5 Foundational Practices in Mussar: Alei Shor

Alei Shor II: 156-7

Chapter Five:

Obstacles in learning Mussar

"And he said bank up, build up, clear a way, remove an stumbling block from the way of my people!" (Isa 57:14)

So far we have tried to remove obstacles from access to the Torah generally and from access to Divine service. From here on we will try

to remove obstacles from the path of mussar itself. Afterall, studying mussar is in fact like all Torah studies. In all of them you have to make an effort to understand and know - mussar is the same way. One must study the Hovot haLevavot or Sha'ari Teshuvah in the same investigative spirit as one studies the innovations of the Ramban and the Rashba; The Mesillat Yesharim and Or Yisrael demand the same investigative spirit as the study the Ketzot haHoshen and Rabbi Akiva Eger.

First mistake: the one who opens a book of mussar immediately starts groaning with a sad melody. But wait! They haven't learned yet, and they haven't understood yet, and what are they bitter about? Perhaps at the opening of a mussar book one's conscience awakens to their personal transgressions. But it is a mistake to approach this way, and know: an emotion that arises without thought and study - it is imagined. Real emotion comes only after understanding!

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Second mistake: studying superficially. The first impression when reading some lines is: what is novel here? aren't these ideas well-known and obvious! The reason for this mistake: they perceive words as flowery platitudes, and there are no flowery platitudes in mussar books! For example: elsewhere in this essay the first words of the Mesillat Yesharim "The Foundation of Hasidism and the Root of Divine Service" are explained: "Let it be clarified and reconciled" - we mean in the mind and heart. And “what is his obligation in his world” and it doesn’t say “What is the person’s obligation in the world” because every individual has their own world, and within their particular world they must know their mission, which introduces immediately a personal tone to the matter, but the superficial learner glosses over it.

Third Mistake: The first reaction of the learner is that they already possess all the qualities about which they learn. Divine fear? Clearly, one is already fearing! Caution? Surely they are careful ! Service? Of course, they serve. Only with continued learning do we understand fully what we are lacking in virtues and qualities.

Fourth mistake: we learn things and see that we are far from achieving them. And we respond: these words were not intended for people at our level, but for the great and the righteous. ' “A person was only created to delight in God and enjoy Divine glory" - after all, I am very far from that, and these words were not intended for me! But these words were directed at me! The truth is, I am far from that in the utmost distance, because what are my pleasures and joys? Good food, a nice trip, honor... But ultimately, I was not created for these pleasures! True, there is a great gap between me and "the true pleasure and the great refinement", but maybe there is a bridge over the gap? Afterall, I do delight in a clear Chiddush in the Gemara, on a great svara, especially when I came up with it by it myself; Sometimes I have a delicate feeling in prayer - after all, I know spiritual pleasure, and if so why can't I come in time to delight in the Lord?

There is almost no field of wisdom in the world that is accompanied by so many mistakes as the wisdom of mussar, and there is a reason for it: deep in the heart nestles a tendency to leave mussar matters unclear. Because if we fully understand the truth of a mussar matter clearly - it obliges us to change ourselves; And who wants to change themselves? and to recognize that his path in life so far has been wrong?! Rabbi Israel warns about this in his first letter and writes sharp spur-like words about this:

"The habitual shortcoming of not paying attention to matters pertaining to awe and mussar, but to follow lust freely according to the inclination of desire and act like an animal. Observe the predominant custom in the world, to give attention and focus on material matters of all kinds; the merchant in his wares - how much consideration will he use before making the deal, whether to do or not; he will think in his heart and consult with his fellows, he will pay attention to details and be sure to prevent mistakes, so that matters resolve as well as possible. Similarly, in the study of the holy Torah, each person according to their ability studies and contemplates to uncover the hidden secrets and to innovate as much as possible, and take apart its arguments, and will not cut any corners in order to come to a clear conclusion.

Not so in the ways of mussar, which the contemplation of it - the search in all the ways and actions of humans to be cautious from following desires, etc. And in all of this, human laziness is great, it will be a burden if they devote themselves to this for a short time, to the point that it will be considered a waste of time."

"To follow lust freely according to the inclination of desire and act like an animal!" Indeed, this is a deep personal intimation that does not exist with regard to all the other wisdoms, it causes all the mistakes that we have listed here, and the list goes on.

Alei Shor 2:186

Chapter Three:

The Foundations of mussar work

With deep wisdom, Our teacher, Rabbi Israel [Salanter] paved the way for work on midot. Why is such a deep wisdom needed for this work? The person will take one midah and perfect it! But experience shows that without wise guidance they do not succeed, and on top of that they may cause great harm to themselves, and precision care in one middah will be followed by misalignment in another middah until the reward of labor is outweighed by the loss. That being said, we will first look at what are the bad consequences may result from work on middot.

Ancient peoples had a tradition that there is one place in the sea that if you want to reach the shore you have to pass between two large cliffs and the waves between them are very strong: they push the ship to one of the two cliffs with such force that the ship breaks. Only a wise and courageous captain can maneuver their ship between the two cliffs and get out of them safely. This parable can express with energetic precision what is the danger of mussar work. After all, the student burdens themself with some additional practice or stringency beyond what is demanded in the Shulchan Aruch. This addition could provoke an internal rebellion against the work as a whole. And if they don't even rebel, they will certainly be proud that they count themselves among the mussar practitioners; And it is clear that when practice is followed by pride- the loss outweighs the reward. Rebellion and pride - these are the two cliffs between which the practitioner must pass in peace. We will delve into this further by understanding the two negative results that follow almost inevitably following work when it is not rooted wisely.

Alei Shor 2:189-91

Chapter four:

Small Deeds

Here we approach the first element of the work: how do we work while bypassing the power of rebellion? Our rabbis in the Beit Midrash of our master and teacher Rav Yeruchom (Levovitz) taught us the value of small deeds. After all, our Sages spoke clearly:

• "And be as careful with an easy mitzvah as a difficult one. You do not know the reward of a mitzvah" (Avot 2:1).

• King David said “Master of the Universe, I do not fear the severe commandments in the Torah because they are severe. But I am afraid of the light ones that I may have transgressed because they are light and you said be as careful with a light commandment as a severe one, as Scripture said “on account that you heed/those that are trampled under foot, you should heed.. How great is your good” - this is the reward of light mitzvahs" (Tanhuma Ekev 1).

• If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to,--Rashi Deut. 7:12

• Rabbi Shimon Ben Lakish what is the meaning of Psalms 49:6 “the sins ekvi surround me"-- iniquities that a person treads on with their heels in this world will surround them on the day of judgment" (AZ 18a).

In the small world we find ourselves stuck on this idea when it comes to reward and punishment. And no wonder: we are so used to enlarging and glorifying the world of the Torah and mitzvot - and when we come to the world of action, everything depends on small actions! But this is the wisdom of human building. Even the great world is not built of huge blocks but of atoms so tiny that the eye cannot distinguish them, and our body is made up of cells that can only be seen with a microscope that magnifies a hundred thousand times. So is the spiritual structure of man: it consists of actions that a person tramples under foot, whether for good or for the better.

This knowledge should cause a revolution in our thinking. As usual, a person who wants to fix the world thinks about a system that embraces the world, or about a world organization for peace or justice. The one who wants to correct themself also thinks about great and mighty acts of kindness or holiness. But tiny actions that do not burden a person at all - what kind of perfection can grow from them? However, the truth is this: it is precisely from small actions that a person is built. And let us take a clue from the wisdom of medicine: the amount of medicinal substance in one drug is very tiny, maybe a milligram. If the medicine had contained a larger amount, it would have harmed the person instead of healing them, and perhaps even killed them; After all, they found that certain poisons in larger quantities are very poisonous - if they are given in very small quantities they have a healing effect. This is exactly how it is in middah practice. About such a thing, the prophet said: "For who despises a small day", and the verse ends: "The eyes of the Lord wander throughout the earth" (Zechariah 4:10). The eyes of God, which wander throughout the land, do not despise a small thing in spirituality, so do not despise a small deed either!

This study is enough in itself. But we have another great interest in the small deeds: they do not arouse the power of rebellion! The one who takes upon themself some big thing that weighs on them- on many days they will feel the power of rebellion sharply and gradually overcoming them. But a small act that does not burden the person at all; it has no reason to arouse them. And I have a tangible illustration of it: after the Yom Kippur War I flew to Egypt. When the plane reached the territory of Egypt, I saw that it was hovering very low, just a few meters above the ground. I thought that maybe there was some malfunction in the engines, and I asked what happened to it. I was told that we are now in the field of the Egyptian radar, and it is not good for them to notice a Jewish plane, that is why they lower the plane below the height of the radar, because the radar only notices the plane that flies above its height, and does not notice the plane that flies below its height. And this is the illustration: the power of rebellion also has a "radar", and it also only notices actions that are above its height, and it does not notice small actions that are below its height…

This is the first principle of mussar work: we must not in any way engage in actions that burden us. Any practical guidance that we will offer in the following chapters, with God’s help, will be in small actions. And each person must judge for themself when something weighs on them and immediately put it down. The beginner in the work will ask how such small actions can root a character trait in their nature. And when they continue the same action for a month or more, they will continue to ask that the same question because the action has become routine and they do not feel any sense in it. And we even tell him: it depends on the purpose of engaging in these actions; if the intention was to add more "frumkeit" to their frumkeit- of course there is no rhyme or reason for continuing this action. But our desire is not in any way to add frumkeit, but to acquire an understanding of the middot and even to acquire the middot themselves which will become natural for us. True, we deal with small things. But even in small things we can learn more and more in the depths of the middot we deal with. But this already belongs to the second foundation on which mussar work is founded, the foundation of hitlamdut that will be explained in the next chapter. And what about the power of rebellion itself - is there no remedy for it? Yes, with time and sustained practice, as love is awakened in the heart of love - it will be corrected.

From now on we will approach practical work arranged according to "Vaadim". The framework and way for "Vaadim" work is this: people who want to work and have good relations between them, so that over time they can become really good friends, can be members of a vaad. And it is better not to have too many; let their number range from 4 to 15. They will meet once a week, preferably let them arrange a joint study. It is desirable that they deal with the teachings from the books of the most recent mussar scholars that talk about the same matter on which they determined their work. The accepted way is that each week one of the members of the vaad will serve as a supervisor according to their turn. At the end of the week, they submit to the head of the vaad how the members performed and succeeded in their work, and according to this the head of the vaad will decide whether to continue with what they are working on, if they have not yet succeeded in that practice, or to strengthen it until they have integrated this practice. If the report shows that the members are having too much difficulty or if what they set burdens them too much - they will replace that work with something easier. The rule in this practice is that in no way do you burden the members. If the members succeed well and have already gotten accustomed to that practice, they will advance to the next "vaad" as described in this curriculum. They can meet one week for joint study and of course also talk about the progress of the work, and in the second week with the head of the vaad to discuss the continuation and strengthen themselves.

It is advisable to determine one topic for work for about six months, but not less than three months.

If it is impossible for a supervisor to communicate with the members every day, such as if they do not meet in yeshiva, in the synagogue, or do not have a telephone, there is no point in appointing supervisors. So all the members should give an account of the actions during the vaad meeting with the head of the vaad. The report will be as accurate as possible .

Alei Shor 2:180-183

First chapter:

Before any Mussar Work

We find in the Sages and Rambam that they looked for rules for the mitzvot of the Torah. We will mention them here:

• "Bar Kapara expounded: what is a small parsha that Torah principles depend on? “In all your ways know God and God will straighten your ways" (Brachot 63a).
• "Habakkuk came and set them on one: “and the righteous shall live by his faith" (Machot 24:11).
• "Love your neighbor as yourself - Rabbi Akiva said this is a great rule in the Torah (Ber. Rabbah 24:8). Rambam in the 5th chapter of the eight chapters: "And it is necessary for a person to harness all the powers of their soul to know, and always set before them a single purpose: to understand the Blessed God to the extent they are capable of knowing ... and our sages of blessed memory have already summed up the whole matter in a few words, which points to a very perfect teaching when you examine the brevity of the words, how did they write this great matter about which whole works were composed that did not complete it. You will know that it was said by the power of God without a doubt, and it is said it in their wills: “Let all your actions will be for the sake of heaven.''

Why do our late rabbis look for rules that include the entire Torah? What is lacking if a person observes the 613 mitzvot in all their details without knowing the rule that includes them all? The point is, as the saying goes that a person may not see the forest for the trees, that is, they only sees the details and not the whole; they observe the details of the mitzvot but does not see and does not understand what God requires of them, because surely the mitzvot has a purpose.

In the study of halakhic tradition, it is clear that because there are so many details given in one discussion, it is necessary to abstract a general rule. The scholar stands by the rule on every issue, as we noted in BM 17a below: "R Rabbi Yoḥanan says: With regard to one who claims to have repaid a debt that has already been established by a court enactment, i.e., a rabbinic ordinance obligating one to pay a debt, e.g., the main sum in a marriage contract, but he has no witnesses,

17b

he has said nothing. His claim is not accepted. What is the reason that he is not believed? It is because one who is owed any money based on a court enactment is considered like one who is holding a promissory note in his hand, against which a claim of repayment is not accepted without supporting evidence. Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said to Rabbi Yoḥanan: But what are you adding? Isn’t this principle stated in a mishna (Ketubot 88b), which teaches: If a woman produced a bill of divorce, and there was no accompanying marriage contract, she collects payment of her marriage contract? This is an example of Rabbi Yoḥanan’s principle that a court enactment enables one to collect a debt even without the relevant document. Rabbi Yoḥanan said to him: True, this mishna is a source for my principle; but had I not lifted up the shard for you, you would not have found a pearl beneath it. In other words, if Rabbi Yoḥanan had not pointed out the principle, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba would not have realized that it was underlying the ruling of the mishna.”

And the Admor [Adonenu umorenu Rav Yercham Levovitz], may his merit protect us, wrote about it: "And this is the explanation of the matter: because the fact that a divorce was issued and there is no ketubah with it is called "material" and it is a particular halacha from the case that transpired, and the form of the matter is the great rule "he who claims after a court act did not say anything", and regarding this he took issue that one should not distinguish that he was the substance of the thing, which came in its origin

Between the hasfa is the form of the thing - and between the marganita from the form and being clothed in the material, and the material is called "marganita" because it is the practice, and the form

First chapter - before any mussar work

froze

The thing called "Hasfa" - only an abstract matter and not actually real; And not as it seems from the surface of the language that the form is worse than the substance, on the contrary, and didn't Rabbi say to the Rabba that without the form he would not have understood the point of the word of our Mishnah" (Deat Hochma and Mosar 13 p. Reach).

The lamdan knows how to abstract principles from the isolated laws. Just like in the halakhic tradition, one should also be a lamdan in the foundations of the Torah and know the abstract form of things as well. That is what our Rabbis of blessed memory sought in articulating the great rule which is the form of the entire Torah. As in the entire Torah, so is it also in the middot: the scholar knows how to discern the form of all middot as a whole, in contrast to which every individual middah is “material” and detail. And so we found with our Rabbis The last mussar scholars, who revealed the form of mussar and set us on a working path of a general approach to our middot. This is the path that a young person must take until they are a true lamdan and until they have studied mussar for many years and have already reached internal insights that inspire them to enter into the work of acquiring particular middot in totality.

Here we present three approaches in understanding the abstract form of middot, from our master and teacher the Hazon Ish * may his merit protect us, of the Admor [Rav Yeruchom Levovitz], may his merit protect us, and from our master and teacher, the author of Miktav MeEliahu/Strive for Truth, may his merit protect us. (and the reader should not be shocked that we have included the Hazon Ish with the great mussar matters, even though he seemed to oppose the theory of mussar. Whoever had the privilege of knowing him, knows that in his life he was the symbol of the life of mussar, and his mussar he drew from his tremendous labor, from Talmud to practical law, and from his method of learning which was rooted in fear of Heaven. And one should see the collection of his letters, 2:154).

A. The Hazon Ish writes in Emunah v’Bitahon 4:1: "At the root of individual middot there is not a single bad middah and a single good middah. The bad middah is the abandonment of natural life to its natural course, and without any effort, a person will become perfect in all the bad middot, They will be excellently angry, excellently vengeful, excellently proud, and so on, they will not be lacking one bit in all the bad middot that the sages enumerated. And the good middah is total commitment to privilege the ethical (mussari) impulse over the lustful impulse, and from this starting point to fight against all of the bad middot at once. It is impossible to make this commitment half way, because the person who has seen the light of reason and the virtue of his soul that has awoken them and influenced them to choose the good will strive at a good time for good without restraint. The soul is never satisfied by doing good. That person sees an eternal world without end, and at the moment they despise all bad middot at once."

A person has a "mussar feeling" by nature that clearly whispers to them how they should behave in all his affairs. This mussar emotion does not fall at all from the natural lustful emotion, because both are embedded in a person. The person must simply choose the mussar emotion over the lustful emotion. In this we remember the Rambam at the end of the Laws of Shemita and Yovel “for those whose spirit has volunteered to stand before God to serve the Divine"and walk uprightly as God created them", because the human was created upright. And we also stated in the Ramban on the verse, "And you must do what was right and good in the eyes of the Lord" (Vethanan 6th aliyah) who wrote: "Because t it is impossible to mention in the Torah all the conduct of people with their neighbors and his fellows and all negotiations and all the regulations of the settlement and the states. But after God mentioned a lot of them, such as you shall not gossip, you shall not take revenge or bear a grudge, you shall not stand on your neighbor's blood, etc.

The Torah proceeded to make a general principle that they should do what is right and straight in every situation, to include in this compromise and going beyond the letter of the law, such as giving your neighbor the right of first refusal in sales, and speaking nicely to others, which is all called perfect and straight”

And “straight and good” is behavior that a human can intuit without explicit commandments.

B. Admor [Rav Yeruchom Levovitz] asks: What is the difference between righteous and wicked? The righteous do mitzvot and the wicked - transgressions? No: even a righteous person occasionally sins but remains a righteous person; a wicked person can even be full of light commandments like a pomegranate, and nevertheless remain wicked. If so, what is the real difference between them? When the yetzer attacks the righteous and incites to sin, they stand against it with every remnant of strength; The evil does not resist, and when the yetzer draws them, they follows it. Evidence for this is from Talmud Yoma 82b: "With respect to a pregnant woman who smells food, it is told: A certain pregnant woman smelled a food and craved it. Those involved came before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi to ask how to proceed. He said to those who were inquiring: Go and whisper to her that today is Yom Kippur. They whispered to her, and this whispering helped; she stopped craving the food. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi read this verse about the baby she was carrying: “Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you” (Jeremiah 1:5), and indeed, the baby who came out of that woman was Rabbi Yoḥanan.

The Gemara relates another story: A certain pregnant woman smelled food and had a craving to eat it on Yom Kippur. Those involved came before Rabbi Ḥanina to ask how to proceed. He said to them: Whisper to her that today is Yom Kippur. They whispered to her, but she did not accept the whisper and continued to crave the food. Rabbi Ḥanina read this verse about the baby:“The wicked are estranged from the womb” (Psalms 58:4), i.e., it is clear they are estranged already in their mother’s womb. Indeed, Shabbetai the hoarder of fruits came out of her. He hoarded fruit during years of famine in order to inflate its price and profit at the expense of poor people.

And here the fetus still has no choice and no mental capacity, and why did the sages call the fetus that listened to the whisper - righteous, and the one that did not - wicked? And of course, a fetus cannot be measured by a standard of a responsible adult, but the sages recognized the fetus that resisted its desire has the characteristic of a righteous person, and the one who did not resist the desire and does not stand against it has the characteristic of a wicked person.

After the horrifying description of the yetzer ha ra in the Duties of the Heart "he great archenemy you have in this world is your own yetzer (evil inclination). He is interwoven in the forces of your soul and intertwined in the order of your spirit. He associates with you in the guidance of your physical and spiritual senses, etc.," he concludes: "If you will guard yourself from him, and have ready the weapons of your intellect to wage war with him, and deflect his arrows away from you, you will be saved and will escape from him with G-d's help. " (Gate of Devotion 5). Asks the Rebbe: Such simple advice against such a terrible enemy? Admittedly, it is true: humans can overcome the urge only with God’s help, because "And Rabbi Shimon ben Levi says: A person’s inclination overpowers him every day, and seeks to kill him, as it is stated: “The wicked watches the righteous and seeks to slay him” (Psalms 37:32). And if not for the fact that the Holy One, Blessed be He, assists each person in battling his evil inclination, he could not overcome it, as it is stated: “The Lord will not leave him in his hand” (Psalms 37:33)." (Kedushin 30b). And what should the person do? To stand against the creature fiercely! And it seems that the Rebbe said that the language of the Sages "he cannot do" alludes to Jacob's struggle with the angel, as is written "and he saw that he could not do it" and called his name Israel "for you have fought with God and with men and you will be able" (Vishelach, second). (The article was not printed, only the strong impression of it remains in my heart to this day, and if

I misunderstood him - The Merciful one will atone.)

Thus, we found that what is in our control is to come to purify ourselves; Salvation from the Yetzer relies on Divine help, but one who comes with the intention of being purified, God helps them. "Come to purify" - means to stand against the yetzer fiercely.

3. The third approach is that of Our Master the Gaon Rav Eliahu Dessler, may God bless him and grant him peace, in the wonderful Kuntres HaHessed, in Strive for Truth 1, and these are his words there: "When God created Adam, God created him a giver and taker. The power of giving is the most elevated power of the Blessed Creator. God is merciful and does good and gives without receiving anything in return. And this is how God made humans, as it is written "In the image of God made haAdam," so that Adam could have mercy and be kind and give.

But the power of taking is the human desire to attract to themself whatever comes within their sphere. This power is

what people will call ‘self-love,' and it is the root of all evil."

It is explained there in the Kutres HaHessed, that the power of giving is the foundation of all virtues together. The one who is accustomed to thinking immediately when meeting someone: "How can I do good for them?" - will be kind , patient, bearing a burden with their friend, humble, content with little (because they ask nothing for themself). The taker is the one who immediately asks themself when meeting someone: "What benefit can I derive from them? respect? advice? Loan? A gift?" And the person accustomed to this attitude will love money, honor and pursue pleasures; will be proud and angry (because they do not tolerate not having their will done), will be jealous and hateful. That is to say: The life line that includes all the virtues together is to be a giver. (You must study well

the kuntres hahessed in which things are explained at length.)

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We learned here three general approaches to middot, each of them sets us on such a course of life by which a person can become well formed. The one who prioritizes the mussar emotion over the lustful emotion must be a great lamdan with a beautiful soul and a delicate emotion, and the words were worthy of the person who said them. "The one who stands against his creation no matter what" is the son of the Torah who comes to purify himself, and he is considered righteous, and will see success in his war against his Yetzer with God’s help. The one who strives to be a "giver" will be able to build on this not only their middot, but the whole course of their life will take the form of one who is gracious and giving, and happy they are.