Rabbi Yisrael Salanter use to say:  When a child plays with a piece of wood in the bath, and he pretends that it is a ship, if we take the piece of wood away from him he has the same experience as an adult would have if a real ship of his sunk.  For the child, the piece of wood is like an adult’s ship.  When an adult interferes in a child’s play, he steals something from the child. (From Zeriah ubinyan bechinuch by R Shlomo Wolbe z”tl, translated as Planting and Building by R Leib Kelemen)


There are times when we ask our kids to stop playing a game or a Lego construction breaks and our children get upset.  Until I read this, my reaction usually was, “It’s only a game.” or “You can build it again”.  R Salanter shows great insight into the mind of a child, because what he is playing or pretending is his reality.  Hopefully, showing sensitivity to our children when they are young will help them grow to be sensitive to others.

Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant said:
“All worries are forbidden, except when one worries about his worrying”
from Tnuas haMussar by R Dov Katz

Can a man walk if he does not have legs?  Can he see if he does not have eyes?  Likewise, without Mussar study, Torah and Divine service cannot be established within a man who is stricken with the disease of the yetzer hara.

-from Letter Three of Ohr Yisrael  by Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant

“Mussar is the contemplation and examination of all the paths and actions of man.  From Mussar one is protected from the trait of desire and the yetzer hara, which disturbs and stops every good and worthy thing.”
-from Letter One of Ohr Yisrael  by Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant

Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant


“Promote yourself, but do not demote another.”

Rabbi Yisrael Lipkin of Salant

In the first days of his appointment as a teacher in Vilna, before his family arrived there, R’ Yisrael chose to eat at the table of others.  It was customary then for the yeshiva students to eat each day with a different family, and R’ Yisrael insisted on participating in this practice, despite all persuasions that it was beneath his dignity.

From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik

Rav Yisrael Lipkin of Salant was quoted as saying:

“Promote yourself but do not demote another“

Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

On the Torah’s statement that a wife was created as “ezer kenegdo”, a helpmate against him,” the Talmud explains, “If he is worthy, she is a helpmate. If he is not worthy, she is against him.” R’ Yisrael added, “This applies to every minute of a person’s life. Whenever I improve myself, my wife becomes better too.”

From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik