R’ Salanter’s Innovations (1)
Aside from being a man of principle, action, dedication, and of great moral
depth, R’ Yisrael Salanter was also an innovator. We’ll delve into ten of
his greatest innovations as enunciated by his eminent disciple, R’ Yitzchak
Blazer.
First off, let it be said that every undertaking needs a “mission statement”
-- an account of the aim we hope to achieve said outright that’s made
readily available, and which is to be reiterated by those in pursuit of it
again and again, in order to keep things in perspective. And that’s all the
more so true of lofty aims like spiritual excellence. What good would our
wanting to attain it be without a clear statement of what would go into it,
and a constant review of that statement? And so the first of R’ Salanter’s
innovations was to have us read and reread Mussar texts every day, since
they lay out that mission so well.
Why, though, did R’ Salanter feel it necessary to institute that practice in
a generation that seemingly knew the Jewish goal of spiritual excellence so
well? Wasn’t it so manifest to them that they could nearly read it in their
coffee cups, let alone in the actions and words of their friends and
neighbors in synagogue and all around them? R’ Salanter clearly didn’t think
they could do without an out and out statement of goals.
As R’ Blazer put it (and quite surprisingly to us, given how we idealize the
past and think we alone are off the mark), “the fear of Heaven had fallen to
the depths, service to G-d had weakened, and few paid attention to (the need
to acquire) a lofty character” in his day, much as it has in our own. After
all, everyone was fixated on making as much as he or she could (for some
very legitimate reasons, as well as for some less admirable ones). And the
yetzer harah had gotten the better of them. It became clear to R’ Salanter
that something had to be done, and that regular Mussar study was an answer,
“since it was able to infuse life into dried-out bones … to turn hearts of
stone to hearts of flesh, and to revive a troubled spirit”.
So he went from congregation to congregation, community to community,
lecturing about the benefits of regular, serious Mussar study. And no one
was to be exempt, be he or she a scholar or a householder, young or old,
rich or poor, deeply religious or not -- “all are obliged to set aside times
to study works (that focus) on the fear of Heaven and on Mussar”. And he
underscored that point until his dying day. While many great rabbis before
him agreed that Mussar works were deeply effective in turning one around to
righteousness, no one before R’ Salanter had had the idea to press forward
with a universal plan for its study.
