[Avodah] Mussar vs. Chassidus

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 08:25:01PM -0400, T613K at aol.com pretty much hijacked
a discussion I was trying to start about immanence, transcendence and vehalakhta
biderakhav when she wrote:

: I think that chassidus has much more warmth and heart than does mussar, and  
: there's a good reason why the one attracted hundreds of thousands while the  
: other attracted...dozens.  That was in Europe and kal vechomer in  America.

It's not a competition. As have been said by a couple of different
people on the RSFM and RSRH thread -- there is no one derekh that works
for everyone.

Speaking as someone whose daf yomi is in the Y-mi... The lack of
popularity of a derekh might actually increase its attractiveness to
those of us with basically contrarian natures. But even without such
not-necessarily-positive personality quirks, different things work for
different kinds of people.

Also, someone can't choose one derekh vs another because of its
effectiveness if he simply doesn't consider the postulates compelling.
A good song doesn't change my inability to believe that I am supposed
to cleave to a Creator who spends much of my lifetime in hesteir panim
moreso than to pursue emulating Him.

Third, yes, Mussar takes a long time before seeing results. As the Alter
of Kelm put it, "Mussar takes a lifetime, but that is the reason we were
given a lifetime." Lo alekha hamlakhah ligmor. Etc... However, those of
us in ve'adim who are married do get positive feedback from our spouses.
The incremental change is noticable. It's not just bitul zeman, even
if you don't reach (can't reach -- we're talking about being in the
"tzelem Elokim") the goal.

It is that length of time that kept Mussar from being popular. There is
a story I often retell, that I heard from R' Yehoshua Wender of Houston,
who in turn is a CC alumnus (a fact that is relevent to the story).
Here's a snippet from my blog, at
<http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2008/01/what-is-mussar.shtml>:

    What killed Mussar? Mussar never survived the end of East European
    Jewry's golden era. But why not, whereas Chassidus is rebuilding
    itself?

    Two yeshiva students noticed that of all the Slabodka graduates
    who built post-War yeshivos, only R' Dovid Leibowitz (founding
    Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim) strived to build a mussar
    yeshiva. Not R' Aharon Kotler, R' Yaakov Kamenecki, Rav Hutner, Rav
    Kahaneman, etc, etc, etc... They actually went around the US asking
    these rashei yeshiva why. Rav Hutner's answer is telling. He felt
    that the American student couldn't handle the long work that real
    change requires. Rav Hutner therefore chose the more modest goal
    (in his opinion) of inspiring them with the Maharal's thought.

    It is easy to be inspired by ideals. The trick is staring at the
    details, the step-by-step work, and still following through. And
    so today's generation of Israeli Orthodox "seekers" find a home
    in some "chulent" Rav Kook's and the Tanya's philosophy and
    Breslover experiences and Carlebach minyanim. They do not search
    for a program, a plan for getting from here to there. In the US,
    Carlebachian Neo-Chassidus is popular because it provides inspiring
    experiences without that demand of the day-to-day attention to detail
    and following a spiritual discipline that defies America's love of
    the "quick fix". Rav Hutner, in the founding years of the American
    Orthodox community of today, thought all we can do is inspire people
    toward the ideal and hope for the best without conscious work or a
    plan to get there.

    Given the increasing lack of a holistic, three pillar, approach
    to Yahadus, demonstrating a real need for mussar, and the greater
    strength of the community and its educational system today providing
    opportunity, I believe we have a sizable population ready to work
    for something better. To set out and build idealists -- of all the
    various ways we have formulated the Torah's ideals.

In short, my feeling is that spiritual aliyah is inherently a lifetime
of work, and therefore it is wrong to choose a derekh based on
immediate gratification. It sort of proves one must be grappling for a
not-quite-what-was-intended path.

...
: I think a heart-warming story and a beautiful niggun will inspire many more 
: acts of tzedakah -- whether communal or private -- than will weeks of 
: pondering  Adon Olam and how best to practice Imitatio Dei.  

For many people, yes. Anyone who has seen the army of Satmer's biqur
cholim volunteers can attest to that. Or needed a Chabad house out in
yehupitz (like spending Shabbos in the Times Square area.)

OTOH, we have people who think they are inspired by a heart warming
story and a song, and aren't moved to do anything. Or they are moved by
a melody, not religion. (A more extreme example of the phenomenon I'm
discussing: There are regulars at the Carlebach Shul who are very moved
by the tefillah, and yet also are part of the UWS's Tefillin Dating
"community".)

But RAEKaplan puts it better than I just did in his essay "Shtei
Dereakhim" <http://www.aishdas.org/raek/2derachim.pdf> (translation and
footnotes RYGB's, from a Jewish Observer a"h article):
    Mussar does not disagree with Chassidus. Mussar is often satisfied
    with the Jewish strength of Chassidus; its capacity not to submit
    to the environment; its heartfelt openness bein adam l'chaveiro
    that softens petty superficial European etiquette; its readiness
    to dedicate itself to a lofty purpose, and so easily sacrifice
    for that purpose normal conditions of life; its youthful fervor
    in mitzvos, which extends well into old age. Mussar, however, also
    has a significant criticism of Chassidus: It sees Chassidus as too
    external, too theoretical and abstract. The Chasid deludes himself
    into thinking that he is getting more out of Chassidus than he
    actually is. Chassidus deals with profound thoughts and great deeds,
    but it remains outside the essence of the Chasid. Chassidus penetrates
    the depths of the greatest Torah problems - between both Man and G-d,
    and between Man and Man - but it penetrates too little the self of a
    person, so that he might engage in a reckoning as to where he stands
    in relation to his World and in relation to his obligations in his
    World... The average Chasid deludes himself into thinking that a
    nigun that he sings wells up from his heart, and that the dveykus
    that he experiences has its source in his soul, even though it is
    entirely possible that these are transient moods, not associated
    with his true essence.[1] One should not judge hastily. We cannot
    say even to the simplest Chasid, when he experiences dveykus, that
    he does not truly cleave to G-d. But that constant self-critique:
    "Perhaps I am deluding myself;" the query that should accompany every
    step in life: "Have I not strayed in this instance from the path?";
    and, finally, all that is encompassed in the thought that serves as
    a necessary precondition for Shivisi Hashem l'negdi tamid ["I have
    placed G-d before me always"], namely, the thought, "I have placed
    my "self" before me always," - all this is more prevalent in Mussar
    than in Chassidus... [2]

    [1] Reb Avraham Elya was not negating the power of nigun - he himself
    wrote nigunim of dveykus (see B'Ikvos HaYir'ah pp. 217-218). [On
    line at <http://www.aishdas.org/raek#music>, sheet music, lyrics,
    and MIDI files of someone playing the melody. -micha]

    [2] ibid., p. 22. Reb Avraham Elya noted that the founders of
    Chassidus did know and impart the need for Mussar-like introspection
    to their followers, but sufficient stress was not placed on this
    component, and over time it was forsaken (ibid., p. 136).

: Furthermore, chassidus includes a hefty dose of kabbalah -- even if it's  
: just kabbalah-lite for most people -- which makes people feel that every good 
:  deed, every mitzva and every tefillah, activates wheels within wheels in  
: the Heavenly spheres and has powerful effects throughout the cosmos...

And also leads many people to turning their yahadus from an avodas Hashem
to theurgical excercises to get what they want. More focus on segulos than
on ol malkhus Shamayim. As I said, these things depend on the person

: People need a combination of mind and heart to inspire them.   I  really 
: think that thinking about Adon Olam just won't cut it.  However,  singing Adon 
: Olam to a beautiful melody -- just might.

Your seifa contradicts your reisha. For that matter, neither Chassidus
nor Mussar is about heart to the exclusion of mind, nor mind to the
exclusion of heart. Mussar has hispaalus, hisbonenus and pe'ulos, all
experientially oriented. Chassidus has the Tanya, the Sefas Emes, etc...

What I like about Mussar is that it gives me the tools to check whether
I'm being moved by a hartzig melody or by a calling to avodas Hashem.

But that's what works FOR ME. I am not saying that it's necessarily the
right choice for everyone.

This is a chiluq I make at AishDas Board Meetings between Mussar (the
teachings of the tenu'ah) and mussar (the general topic as referred to
in Mishlei). Lower-case-m-mussar includes developing a conscious plan
of how to commit to a life of aliyah through Chassidus, Mussar, TIDE,
or whatever -- or some personal mixture of ideals and approaches from
the mesorah. Our goal is to support the broader search, not to revive
the tenu'ah from the (quite literal, r"l) ashes.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Good decisions come from experience;
micha at aishdas.org        Experience comes from bad decisions.
http://www.aishdas.org   	     - Djoha, from a Sepharadi fable
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