Mesilat Yesarim
Basic Books of Mussar

Some mussar seforim are curative medicine; they come to teach us to correct our mistakes. The Mesilas Yesharim is preventative medicine; it teaches us how to become righteous so that we avoid mistakes. Between its penetrating lessons and the tragic biography of its author, Rabbi Wein paints the picture of how this book, disdained in its own time, went on to become not just a classic of the mussar movement, but a mainstay of Jewish life till today.

• Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto – a journey from excommunication to celebration
• the mashal of the maze
• “I only come to tell you what you already know”
• the Vilna Gaon, grandfather of the mussar movement