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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>From: David Riceman <driceman@att.net><BR>>>He told <BR>>
me that when he reads mussar sefarim he gets the impression of small <BR>>
mindedness; the concerns are very petty. Whereas when he reads Rabbi
<BR>> Kook "ze mamash marhiv et hada'at."<<<BR></FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>When I was a high school student in Bais Yakov, we used to have what were
called "mussar" classes. These consisted of a rebetzen yelling at us
because our skirts were too short, "and I don't understand how girls from fine
chassidishe homes like yours can go around looking the way you do, you should be
ashamed of yourselves." It took me two decades to overcome the
emotional association of the word "mussar" with "boring and
sanctimonious." By now I have read large chunks of classics like
Orchos Tzaddikim, Mesilas Yesharim and Sha'arei Teshuva and have managed to
divest myself of most negative associations, but I still think of this type of
seforim as akin to diet and exercise books -- good for you, but impossible to
read other than in small doses. Not the kind of thing you find totally
absorbing and just /want/ to learn because it's so intrinsically fascinating and
intellectually stimulating.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>That's why it amazes me that there could be something like a Mussar
Institute or a mussar Shabbaton. The appeal of an aish seminar or a Chabad
Shabbaton I totally get, the appeal of a mussar Shabbaton, I don't get --
about as appealing as a diet and exercise spa.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby Katz<BR>=============<BR></B>Romney -- good
values, good family, good hair<BR>Best hope against
Hillary</FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Who's never won? <A title="http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002548" href="http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002548" target="_blank">Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>