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In This Issue

Welcome – Carol Robinson
Through A Mussar Lens – By Alan Morinis
Everyday Holiness: The Course – By Shirah Bell
Donations
Upcoming Events and Announcements

Welcome to this month’s issue of Yashar. Last time I wrote, I invited you to share your thoughts and ideas about the future of The Mussar Institute and how to propagate Mussar practice and living. I want to thank those of you who did so, as the Board's planning efforts will be better for your input.

Spring has arrived in the San Francisco Bay area where I live, and my thoughts are turning to gardening. Part of our garden is overgrown because we didn’t properly
weed, pull up dead annuals and prune perennials. Our front lawn is bare because we started a project to install xeriscaping but didn’t make any progress over the winter. As I resolve to be more consistent in my efforts to tend to our landscaping, I think about the connection to Mussar. Mussar teaches us that we need to be consistent in our efforts to tend to our souls. Mussar provides the tools, but we have to use them.

We all plant seeds, not only in our gardens but also in the decisions we make and the actions we take. The results affect not only us but also our families
and our communities. One action that I took that has affected others was when I agreed to facilitate a Seasons of Mussar program at Temple Beth Abraham of
Oakland, CA. Seasons of Mussar is a wonderful way to plant the seeds of Mussar in your own communities – you can find more information at (http://www.mussarinstitute.org/learning-season.htm.
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Chag Kosher V'Sameach (Have a happy and kosher Passover).

Carol Robinson
Co-President

By Alan Morinis

Every Jewish holiday is a Mussar lesson. We are at the cusp of Passover, so let’s see what lessons this festival holds out to guide the journey of the soul.

Let’s begin with a poem by Avraham ibn Ezra (c.1093-1167), one of the great Jewish poets of medieval Spain:

Can the tyrant defying his Maker prosper? An arrow will strike through his smugness and liver! Observe, wise one, if you still need proof, what the parted seas did to Pharaoh’s troops.

[trans. Peter Cole: The Dream of the Poem]

The reference to Pharaoh connects this poem to Pesach, which commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. The Reed Sea was split so the Jews could cross between walls of water that came crashing down on the pursuing Egyptians.

Read entire article.

By Shirah Bell, Director of Everyday Holiness Program

Our Jewish tradition has always taken the power of words very seriously. The Rabbis caution us to guard our tongue (schmirat halashon) and avoid an evil tongue (lashon ha’ra). Those of you in Everyday Holiness: The Course will learn about lashon ha’ra in Lesson 12, which focuses on truth (emet). We’ve already learned about the yezter ha’ra (the evil inclination). One could say that the yetzer ha’ra manifests itself in lashon ha’ra. With these two distinctions, we’re invited to build a structure in which we take great care about what we say about other people.

Read entire article.

The Mussar Institute depends on the generosity of supporters, and gratefully acknowledges the following donations this month:

Matthew Blumberg
Matthew Blumberg
Ellen Rosen
Eve Tanke
Avery Sanger

Donations gratefully accepted here.