Since I now know that some people are reading my blog who are not my blood relatives, I feel compelled to offer a brief explanation of the title. Midlife--that's the age I am right now(too old to do something completely new, too young not to). As for Mussar, I offer the definition posted on the website of my Mussar Teacher, Rabbi Ira Stone of Philadelphia.
What Is Mussar?
Mussar is a literature, a philosophy, a movement and a practice. Beginning in the earliest periods of Jewish experience various spiritual masters have addressed the problem of internalizing the central values of religious teaching. They have addressed the difficulties involved in resisting the tendencies we are all born with which act against our accepting the responsibilities inherent in the grandeur of our humanity. Care for ourselves, care for those closest to us, care for the world itself. Despite our possession of a record of Divine and human encounters which have expressed these obligations, and sometimes because of it, we tend to "fall asleep" rather than face the full demands these obligations. Mussar can be characterized as "a road to insomnia:" A way of staying awake to these obligations. A literature has grown up which exhorts and explains in detail the philosophy of paths to this "insomnia" and that is called Mussar literature. In the 19th Century Rabbi Israel Salanter began a movement which used this literature, but developed independently a variety of specific practices and life-skills aimed at moving, so to speak, from the book to life. To describe practices that would be effective in addressing the complexity of the human psyche and soul so as to effect lasting change.
What Is Mussar?
Mussar is a literature, a philosophy, a movement and a practice. Beginning in the earliest periods of Jewish experience various spiritual masters have addressed the problem of internalizing the central values of religious teaching. They have addressed the difficulties involved in resisting the tendencies we are all born with which act against our accepting the responsibilities inherent in the grandeur of our humanity. Care for ourselves, care for those closest to us, care for the world itself. Despite our possession of a record of Divine and human encounters which have expressed these obligations, and sometimes because of it, we tend to "fall asleep" rather than face the full demands these obligations. Mussar can be characterized as "a road to insomnia:" A way of staying awake to these obligations. A literature has grown up which exhorts and explains in detail the philosophy of paths to this "insomnia" and that is called Mussar literature. In the 19th Century Rabbi Israel Salanter began a movement which used this literature, but developed independently a variety of specific practices and life-skills aimed at moving, so to speak, from the book to life. To describe practices that would be effective in addressing the complexity of the human psyche and soul so as to effect lasting change.
By the way, the website for Rabbi Stone's Institute is www.musarinstitute.org
*Please note that musar/mussar is spelled differently in the name of the website than it is in the body of the website!(go figure.)
Also..and this is the most important part, Rabbi Stone has his own blog
http://bicycle-musings.blogspot.com
where he chronicles his latest passion--bicycling.
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