Israel Salanter: Difference between revisions

Lipkin was known as the father of the [[Musar movement]]<ref>{{cite web | url= https://jewishcurrents.org/february-2-rabbi-israel-salanters-musar-movement | title=February 2: Rabbi Israel Salanter's Musar Movement }}</ref> that developed, particularly among the Lithuanian Jews, in 19th century Orthodox Eastern Europe. The Hebrew term musar (מוּסַר), is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct. The term was used by the Musar movement to refer to disciplined efforts to further ethical and spiritual development. The study of Musar is a part of the study of Jewish ethics.

Lipkin is best known for stressing that the inter-personal laws of the [[Torah]] bear as much weight as Divine obligations. According to Lipkin, adhering to the ritual aspects of Judaism without developing one's relationships with others and oneself was an unpardonable parody. There are many anecdotal stories about him that relate to this moral equation, see for example the following references.<ref>{{Cite web| url= https://www.shemayisrael.com/publicat/hazon/tzedaka/The_Importance_of_a_Friendly_Greeting.html|title=The Importance of a Friendly Greeting|website=www.shemayisrael.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url= http://www.jewishamerica.com/ja/timeline/mussar.cfm |title=The Mussar Movement |access-date=2011-06-29 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110527174055/http://www.jewishamerica.com/ja/timeline/mussar.cfm |archive-date=2011-05-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The concept of the [[subconscious]] appears in the writings of Lipkin well before the concept was popularized by [[Sigmund Freud]]. Already in 1880,<ref name=EtzCon> The first appearance of this concept is in an essay entitled "An Essay on the Topic of Reinforcing those who Learn our Holy [[Torah]]," subsequently published in a collection of essays entitled "Etz Pri" written by a student of Lipkin based on his teacher's notes. {{cite web | url= https://winners-auctions.com/en/node/18086 | title= Etz Pri - Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Vilna 1881. First Edition | date= February 21, 2018 | access-date=May 20, 2019 | quote=40 pages, cardboard binding }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 | bot=InternetArchiveBot | fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> the concept of conscious and subconscious processes and the role they play in the psychological, emotional and moral functioning of man are fully developed and elucidated. These concepts are referred to in his works as the "outer" ''[chitzoniut]'' and "inner" ''[penimiut]'' processes, they are also referred to as the "clear" ''[klarer]'' and "dark" ''[dunkler]'' processes. They form a fundamental building block of many of Rabbi Salanter's letters, essays and teachings. He would write that it is critical for a person to recognize what his subconscious motivations ''[negiot]'' are and to work on understanding them.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Goldberg|first=Hillel|title=Israel Salanter: text, structure idea. An Early Psychologist of the Unconscious|publisher=Ktav|year=1982}}</ref>

One of the more popular teachings of Lipkin is based on a real life encounter he had with a shoemaker one very late night. It was [[Motza'ei Shabbat]] (Saturday night after Shabbat) and Lipkin was on the way to the [[synagogue]] to recite [[Selichot]]. Suddenly he felt a tear in his shoe, so he looked around town to see if there was a shoemaker still open for business at this late hour. Finally he located a shoemaker sitting in his shop working next to his candle. Lipkin walked in and asked him, "Is it too late now to get my shoes repaired?" The shoemaker replied, "As long as the candle is burning, it is still possible to repair." Upon hearing this, Lipkin ran to the synagogue and preached to the public what he had learned from the shoemaker. In his words, as long as the candle is burning, as long as one is still alive, it is still possible to repair one's soul.<ref>{{cite web |title=אוצר החכמה | url= https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/Book.aspx?23406 |website=tablet.otzar.org |access-date=14 July 2024}} ''עבודת המדות (Avodat haMidot)'', Page 12</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=אוצר החכמה | url= https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/Book.aspx?600032 |website=tablet.otzar.org |access-date=14 July 2024}} ''עבודת המדות (Avodat haMidot)'', Page 34 </ref><ref>{{cite web |title=אוצר החכמה | url= https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/Book.aspx?195802 |website=tablet.otzar.org |access-date=14 July 2024}} ''עבודת המדות (Avodat haMidot)'', Page 27 </ref><ref>{{cite web |title=אוצר החכמה | url= https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/Book.aspx?60437 |website=tablet.otzar.org |access-date=14 July 2024}} ''עבודת המדות (Avodat haMidot)'', Page 26 </ref><ref>{{cite web |title=אוצר החכמה | url= https://www.otzar.org/wotzar/Book.aspx?179049 |website=tablet.otzar.org |access-date=14 July 2024}} ''עבודת המדות (Avodat haMidot)'', Page 133 </ref>