The Mussar Movement – Torah vs. Chochmas Yavan continued

12 The Mussar Movement – Torah vs. Chochmas Yavan continued

We spoke last time [1] about how we need the maylos haTorah recognizable in our life, not that we are striving towards something beyond ourselves. We said that Torah is built in such a way that it shows up in our lives but the secular education i.e. Chochmas Yavan has great ideas but doesn’t show up in our life because it is too lofty and abstract. 

The goal of mussar

One way to express this concept from last time is that we want our life to be a part of the revelation of Torah. Indeed, this is precisely what mussar wants. R’ Yisroel Salanter had a deep understanding that only through mussar, meaning, through tikkun hamiddos (rectification of personal character traits) can the Torah show up in our life. In this way, avodas Hashem has our life becoming connected to Torah. 

Yet there is a big challenge in this endeavor which we need to confront. The issue is that our life is a life which does not intrinsically fit with the Torah. 

Example from R’ Yisroel

R’ Yisroel says in Michtav 30 [2]; “When you want to know what the Torah wants in your practical life, you cannot bring a mofes (sign) and you cannot bring a proof, rather you can only have the shikul daas hachochamim (weighing the options through the lens of the Torah).”

A mofes is something we see with our eyes, how is this distinct from the next point that we cannot bring “proofs” from the Torah? It is because a mofes is when we see with our eyes what our rebbi who had the same challenge and experience as us did! Yet R’ Yisroel says we cannot copy that because our life is different than our rebbi! We need advice and direction specifically in our “time and place.” 

If our life fit the Torah exactly, our life would have us be like an assembly line worker, where everything would just fit in place perfectly. Boruch Hashem it is not like this! Our life is shaped one way and the Torah is shaped a different way, and therefore we need to work on ourselves, and in the end the Torah will show up in our life. We are built of the four physical elements, but we are also taryag (613)! So although our flesh/body/middos are from the physical realm, we are at the same time, taryag, meaning the realm of the Torah! We are obligated to work on our world so that the Torah will fit!

Gedolim biographies

When I read biographies of gedolim, I feel like I am reading a Shulchan Aruch or Mesillas Yesharim with comics; each page of law or mussar is artfully illustrated with gedolim pictures! In other words, these biographies are missing the importance and uniqueness of each person’s life.

R’ Yisroel says in Michtav 19, “I cannot really give you any advice because you live in your own world. When we meet in person we can discuss together how the Torah can fit your life.” There is a book called “Eitzos (Advice) and Hadrachos (Guidance) from the Steipler” it is an interesting book, but R’ Yisroel is telling us that this book won’t tell us how to live our life with the Torah! R’ Yisroel could not even give advice to his personal talmid, certainly this book from the Steipler cannot be a personal advisor for us.

“Built in contradictions” provide the framework for mussar

Hashem wants us to work to make Torah fit us. Not by forcing Torah in, but by realizing that our life is at least 50% of the picture. Our life has to be a part of the Torah, not run over by the Torah. Unfortunately, we do not have this approach to our life nowadays. 

In Michtav 20, R’ Yisroel does give guidance, and it is exactly the type of guidance which pushes us towards a personal expression of the Torah’s obligations; he lists 8-10 topics and examines both sides of each issue, highlighting inherent contradictions. For example, he discusses the tension between the need to be a porush—a hermit completely isolated to focus solely on Torah study and deep contemplation—and the equally critical need to engage with the world. Without involvement in the world, one cannot develop good middos or fully experience and refine their kochos hanefesh. Another topic he elucidates there is the conflict between the need to write teshuvos (responsa) as a conclusion to our learning, but how we also need to be able to plumb the eternal depths of each word of Torah for a thousand years!

We struggle against this letter by R’ Yisroel because we want clear guidance and advice like the Non-Jews give. Yet it is here that the person’s life can take on great meaning and the Torah can find expression.

Here is another contradiction which we need to work out; the Vilna Gaon says that when we are working on a midda we need to go in small steps but the Rambam says that when we are working on a midda we need to “go to the other extreme.” How does this make sense? The answer is that it means “a small application of this tikkun hamiddos, but within that small application, it is “the other extreme.”” This is the Torah’s way for character development, and what the Rambam means when he says we need to be “going to the other extreme.” Aristotle actually also said these words, but within his literal concept it is impossible to achieve and any outcomes will be corrupt ones.

In conclusion

In conclusion our life needs to be “a unique and authentic edition of Torah.”

I once watched a documentary that explored how altruistic thought can reshape the brain and refine a person’s middos. It featured a trained biologist who became a Zen Buddhist, dedicating his life to meditating on goodness and kindness. However, he can’t marry or have children because they would “disturb his thoughts of kindness.” This is not the Jewish way. In Judaism, children may disturb us, and we perform chesed for them. A spouse might become upset with us, and we are responsible for growing through that.

The Mussar movement was not a psychological endeavor focused on mere self-improvement; but rather rising to the challenge of “how do we deal with the obligation for Torah to show up in our life, when our life has crooked middos?” This is the richness of our avodas Hashem, within this contradiction there is always work and growth to be had. 

[1] Editor’s Note: This was in the Chanukah shiur entitled: “Shiur 10 – A Personal Relationship with Avoda Vs Chochmas Yivanis” and also in “Shiur 11 – The mussar implications of Taryag: Torah vs the West”

[2] Editor’s Note: This piece from Michtav 30 is discussed in depth by Rav Leuchter in the shiur entitled: “Cheshbon Hanefesh 15 (2008-2009)”