Mussar Institute - Mussar for Prisoners

By Dana Drukker

“[A]fter a man is born, great effort is required to raise him. And just as he needs training for his body, so he needs even greater training for his soul, to perfect his wisdom and to understand which are the right paths.”

Introduction to Orchot Tzaddikim

Where deficient training has left an adult “steeped in the depth of defective traits,” he “must polish his mind to distinguish between the good and the evil, the impure and the pure, and habituate himself to Divine service until the positive traits are implanted and embedded in his heart.”

Introduction to Orchot Tzaddikim

“Do not hate the children of your people in your heart. Reprove your neighbor, but incur no guilt because of him. Do not avenge or bear any grudge against the children of your people, and love your neighbor as yourself; I am God.”

Leviticus 19:17-18

When I worked as a criminal defense attorney, I met souls who simply were tortured. When I became pregnant with my son, I resolved that if I did nothing else well in life, I would nurture at least this one soul to enable him to enjoy life and handle its inevitable challenges. Why this radical approach to childrearing? Because it is inexplicably difficult for poorly trained souls to identify and to choose the right path.

Having been convicted of murder, rape and miscellaneous lesser crimes, deficiently trained Jewish souls inhabit our nation’s prisons. Mussar practitioners must affirm: “Each and every one, a holy soul,” which inevitably leads back to, “Concentrate neither on your own virtues, nor on the faults of others.” Certainly criminal behavior should result in reproof and appropriate punishment. We must condemn criminal acts. However, labeling someone, “rapist” or “murderer” without offering spiritual assistance amounts to bearing a grudge. We thus concentrate on the faults of others and forget that each and every one is a holy soul.

Like each of us, every individual who has committed a crime emerged from a mother’s womb. We share common stories about this event – an angel touched our upper lip and made us forget. Our souls entered our bodies. But for those who have committed horrid acts, what happened next? Perhaps the soul already was in a state of conflict when it entered. Each soul is unique, as is each soul’s journey. From a Mussar perspective a person who has murdered or raped has made decisions and committed acts in the context of radically imbalanced middot. Their souls are tarnished, sometimes nearly beyond recognition.

But wait, my soul is tarnished, too. Sometimes I wonder if this is indelibly. My accumulation of transgressions, the most recent of which was about 5½ hours ago, is large. But I have very fine polish, Mussar, without which my most recent transgression would have been 2½ hours ago. Through gentle outreach, or at least positive responses to inquires, we can offer this polish to Jewish prisoners.

Read the Announcements to find out how you can get involved and support the work of bringing Mussar to Jewish prisoners.

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