Mussar, a, traditional Jewish approach to spiritual and practical elf-improvement, seeks to bridge the gap that often exists between rational understanding and actions - between knowing right, and doing right. Evolving over the past 1,000 years, the Mussar movement was revitalized in the 19th century by a Lithuanian rabbi, Israel Salanter, who developed a system that employs textual study, prayer, discussion, and focused journal writing as a means of incorporating Torah values into daily life. This course will run four weeks, and will cover four character traits, or middot, addressed by standard Mussar texts. Starting with a study of humility, the Mussar group will continue with examinations of patience, anger, and faith. We will also discuss the place of Mussar in traditional communities where ritual practice is deemed an essential part of ethical practice and consider the relationship between the ritual and the ethical in Reform Judaism. For those who wish, the course will continue on an every other week basis after the first four sessions.

Facilitated by Gary Shaffer
Free of charge