Ethics in Practice: Introducing Mussar
There’s a beautiful prayer that begins the morning service:
אֱלֹהַי נְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּתַֽתָּ בִּי טְהוֹרָה הִיא
אַתָּה בְרָאתָהּ
אַתָּה יְצַרְתָּהּ
אַתָּה נְפַחְתָּהּ בִּי וְאַתָּה מְשַׁמְּ֒רָהּ בְּקִרְבִּי
My God! the soul which You bestowed in me is pure;
You created it, You formed it,
You breathed it into me and You preserve it within me.
I’ve thought a great deal about how one introduces the concept of “soul” to children. We adults hardly agree on what constitutes the soul, how can we convey such a vague idea to our young learners? I use the Socratic method by asking guided questions that encourage them to think more deeply and make connections that will allow them to build the foundations of their own future spirituality.
When leading children’s services and preparing to sing the prayer above, called “Elohai Neshama,” I’ll ask what makes them truly unique: “What makes you, you?”
Their answers are profound as they reflect on the qualities and characteristics that they believe reflect their unique essence. I suggest that’s a way of understanding what their souls might be.
The Mussar tradition emphasizes that each person has a pure soul—an essence created and sustained by God. However, this purity often becomes clouded by the habits, tendencies, and challenges of being human. Over time, our vices and distractions obscure the virtues that our souls seek to embody.
Mussar teaches that we can restore the balance and allow our souls to shine. It’s not enough to merely declare our goodness, our honesty, or our fidelity, we must strive to live it. Mussar practice requires intention, reflection, and persistence—virtues are always “works in progress”. By developing our awareness and our intention through study and reflection we can seek to have our actions align more and more with our ideals. Over time, the purity of our souls and our own uniqueness is revealed.
–Rabbi Ron Stern
Mussar source here.