Way #48
I sit down at the computer to write this moments after completing our latest mussar book in our Thursday mussar class. It is a book that has taken us a relatively short time to finish - only a year-and-a-half (by contrast, we've been working on our Monday night class text for five years).
The book we finished is called With Heart in Mind by Alan Morinis. It is based on the famous Mishnaic work Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, chapter 6, verse 6. The verse mentions that there are 48 ways that a person can "acquire" Torah, and goes on to list the 48 specific character traits that a person is asked to try to achieve over the course of a lifetime.
The list includes some intuitive ones, like managing anger, judging others favorably, having a good heart, and acquiring humbleness. Then there are some that are remote and inscrutable, such as "debating with students" and "making a fence around your activities." Each week we would delve into one of the 48 ways and make it real. Each week a homework practice was assigned (and completed with mixed efficiency). Each week this group of dedicated, growth-oriented women would surround each other with vulnerability and faith. I am proud of them all.
Some women would call in and participate by phone; some listened to the class recordings on their own time; once we even broadcasted the class via Facebook Live video. Some came religiously (haha) and some sporadically. Some weeks we had eight women and some weeks 25. It didn't matter: the mood in the room was the same - women coming together to learn from and with me and each other, and walk away more committed to living their best selves.
The very last trait of the 48 is one of the more remote ones: Saying Something in the Name of Its Speaker. It calls upon us to give credit to others where we have benefited from their teaching, information, ideas, or success. So as we complete this Thursday mussar text and celebrate this milestone, I'd like to give credit where credit is due for the success of the mussar class phenomenon.
Years ago, my husband was teaching a marriage class to JFX Sunday school, and he happened to mention "learning mussar" as a necessary component in developing spiritually satisfying relationships. After class, Audrey Weiss came over to me and said, "What is mussar? And is this something we should be learning? And if so, will you learn it with me?" And Robin Green, standing right next to her said, "Yes, what she said, me too!" So I went on to explain that mussar was the study of ancient Jewish texts focused on character improvement as a path to spiritual development, and that indeed we should, and would, and did - that was the beginning of the "JFX mussar movement." Lisa Millard and Heather Greene were instrumental in forming other classes (and if others were too, please practice mussar and forgive me for the omission).
I credit you ladies with the foresight and tenacity to make this happen, and to continue studying mussar with me. You ladies have enriched my life in so many ways. I am proud to practice the 48th way and credit my source - and to continue to study mussar with all my favorite mussar friends.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ruchi
