I think the Musar approach of Israel Salanter is very important. That is to learn the traditional books of Medieval Ethics. Yet I find it difficult to find any argument to make for it. But if I could I would. It is more like an intuitive thing.
This refers to Christians also. There is nothing quite like the books of personal ethics from the Middle Ages. Christians could take for example the books of the mystics from Spain and make their own version of the Musar movement. That is not the same as learning theology. It means having something like a בית מוסר "a House of Musar." Or a "House of Ethics." The idea would be to have room in which there are only books of ethics and fear of God. I am not familiar with what books are available to Christians in this fashion. The only ones I know about are of Saint John of the Cross. And the idea is not to have a reading room. It is to learn these books out loud and with emotion so that the message gets absorbed into the subconscious.
There is no way for Judeo -Christian civilization to survive and flourish without this. Because it is the ethics and the fear of God which makes Judeo-Christian civilization what it is.
Now I admit that just learning books of ethics does not automatically make one ethical. But you know when you encounter a person whose learning consists of the Duties of the Heart or some book of the disciples of Israel Salanter that you are going to be treated on a whole different level of decency than when you met someone who learning consists of other kinds of religious learning. There is in fact nothing like Musar to imprint morality into people. And unless you think of yourself or others as being automatically moral then clearly this is a desirable goal.
This refers to Christians also. There is nothing quite like the books of personal ethics from the Middle Ages. Christians could take for example the books of the mystics from Spain and make their own version of the Musar movement. That is not the same as learning theology. It means having something like a בית מוסר "a House of Musar." Or a "House of Ethics." The idea would be to have room in which there are only books of ethics and fear of God. I am not familiar with what books are available to Christians in this fashion. The only ones I know about are of Saint John of the Cross. And the idea is not to have a reading room. It is to learn these books out loud and with emotion so that the message gets absorbed into the subconscious.
There is no way for Judeo -Christian civilization to survive and flourish without this. Because it is the ethics and the fear of God which makes Judeo-Christian civilization what it is.
Now I admit that just learning books of ethics does not automatically make one ethical. But you know when you encounter a person whose learning consists of the Duties of the Heart or some book of the disciples of Israel Salanter that you are going to be treated on a whole different level of decency than when you met someone who learning consists of other kinds of religious learning. There is in fact nothing like Musar to imprint morality into people. And unless you think of yourself or others as being automatically moral then clearly this is a desirable goal.
