Have you ever stopped to consider why people are the way they are? Did you ever notice that, while most of us intend to be kind and giving, we often fall short? Don’t dispair, there’s an answer – Mussar!
This year’s community class will be an exploration of Jewish literature called Mussar — Jewish ethical literature. Judaism teaches that we have 48 character traits and we all carry varied measures of each trait. In the end, our lives are measured by the character that we have. Mussar helps us intentionally develop our inner virtues in order to improve our lives.
Rabbi Alan Morinis writes in his book, Everyday Holiness, “What sets one person apart from another is not whether we have certain traits while someone else has different ones, but rather the degree, or measure of the traits that live in each of our souls.”
“The angriest person, for example, has an excess of the anger trait, but Mussar insists that there must be at least some degree of calm within that raging soul. So must there also be a touch of anger in even the calmest individual. The stingiest person still has at least a grain of generosity, and so on with all the traits.” (Everyday Holiness, 19).
In each session, we will explore two to three character traits from gratitude to humility to silence to trust. Each class will include exercises to remind us daily of the character trait we are working on. Every student leaves this class with a personalized spiritual curriculum.
For registration information contact Talia Goldman: goldmant@queens.edu