Mussar Kallah VI

At the JCC in Manhattan – November 16, 2008

Teacher Bios

Shirah Bell, Ph.D. co-leads Mussar programs with Dr. Alan Morinis. She is also a certified spiritual director and guides individuals and groups to find meaning in their lives, make important choices, and develop self-healing practices. Shirah was raised in a culturally Jewish but non-observant home. About 22 years ago she began to reclaim her Jewish heritage and has been studying Mussar, Hebrew, and Torah intently. Shirah’s early career was in organizational development and strategic planning (Ph.D. Stanford), which gave her a deep grounding in teaching and leading groups and developing curricula in non-traditional settings. She has written articles on listening, anxiety, and money which are posted on her website www.livingwealth.com.

Rabbi Micha Berger is a father and husband, and sees in those roles much of the expression of his Judaism – and his Mussar work. He was a student of Rav Dovid Lifshitz, the Suvalker Rav, at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan (a YU affiliate). From this contact, Mr. Berger took away a dream to infuse his Jewish practice with the blend of love, Mussar and Jewish thought that marked Rav Dovid's Torah practice. To that end, he joined The Mussar Institute's board, and is proud of having participated in every kallah to date. He also established the AishDas Society, a community of Orthodox Jews using mussar's and other tools to create a synthesis of the "aish", the fire of inspiration and faith, with the "das" of halachic observance, to create a Judaism that both fully is and yet is greater than either of the parts. He is also a computer programmer in the financial industry.

Rabbi Yaakov Feldman has translated and commented upon four classical works of Mussar: Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's "The Path of the Just", Bachya Ibn Pakudah's "The Duties of the Heart", Rabbeinu Yonah's "The Gates of Repentance", and Moses Maimondes' "Eight Chapters." He also offers email classes under ths auspices of the well known Jewish website Torah.org entitled "Spiritual Excellence" and "Ramchal." He and his family live in the vicinity of Monsey, New York. Rabbi Feldman also serves as the rabbi-chaplain at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York.

Rabbi Zev Kahn (well known as the “Rugby Rabbi” from his days as a Maccabiah Games gold medalist) is Director of JET — Jewish Education Team — an independent outreach organization that provides Jewish educational programs to students on campuses throughout Illinois. JET's mission is to inspire, energize and educate Jewish college students so they can develop a stronger connection to their Jewish heritage, the Jewish people and the land of Israel; to instill pride in the vitality of the Jewish mission; and to create Jewish leaders. He has been teaching adult education classes—including Mussar—for many years. Rabbi Kahn received his ordination from Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem where he spent six years studying. He and his wife, Hilary, a native of Los Angeles, live with their four children in West Rogers Park.

Rabbi David Lapin was an intimate student of many of the great rabbis of the previous generation including his great-uncle Reb Elya Lopian, Reb Chaim Shmuelewitz and Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. As founder and Rav of Keter Torah, one of South Africa's finest learning institutions for business and professional people, he pioneered the Baal Teshuva movement in that country. He has taught Gemorra, Hashkafa and Mussar regularly for over thirty years, and well over 1000 of his shiurim and essays are available on www.iAwaken.org. Rabbi Lapin is also an international authority on leadership and, using his Torah wisdom, consults to both governments and Fortune 500 companies around the world. He lives in Los Angeles, California, and is both CEO of SBE, Inc, and Chairman of YSA-Lapin, premier Leadership Consulting firms.

Rabbi Dr. Meir Levin was born in Vilnius, Lithuania and and came to the United States as a young child. He studied under Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik and at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, N.J. A former pulpit rabbi, he was on the faculty of Yeshivas Ohr Someach and has taught and counselled at various venues. He is also triple board-certified MD in practice of academic hematology and oncology in the New York City area. Rabbi Levin's books include: “Novarodok: The Movement that Lived in Struggle and it Unique Approach to the Problem of Man” (Jason Aronson, 1996), “With All Your Heart: The Shema in Jewish Worship, Practice and Life” (Targum/ Feldheim, 2002), “The Rabbis’ Advocate, Hakham David Nieto and his Second Kuzari,” (Yashar Press, 2007), and soon to be published "The Dawn of Redemption: What the Books of Ruth and Yona Teach us about Alienation, Despair and Return” (Urim).

Rabbi Zvi Miller lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel and has been a Torah educator and author for many years. He founded and directed the Torat Chesed Kollel in Efrat. Currently, Rabbi Miller directs the Salant Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to disseminate the message and methods of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter’s Mussar teachings. Rabbi Miller translated and annotated Ohr Yisrael – the writings, and wisdom of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter. He also wrote, Thirty Days to Teshuvah, and Living Mussr Every Day. In addition, Rabbi Miller pens a daily Mussar lesson called eMussar which is distributed by email through the Salant Foundation.

Dr. Alan Morinis is an anthropologist, filmmaker, writer, and student of spiritual traditions. Born and raised in a culturally Jewish but non-observant home, he studied anthropology at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship. His doctoral thesis was published by Oxford University Press as Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition. He has written books and produced feature films, television dramas and documentaries and has taught at several universities. For the past ten years the nearly-lost Jewish spiritual discipline of Mussar has been his passion, a journey recorded in the book Climbing Jacob’s Ladder (Broadway 2002). He is also the author of Everyday Holiness: the Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (Trumpter 2007) and is an active interpreter of the teachings and practices of the Mussar tradition and regularly gives lectures and workshops. In 2004, Dr. Morinis founded The Mussar Institute to increase the availability of Mussar teachings and practices in this generation.

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