Musar literature: Difference between revisions

In Judaism, [[ethical monotheism]] originated, and along with it came the highly didactic [[Ethics in the Bible#In Judaism|ethics in the Torah and Tanach]].

 

 

An example from the [[Tanakh]] is the earliest known text of the positive form of the famous "[[Golden Rule]]":<ref name="Plaut pp.892">[[Gunther Plaut]], ''The Torah&nbsp;— A Modern Commentary''; Union of American Hebrew Congregations, New York 1981; pp.892.</ref>

{{quote|What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow: this is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.|{{sourcetext|source=Babylonian Talmud|version=|book=Shabbath|chapter=folio|verse=31a}}|[[Babylonian Talmud]]}}

 

 

== Medieval Musar literature ==

 

Medieval works of Musar literature were composed by a range of rabbis and others, including rationalist philosophers and adherents of Kabbalistic mysticism. [[Joseph Dan]] has argued that medieval Musar literature reflects four different approaches: the [[Jewish philosophy|philosophical approach]]; the standard [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic approaches]]; the approach of [[Chassidei Ashkenaz]]; and the [[Kabbalistic]] approach.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

 

=== Standard Rabbinic Musar literature ===

[[Chassidei Ashkenaz]] (literally "the Pious of Germany") was a Jewish movement in the 12th century and 13th century founded by Rabbi [[Judah ben Samuel of Regensburg|Judah the Pious]] (Rabbi Yehuda HeChassid) of [[Regensburg]], Germany, which was concerned with promoting Jewish piety and morality. The most famous work of Musar literature produced by this school was ''The Book of the Pious'' ([[Sefer Hasidim]]).<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

 

=== Mesillat Yesharim ===

[[File:Mesilat Yesharim.jpg|thumb|right|Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Just): cover page]]

{{Main|Mesillat Yesharim}}

 

 

=== Ottoman Musar literature ===

<blockquote>Beginning in the eighteenth century, a number of Ottoman rabbis had undertaken the task of fighting the ignorance they believed was plaguing their communities by producing works of Jewish ethics (''musar'') in [[Judeo-Spanish]] (also known as Ladino). This development was inspired in part by a particular strain within [[Jewish mysticism]] ([[Lurianic]] [[Kabbalah]]) which suggested that every Jew would necessarily play a role in the mending of the world required for redemption. The spread of ignorance among their coreligionists thus threatened to undo the proper order of things. It was with this in mind that these Ottoman rabbis--all capable of publishing in the more highly esteemed [[Hebrew]] language of their religious tradition--chose to write in their vernacular instead. While they democratized rabbinic knowledge by translating it for the masses, these "vernacular rabbis" (to use Matthias Lehmann's term) also attempted to instill in their audiences the sense that their texts required the mediation of individuals with religious training. Thus, they explained that common people should gather together to read their books in ''meldados'', or study sessions, always with the guidance of someone trained in the study of [[Jewish law]].<ref>Julia Phillips Cohen, http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=26171</ref></blockquote>

 

 

=== Haskalah Musar literature ===

 

 

=== Hasidic Musar literature ===

 

=== Mitnagdic and Yeshivish Musar literature ===

{{Main|Musar movement}}

 

 

Musar literature has been composed by Reform rabbis including [[Ruth Abusch-Magder]], noted for her writing on humility, and [[Karyn Kedar]], noted for her writing on forgiveness.<ref name=":0" />

 

Musar literature has been composed by Conservative rabbis including [[Amy Eilberg]] (noted for her writing on curiosity and courage) and [[Danya Ruttenberg]] (noted for her writing on curiosity).<ref name=":0" />

 

Musar literature has been composed by [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]] rabbis including [[Susan Schnur]] (noted for her writing on forgiveness), [[Sandra Lawson]] (noted for her writing on curiosity), [[Rebecca Alpert]] (noted for her writing on humility), and [[Mordecai Kaplan]] (noted for his writing on humility).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Claussen |first=Geoffrey D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4H5dEAAAQBAJ |title=Modern Musar: Contested Virtues in Jewish Thought |date=2022 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8276-1888-6 |language=en}}</ref> Schnur's writing show how gender matters in discussions of forgiveness as a virtue.<ref name=":0" />

 

== External links ==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130503081953/http://www.kolhamevaser.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/kh-musar-and-jewish-ethics-iii-1-update.pdf Musar and Jewish Ethics pdf] ''[[Yeshiva University]] Student Magazine''

* Benjamin Brown, [https://www.academia.edu/5157596/From_Principles_to_Rules_and_from_Musar_to_Halakhah_-_The_Hafetz_Hayims_Rulings_on_Libel_and_Gossip From Principles to Rules and from Musar to Halakhah - The Hafetz Hayims Rulings on Libel and Gossip].