The Mussar Movement
History Series / Part 2

Rabbi Yisroel Salanter, founder of the mussar movement, said his aim was to reform Jews, not Judaism. Aware that Torah study did not necessarily guarantee good character, he designed specific methods of self-improvement for all Jews. Because his methods corrected the very flaws the haskalah aimed to criticize, they hated his movement more than any other in traditional Jewry. Only a man of impeccable character himself could represent such high principles, and Rabbi Wein's summary of Rabbi Yisroel Salanter's life and accomplishments makes it clear that this was so.

• the influence of the remarkable Rabbi Zundel Salant
• Kelm, the great mussar yeshiva
• the Ramchal & his works, redeemed after a century-long ban
• Rabbi Salanter's heartbreak over his secular son, creator of the Lipkin Parallelogram
• the little-known relationship between mussar and America's founding fathers

For more details about the mussar movement's struggle for acceptance amongst the rabbinate, listen to "Jewish Brothers In Conflict."

To learn about the books that are the foundations of the mussar movement, listen to "Essential Classics: Books that Have Made a Difference."