In Light of Mussar: Remembering Rav Wolbe Part 1

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During Pesach Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe passed away. Rav Wolbe was a baal mussar, unique in our time. He served for over 35 years as mashgiach - spiritual guide at Yeshivat B'er Yaakov. Around twenty -five years ago he left that yeshiva to set up a beis mussar in Jerusalem.

The word mussar is often misunderstood. Telling someone off is called giving mussar. The association is negative and innacurate. Mussar books are studied at short set times. This is at variance with the Mussar Movement.

Rav Yisrael Salanter (1810-1883) was the founder of the movement. The doctrine of mussar taught techniques for spiritual character growth based on traditional ethical literature. This was more than academic study.

Mussar was was done rather than studied. It included excercises such as keeping track of behaviors as deliniated in the classic work Cheshbon HaNefesh , specific activities to strengthen character, and repetition of phrases that profoundly affect the soul. Mussar addressed
personality and ethics from a spiritual perspective.

The anonymously written Orchot Tzadikim-Paths of the Righteous explained mussar with the image of a string of pearls. While each pearl is valuable, the knot at the end holds it all together. The mussar perspective is that connection to G-d, through awe and love, is the thread that holds together all of the character work we do. (This is different from approaches within psychology which ommit or dispute the G-d piece of "self help.")

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter established the beis mussar as a place for holy work, where people went to "do mussar." Over the years the beis mussar, along with the general idea of mussar as a practice, has mostly fallen away. Rav Wolbe and his beis hamussar provided the exception to the rule.

I hope to continue my thoughts on Rav Wolbe and on mussar soon, please G-d.

For an essay on Rav Wolbe by Rabbi Francis Nataf click on this link.