Transforming Ethical Behavior: The Musar Movement and the Care of the Self
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Date
2014
Authors
Blackmer, Corinne E.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
R. Israel ben Ze’ev Wolf Lipkin, better known as Israel Salanter (1810-1883), was born in Zhogory, Lithuania. He studied under the ethicist
R. Yosef Zundel, whose teacher had been the Vilna Gaon. As a young man, Salanter
observed that many Jews were punctilious in ritual but not in ethical observance - that
“tradition” had become inertia and habit, routine and indifference, and mechanical
performance and unself-consciousness. Regarding the Torah as the source of virtuous
human relationships, he believed all the mitzvot were equally important. He found inspiration in the humble and ethical behavior of Zundel and the Vilna Gaon, and modeled himself after them. He became the principal founder and architect of the Musar
Movement, which radiated from Lithuania, Poland, and Russia in the 19th century
to much of the Ashkenazi Jewish world in the 20th.
Description
Keywords
Ethical Behavior, Jews, Musar Movement, Lithuania, history, article
Citation
Blackmer C. E. Transforming Ethical Behavior: the Musar Movement and the Care of the Self / Corinne E. Blackmer // Judaica Ukrainica : Annual Journal of Jewish Studies. - 2014. - Vol. 3. - P. 24-36.