Rabbi Yisrael Salanter said:
The distance between the mouth and the heart is very great. Many persons say great things but they do not carry them out, for their words do not flow from their hearts. However, we must not stop talking about the great things in life, for some day our words will make an impression on our hearts and behavior.
(The 25th of Shevat is R Yisrael’s yartzeit- starting on the night of Jan 30, 2011)
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter said:
Patience: Calmly confront whatever circumstance presents itself; absorb each blow that life brings
Full post is here.
Keeping this in mind, a teaching from Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe zt”l seems appropriate. R Shlomo Wolbe teaches (Alei Shor vol 2) that the root of the Hebrew word for patience, savlanus, is based on the root word sevel, which means to carry, load, or burden. Patience doesn’t mean waiting, it means being able to absorb and carry a particular load, despite the inconvenience.
With Emes and Sheker there is no in-between .
Rav Simcha Zissel Ziv, the Alter of Kelm
At least once a week a person must practice the concept that actions speak louder than words.
Avakesh has posted Rabbi Meir Levin’s new introduction to the French edition of the book Novarodok here.
This quote is particularly interesting:
I would be over-reaching if I claimed credit for Alan Morinis’ work. This Rhodes scholar and former movie producer already found Mussar before reading a copy of Novarodok. It was Novarodok, however, which moved him to contact Rabbi Perr, who became his Musar mentor, and to go on to develop the Mussar Institute, a movement of thousands of Jews from all varieties of observance, who study Mussar as a spiritual discipline and find within it the inspiration toward a holier, more spiritual and more productive life.
It’s interesting, because, I wasn’t aware that reading Novarodok had prompted Alan Morinis to seek out Rabbi Perr. In fact, today I had emailed someone and just by chance, mentioned the affect of the Mussar Institute and Rabbi Perr’s influence on Dr. Morinis.
The Alter taught:
Hispa’alus (emotional arousement) experienced while studying mussar is something like a flash of lightning in the night-time sky. Though it may be but a momentary phenomenon, it lights the sky for the lost and wandering traveler.
 |
| Photo from here |
It’s that focus that enabled Rav Dessler to teach in London, head the first kollel in the Western hemisphere, and go on to become the mashgiach of Ponevezh . His focus was on how the individual can m’Kadesh Hashem through relationship. No matter if it was a rebbe-talmud relationship, a parent-teacher relationship, or a husband-wife relationship. Looking through Michtav M’Eliyahu or any of the volumes of Strive for Truth it is clear that Rav Dessler is speaking to the Jew of Today. We all struggle with our Yetzer Hora, we all want to look at our actions as choices not habits, and we want to emulate Hashem. Constant examination of how we can improve our mitzvos bein adam l’Makom and bein adam l’Chavero is part and parcel of being a Torah observant Jew.
I can think and dream about a vibrant resurgence of a Mussar movement for this generation. I can sit and email like-mind people about the importance of self-growth and the foundations of Mussar that, like a cassette tape, seem almost obsolete to the average twenty-something. I can and I do. However, I can also look at Rav Dessler’s life and see that had he confinded is ideas to the written word or interacted with a limited number of people, his impact might have been much more localized. He made the best of every enviorment he found himself in and constantly tried to reach is potential. For him Yiddishkeit and growth were inseparable and not a spectator sport.
I titled this post “the living yerusha” because no matter if you are learning full-time or working you are in contact with people. It’s those relationships that constantly require examination. How do we interact with others? Are we giving or taking from someone? What example are we setting for our children? Do we give enough? These questions are important, because within them lies the potential to make ourselves like Hashem. We can become a Giver and bring a level of kedusha to something as simple as offering directions to someone who is lost, complimenting a co-worker, or setting the table for dinner. That’s Rav Dessler’s living yerusha.
For previous posts regarding Rav Dessler click here.
 |
| Summer 1990 |
Recently I’ve been wanting to acquire two things. Both are probably due to what is termed a “mid-life crisis” (my Hebrew birthday was the 21st of Kislev and will be falling out in a few days) and attempting to recapture my youth. First, I am ready to start driving a “Smokey and the Bandit” Trans Am and I want to start sporting a goatee, instead of my short beard. It’s high time that I shake things up with my image.
Just kidding. Now I’ll be serious.
Firstly I’ve been thinking about growing my bangs out. I had rockin’ bangs in the late 80s and I think that it’d feel younger with something hanging down over my forehead. It really won’t happen because I have no interest in that “in between” stage of waiting for bangs (been there, grown that).
Secondly, as I’ve jokingly told my wife and a few friends, been think of getting the band back together. Of course, that would be the band that I never had. Two days before Chanukka I felt an urge to buy a guitar and start taking lessons. I, once upon at time, from first through fourth grade played guitar. Due to a geographic move I wasn’t able to continue. At the suggestion of a good friend I decided to sit on this urge and see if it’s a real desire or just a fleeting idea. I’m still sitting. However, the initial catalyst is that I know that it shows a lack of middos on my part to just sit and complain about not finding J-music that I like and I’d rather be pro-active and just make my own. There are a nice amount of frum musicians in Chicago and if motivated I’m sure I could cold call a few and ask if they want to join my band that I don’t have. Then we could play the music I have in my head and the seven odd songs that I haven’t written yet (but know the pasukim/phrases that would make up the lyrics). I would convince my closest friend here to play drums and I would sing, maybe strum guitar (if I take lessons), or play my instrument of choice…the slide whistle.
It’s the perfect time in my life to start a band. My kids are still young enough that I can play for a while, get it out of my system and still not tarnish my family’s image when it comes to future shidduchim. I have a few ideas for band names:
Shelaymus (refering to perfection & a reference to mussar)
Vytair (Yiddish for continue)
The Noise Kloiz (a Klotz was another name for a shul/sheibel that like-minded people belonged to)
Husker Nu (a pun on Husker Du)
Hispa’alus (literally “with energy and passion”, a method of mussar study innovated by R Y Salanter invovling repeating phrases in a melody and invovling your whole body)
Oi Vaad (a play on words of the Canadian metal band named Voivod and also a reference to Mussar vaadim)
Derech Eretz (way of the world, good manners)
Novordorock (play on words of the Novordok school of mussar and their network of 70+ yeshivos)
Ok, these are only ideas. Nothing is set in stone. Speaking of which, I was thinking about “Even Shelayma” as a band name, since it has that “rock” thing (and is also the name of a sefer containing idea’s by the GRA), but it’s to similar to Evën Sh’siyah. I can totally see the band that I don’t have performing at the Chicago Jewish Music festival (held every three years) or even playing a gig at someone’s Purim seudah. Of course all merch for band would be available from cafepress.com and I could even make some bumperstickes that say: If you don’t like my driving then go against the system and purchase a song by the band (fill in name of band here) on iTunes.
While the music would be rather fast paced with emphasis on base, guitar, and drums with catchy harmonies, the pasukim and lyrics would resonate with the thinking Jew (or the Jew who isn’t even aware that they need to be thinking) that wishes to be passionate about their Avodah and relationship with Hashem and those around them. I don’t think any tracks would be vehicles for kiruv (like Journeys’ “Conversation in the Womb”), but you never know. I sort of imagine songs that you would want to crank up when driving in the snow during carpool, yet melodic enough that you can slow them down and sing them as niggunim at the Shabbos table or after havdalah, to start out the week pumped and ready for action. Maybe I’ll even start singing a little this week after havdalah. I always tell my son a short short mussar idea, usually from R Yisrael Salanter, so to add a niggun for another 30 seconds couldn’t hurt.
I don’t think the band would be invited to any gigs in day schools, since our music wouldn’t sound traditionally Jewish (unless we sang acapella, then anything goes). I also don’t think we would make a video and put it on You Tube, I’ll leave that for the Maccabeats and other boy bands who would have more universal appeal. For sure we would not get booked for late night talk shows or multi-day music festivals, since Mattisyahu seems to have that covered quite well and affectively (I might add).
We’ll probably only play in someone’s basement or the social hall of a shul somewhere. Maybe if we get a following (as in people related to those in the band) we could even get booked at a local restaurant. That would be super-sweet, especially if I can work out arrangements for the band to get unlimited Coke or Diet Mountain Dew. I guess that when the band that I don’t have finally forms and starts playing, then we will only have one true way to see if we’ve made it. The true tell-all sign of our success will be if we get banned and an article appears on Yeshiva World News, Matzav, and VIN about how our music is an affront to Emunas HaChamim and listening to us is far worse than not allowing internet in your home (but letting your teens have a cell phone with unsupervised web access).
Is it a dream? Probably.
I’ll add it to my current dream list:
Health for my family
Financial Security
Writing for my Nineteen Letters blog again
Starting two mussar vaadim in Chicago (one for those already observant and one for those who are currently non-observant)
Taking my son to a Piamenta concert
Helping my children reach their potential and feel fulfilled
A long and happy life with my wife
Getting the band (that I don’t have) back together
Rabbi Yosef Yozel Hurwitz, the Alter of Novarodok said:
A utensil can be either michlig, fleishig, or parve. A person can’t be pareve, he must be one or the other.
Rabbi Yisrael Salanter said:
Some people concentrate on the unimportant things in life and neglect the important ones.
