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<DIV><BR>RMB wrote:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>Read what the Lithuanian Yeshivos were like. There was a reason a
number<BR>of them invited elements of mussar in.<BR><BR>One can be quite learned
and not have matching middos.<BR><BR>But my point wasn't about that. It was
about there being no rational<BR>connection between lomdus and middos, and thus
any benefit would be<BR>metarational -- a
choq.<<<BR><BR>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>It is true that a person /can/ learn Torah and still not be a very nice
person -- unfortunately we do see people like this -- but in general, Torah
learning does tend to refine one's character. The connection between
lomdos and middos does not seem to me to be a chok but seems to be perfectly
rational. One can hardly learn a few pages of Gemara without
coming across lessons in character, integrity, chessed, truth and so on.
If you can understand what you are reading -- and you are reading this stuff for
hours every day -- how can you not be affected by it?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mussar didn't come to teach anything new (as the introduction to Mesilas
Yesharim says) but only to bring together in more concentrated form specific
teachings that were scattered in Chumash, Mishlei, Pirkei Avos and so on,
lessons that were previously absorbed almost unconsciously but in our
coarsened age need to be learned more consciously and deliberately. I
think those Litvishe yeshivos that turned to Mussar did so in the hope of
inspiring their students and of inoculating them
against Haskala. Elsewhere, chassidus served that same purpose.
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See what's free at <A title="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" href="http://www.aol.com?ncid=AOLAOF00020000000503" target="_blank">AOL.com</A>. </FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>