I’ve been building a case that the vast majority of Jews in the post-Holocaust world are spiritual orphans, having been raised with no awareness of Mussar or the lineage of teachers who have carried the tradition for the past 200 years.
There definately , in my opinion ,is a hunger for spiritual fulfillment in today’s times and I for one ,a person who is shomrei Shabat, together with my husband and incredible children and grandchildren, feel that void . Most times it is filled through family love and the closeness and joy we all share and the gratitude I feel for being a savta to such precious souls . I have been privileged to live in Israel for the last 40 years , having made alliyah from South Africa many moons ago and watch our children and grandchildren grow up as Israelis.
I also live in Kfar Adumim which is a mixed community of “ religious” and “ non religious” people living together by choice with tolerance and acceptance of other . This in itself, in my mind,means that we live in a healthy community with strong friendships of all kinds on a deeper level.
However , I do feel that more and more, probably since Covid and definitely since October 7 th that this void is growing and has become almost like a spiritual hunger which is not filled despite the comfort food I have been over indulging in and the shows I sometimes binge on ,with Netflix as well as other physical pleasures, to no avail. Of course there is nothing wrong with physical pleasures, on the contrary, but these do not in themselves fill the vacuum inside.
Yes,there is an inner soul felt lack and a huge distance from the head to the heart in many areas of my life and even if I know what it is, it’s not easily attained.
Is the reason based on your insights , possibly .
I did come from a traditional home with grandparents who left Russia before the First World War and filled my Jewish soul with both delicious Shabat meals and inner food for the soul .
So maybe I am not the one to comment but I definately agree with your premise that we are hungry and craving inner spiritual fulfillment.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, founder of the Mussar movement in 19th century Lithuania, identified that the first step in working toward inner change is what he called hirgesh, which literally means “feeling,” and what I think he was referring to was having inner awareness of the thing that needs to change. I mention that because that notion is relevant to your awareness of the inner hunger. If a person doesn’t have that awareness, then all the effort goes into stuffing down comfort food or Netflix whatever causes that hunger to abate temporarily. But once you have awareness, you can approach the hunger with curiosity to find out what it is really about, and then you can seek out what will truly satisfy, not just palliate. And if you realize that the hunger is spiritual in nature, then you will know that the only thing that can satisfy it must also be spiritual in nature.
Thank you for taking the time to respond . I hear you and no question about it , the hunger is spiritual in nature . Tonight , Yom Kippur is definitely a time to start trying to satisfy that hunger . Wishing you a good , healthy, peace filled year and thank you again for your piece of writing 🙏🏼
There is no question I grew up a spiritual orphan, and if I were younger, and more affluent, would have gravitated towards Buddhism. Both my spiritual and professional life have been influenced by nuanced behavioural attribute systems. Professionally, when I discovered the book "Emotional Intelligence" and spiritually when I was introduced to "Everyday Holiness". Thank you for this blog, and all you are doing to bring mussar to the masses.
Reading your post has unsettled my emotions, and I wonder why!
I have only ever been on the periphery of religious studies and practice, and I would describe myself as an “open agnostic” in that I remain open to the possibility that God’s existence may become apparent to me at some point in the future.
For as long as I can remember I have been searching for something, without knowing what that something is.
It disturbs me that I have accidentally discovered the Mussar Way which seems to be such a natural and authentic path to self realisation and fulfillment, and yet comes from a source which is alien to me.
You state that faith comes before trust. In my case I feel the opposite to be true: If I have trust in the process of my Mussar study and practice, my faith will grow naturally.
I feel as if I am an interloper into a jewish world of which I have no knowledge or understanding of its heritage, practices and rituals, and yet I yearn for the personal transformation that I feel is inevitable if I follow the Mussar path wholeheartedly.
I have spent the last seven/eight weeks studying and developing an understanding of the soul traits without starting the course structure as suggested.
During this time I am noticing subtle positive changes in my behaviour and outlook on life as I have read and re-read the examples you quote from past masters,
I look forward to sharing the journey within you. I am excited and in awe of my potential transformation.
Ralph, it is as if there is a central courtyard that contains all the treasures of the kingdom, and it is possible to enter the palace through many doorways. Some look like this, and some look like that, but in the end, what matters most is following a path with great integrity and curiosity, and going only as fast as you can go without stumbling.
When my HS class studied Mussar, our go to verse was from t opening paragraph of Aleinu, “And you shall know today (commandments / life habits), and set this knowledge into your heart”, just as the quote from Rabbi Lapian teaches.
In the verses of the Shma as well: “place these words of Mine upon your heart.” The Kotzker Rebbe, I think it was, asked why the verse says “on” your heart and not “in” your heart, and his answer was that these words get placed on your heart where they wait for the moment when it opens, and then they drop in.
A lot of food for thought .
There definately , in my opinion ,is a hunger for spiritual fulfillment in today’s times and I for one ,a person who is shomrei Shabat, together with my husband and incredible children and grandchildren, feel that void . Most times it is filled through family love and the closeness and joy we all share and the gratitude I feel for being a savta to such precious souls . I have been privileged to live in Israel for the last 40 years , having made alliyah from South Africa many moons ago and watch our children and grandchildren grow up as Israelis.
I also live in Kfar Adumim which is a mixed community of “ religious” and “ non religious” people living together by choice with tolerance and acceptance of other . This in itself, in my mind,means that we live in a healthy community with strong friendships of all kinds on a deeper level.
However , I do feel that more and more, probably since Covid and definitely since October 7 th that this void is growing and has become almost like a spiritual hunger which is not filled despite the comfort food I have been over indulging in and the shows I sometimes binge on ,with Netflix as well as other physical pleasures, to no avail. Of course there is nothing wrong with physical pleasures, on the contrary, but these do not in themselves fill the vacuum inside.
Yes,there is an inner soul felt lack and a huge distance from the head to the heart in many areas of my life and even if I know what it is, it’s not easily attained.
Is the reason based on your insights , possibly .
I did come from a traditional home with grandparents who left Russia before the First World War and filled my Jewish soul with both delicious Shabat meals and inner food for the soul .
So maybe I am not the one to comment but I definately agree with your premise that we are hungry and craving inner spiritual fulfillment.
Thank you for sharing .
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, founder of the Mussar movement in 19th century Lithuania, identified that the first step in working toward inner change is what he called hirgesh, which literally means “feeling,” and what I think he was referring to was having inner awareness of the thing that needs to change. I mention that because that notion is relevant to your awareness of the inner hunger. If a person doesn’t have that awareness, then all the effort goes into stuffing down comfort food or Netflix whatever causes that hunger to abate temporarily. But once you have awareness, you can approach the hunger with curiosity to find out what it is really about, and then you can seek out what will truly satisfy, not just palliate. And if you realize that the hunger is spiritual in nature, then you will know that the only thing that can satisfy it must also be spiritual in nature.
Thank you for taking the time to respond . I hear you and no question about it , the hunger is spiritual in nature . Tonight , Yom Kippur is definitely a time to start trying to satisfy that hunger . Wishing you a good , healthy, peace filled year and thank you again for your piece of writing 🙏🏼
Wow! Beautiful.
There is no question I grew up a spiritual orphan, and if I were younger, and more affluent, would have gravitated towards Buddhism. Both my spiritual and professional life have been influenced by nuanced behavioural attribute systems. Professionally, when I discovered the book "Emotional Intelligence" and spiritually when I was introduced to "Everyday Holiness". Thank you for this blog, and all you are doing to bring mussar to the masses.
Thank you, Harold. It’s clear that we are walking on parallel paths.
Being non-jewish!
Reading your post has unsettled my emotions, and I wonder why!
I have only ever been on the periphery of religious studies and practice, and I would describe myself as an “open agnostic” in that I remain open to the possibility that God’s existence may become apparent to me at some point in the future.
For as long as I can remember I have been searching for something, without knowing what that something is.
It disturbs me that I have accidentally discovered the Mussar Way which seems to be such a natural and authentic path to self realisation and fulfillment, and yet comes from a source which is alien to me.
You state that faith comes before trust. In my case I feel the opposite to be true: If I have trust in the process of my Mussar study and practice, my faith will grow naturally.
I feel as if I am an interloper into a jewish world of which I have no knowledge or understanding of its heritage, practices and rituals, and yet I yearn for the personal transformation that I feel is inevitable if I follow the Mussar path wholeheartedly.
I have spent the last seven/eight weeks studying and developing an understanding of the soul traits without starting the course structure as suggested.
During this time I am noticing subtle positive changes in my behaviour and outlook on life as I have read and re-read the examples you quote from past masters,
I look forward to sharing the journey within you. I am excited and in awe of my potential transformation.
Kindest regards Ralph
Ralph, it is as if there is a central courtyard that contains all the treasures of the kingdom, and it is possible to enter the palace through many doorways. Some look like this, and some look like that, but in the end, what matters most is following a path with great integrity and curiosity, and going only as fast as you can go without stumbling.
When my HS class studied Mussar, our go to verse was from t opening paragraph of Aleinu, “And you shall know today (commandments / life habits), and set this knowledge into your heart”, just as the quote from Rabbi Lapian teaches.
In the verses of the Shma as well: “place these words of Mine upon your heart.” The Kotzker Rebbe, I think it was, asked why the verse says “on” your heart and not “in” your heart, and his answer was that these words get placed on your heart where they wait for the moment when it opens, and then they drop in.