By Rabbi Berel Simpser
Minneapolis, MN.

As a yeshiva-educated person, the word “Mussar” has been in my vocabulary for three decades. Summer camp, post-9th grade saw my first foray into Mussar learning late at night as part of a summer learning program.

Mussar was the “thing” you learned at the end of the day, at the end of your regular learning schedule (or “seder” as it is referred to in Yeshivos), something that was just there, without much understanding of its purpose or how to “use” it.  In Elul, the month preceding Rosh Hashana, which focuses on introspection, Mussar “seder” actually encroached on the regular learning time – we dedicated an extra 15 minutes at the end of the day (6:15 to 6:30 p.m.) which was punctuated by a loud bang on the bimah with the call, “Mussar seder”.
 
As one grew older and more sophisticated in Torah study, one may have delved into more complex Mussar works such as Chovos Halevovos. But there was something missing. A “how to” manual for the modern scene, a system, a key, that could not only unlock the “world” of Mussar, but also open great vistas of human growth, a path amid the mighty torrents that seek to constantly engulf us and drown our souls. (There are individuals, a minority however, who are Mussar giants themselves in our day and age. They have mastered this subject and use it in their daily living and in their instruction to a new generation of students.)

In my adult life, Mussar became entwined (or lost, you might say) within the learning of “hashkapha” – loosely translated as philosophy, but more correctly understood as the Torah outlook on living. Self-help books of the Torah genre were proliferating monthly. We were inundated with ideas presented by contemporary English speaking (and writing) mentors. But it was more of the same – an immense amount of valuable information, wonderful ideas that could be of great help to many people, but something was still lacking - an overriding system by which one could utilize the sage guidelines of the ancient Mussar giants in a contemporary manner that spoke to this generation’s way of thinking and entrenched behavior model.

Fast forward to 2003. The Afikim Foundation in New York invites a group of us for a “Kiruv (“Outreach”) Roundtable.” Many ideas are presented to us, and we offer feedback on how we think they will survive the test of reality across the country. There is where we meet Dr. Alan Morinis, who looks quite different for a Mussar expert (no long beard, non-conventional background).  He begins explaining what his mission and vision is for Mussar. I, as the dozen others, begin thinking of the possibilities. Here is a centuries-old Torah curriculum that has been mainly inaccessible and misunderstood in our modern time, and there seems to be a key, a system, by which we can, not only access it ourselves, but transmit these ideals to our constituents as well. It didn’t hurt that Afikim offered to train us and to send Dr. Morinis to our local cities to kick off a national Mussar campaign. 

That was more than four years ago - two trips by Dr. Morinis to Des Moines, Iowa, which we called home for seven years, a year’s worth of successful workshops there, his visit to Minneapolis last May, and an opportunity for me to start Mussar workshops in our new home – the Twin Cities. The response has been phenomenal. The program spoke to my very essence as a Jewish educator – to instill in people the notion that all wisdom/truth comes from G-d through His Torah, and all self-help, social, inter-relational guidance can be found in the centuries-old texts of the Torah, reflected in the classics of Mussar.  It only needed an access point. Now so many people are asking – so when will the Mussar program resume?  Can I “retake” the original workshop?  That last question tells me that they have “gotten it” because they realize that it is not a subject matter to be read once and then move on. It is a lifelong guide for living that can and must be studied and reviewed to insure success in our “bein adom lachaveiro” – human interaction.

As for me? This Yeshiva bachur (student) hopes his actions are improving and he is refining his character traits.  But one thing is for sure – he now has a user friendly manual and system, and all he needs to do is use it as the Almighty prescribed.

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