/Histapkut
Strength/Gevurah
Alacrity/Zerizut

Alan Morinis provides the introductory essay and podcast.

Tuition $180 is for non-Chaverim and $150 for Chaverim. We invite everyone to become a Chaver or Chavera.

Part II: Transforming Relationships

Our relationships are where "the rubber hits the road. " Too often, our relationships with those closest to us are the most problematic. In this eight-week section, we will explore the middot that are directly linked with relationships and transform, or radically alter our insight into and ability to balance them. We'll study:

Anger/Ka’as
Forgiveness/Slichah
Patience/Savlanut
Lovingkindness/Chesed

Tuition: $180 for non-Chaverim and $150 for Chaverim. We invite everyone to become a Chaver or Chavera.

Facilitators, Dates, Times: This part will open for the Winter Term, 2020. Check back to make your selection and register.

Registration is open to those who have completed Part 1. You will receive the registration link in an email.

MEET YOUR FACILITATORS

Ken Birenbaum

About Ken

Ken has been a student of Mussar since 2010, and a Mussar facilitator since 2012. After taking the Manchim facilitator training program as a student he taught that program for 2 years. He has taken and facilitated each of the Mussar Institute’s courses from beginner to advanced, and especially enjoys witnessing Mussar's transformative effects on new eyes.

He was President of his synagogue, Congregation Shaare Emeth, in St. Louis, Missouri, and served on the Boards of the Saul Mirowitz Jewish Day School, The Union for Reform Judaism, and as a Board member and Treasurer of the Mussar Institute

Chasya Uriel Steinbauer

About Chasya

Rabbi Chasya Uriel Steinbauer has been studying Mussar and facilitating Mussar groups since she met Alan in 2001 before his first book was published. She taught Mussar at the JCC Manhattan from 2005 - 2013 and from 2008 - 2011 coordinated TMI'S Manchim Advanced Facilitator Training program. She has rabbinic leadership certification from Drisha Institute, an Orthodox women's yeshiva. In 2009, she founded the first egalitarian Mussar va'ad in Jerusalem at the Conservative Yeshiva. Currently, she directs the Kehilat Mussar at the Institute for Holiness in Israel, which she founded.

Helaine Sheias

About Helaine

Helaine Sheias, Ph.D. is a certiﬁed international group facilitator and Kripalu inspired Yin yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance. She holds a doctoral degree in Human Sciences and a Masters in Child Developmental, with a focus on Special Education. She is a graduate of the Socially Engaged Spirituality program at Saybrook Graduate School.

Born in Massachusetts, Helaine made Aliyah to Israel in her teens, served in the IDF, and settled in Israel for more than two decades. Yoga reopened her passion for spiritual self-inquiry and exploration, and ignited her curiosity in Mussar and the teachings of the Torah. She is a graduate of the Yesod Facilitator Training Program, and the TMI Manchim Advanced Facilitator Training. She has facilitated various TMI courses for the past three years.

As a Mussar facilitator, Helaine guides people to the sacred place within themselves where unity integrates all polarities. In this is a place of discernment and reconnection she invites individuals to solidify their foundations of self-inquiry through acts of hearing one's self into speech. This process facilitates circles of transformation and change by modeling spiritual awakening, experiential, and self-reflexive learning, or Hitlamdut.

Facilitating Mussar courses brings Helaine deep joy and a continuous sense of awe and wonder. Mussar has opened her heart, softened her soul, and lifted her spirit. She feels blessed and honored to embrace Mussar as part of her evolving spiritual journey.

Nancy Weiss

About Nancy

Nancy is a depth psychotherapist, spiritual director, and Mussar facilitator dedicated to helping others discover unique pathways to their soul’s expression. She serves on the Mussar Institute Facilitator Council. As Coordinator of Manchim, the Advanced Facilitator Training Programco-wrote the course with Alan Morinis. A collage artist, poet, and SoulCollage® facilitator, Nancy guides people in bringing an expressive voice to the Mussar traits and spiritual principles. Her collage art appears in Midrashic Mirrors, which illustrates the richness of creating art to reflect the essence of each Torah portion.

Harvey Winokur

About Harvey

Rabbi Winokur, a native of Nework, earned his B.A. at SUNY at Buffalo, and his M.A. and Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. He is Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Kehillat Chaim, a Reform Congregation in Roswell, Georgia which he founded in 1982. Rabbi Winokur is a Facilitator/Trainer for Prepare-Enrich, an organization that administers premarital/marital needs assessments, a certified Spiritual Director, and a Trainer-Facilitator for The Mussar Institute.

Jason Winston

About Jason

Sharon Schwartz

About Sharon

Sharon discovered Mussar through Alan Morinis’ book, Climbing Jacob's Ladde in 2008 and looked for a way to study with others in order to deepen her practice. She joined the first Manchim facilitator training group and soon after facilitated her first va'ad through Season of Mussar I and II. She went on to collaborate with Alan to adapt Path of the Soul for va’adim. In 2018, she joined the Facilitator Development Council and currently serves as its chair.

Sharon says, “I work with an amazing team of dedicated TMI volunteers, all devoted to making the facilitator experience as easy, comprehensive, and enriching as possible for all members of our Facilitator Network.”

Sandy Greenstein

About Sandy

Sandy is Co-President of the Board of The Mussar Institute. He has more than 30 years of experience in manufacturing, construction, and risk management-loss control. He lives in beautiful Thousand Oaks, Calif. He believes strongly in Mussar’s path of Jewish character development and spiritual growth. and that by practicing Mussar and as a Mussar Facilitator, he has helped close the gap between his ideals and the life he actually leads.

Damaris Methner

About Damaris

Damaris Methner is a Mussar facilitator who is noted for her eco lyricism; illuminating the connection to the sacred shattered sparks of creation that exist in nature and the poetic expression of that relationship. Her writing on “hearthkeeping” articulates the application of Mussar to the role of caretaker. Damaris is a clinical psychologist. Her doctoral dissertation and research focused on the use of metacognition with learning disabled students. Metacognition is also the contemplative practice used in Mussar to access the superconscious, the highest “Soul” level of human consciousness.

Part III: Engaging the Divine Presence

In the portion of this Pathaway to The Inner Life, you will deepen your personal relationship to God, the Other, or the Divine Presence the context of growth and your spiritual life.

You will explore the middot of

Trust/Bitachon
Gratitude/Hakarat Ha’tov
Honor/Kavod
Faith/Emunah

Tuition: $180 for non-Chaverim and $150 for Chaverim. We invite everyone to become a Chaver or Chavera.

Facilitators, Dates, Times: This part will open for the Spring Term, 2021. Check back to make your selection and register.

YOU WILL

- Grow -

through the process of examining your own soul

- JOIN -

a growing, international group of Mussar students.

- Become -

the person you have always imagined you are, with a clear sense of purpose and greater abilities to navigate life.

- RECEIVE -

instruction from the Founder of TMI, Alan Morinis, the Director of Mussar, Avi Fertig, and Rabbi Amy Eilberg.

- EARN -

entrance to intermediate and advanced Mussar courses in the future.

PREREQUISITES

START DATES

TUITION