START HERE: https://mussar.center There are some places in the Bible where the verb behind the Hebrew word "mussar" is translated as punishment, and in once place it's even translated as flogging! So what is Mussar, anyway - is it discipline or punishment? Is there even a difference between the two? If yes, what's the difference? What was your experience growing up, were you disciplined or punished? And how about now, which do you tend towards in how you relate to yourself? Are you too hard or too easy on yourself? These are some of the questions we'll explore in today's conversation, along with the most important question - how are you like a puppy, and how should that inform your personal Mussar practice? P.S. It's been five lessons! If everyone donates a dollar a lesson we'll be able to keep teaching for free. Please do what you think everyone else should do and send in a little something here, now: https://mussar.center/donate Thank you!

START HERE: https://mussar.center Has anyone ever told you to stop? Or have you ever had a day when nothing was going your way? Maybe it even felt like the universe - or God himself - was against you! How did you react? There's nothing like being crossed to show where you're really at. We get triggered, we erupt…all sorts of dark and scary things come up. Kind of like a volcano actually. No matter how you look at it, a Mussar rebuke is a deep thing. It can bring the stuff up you're avoiding or repressing. And then there's the challenge of how to get the rebuke to go deep in a good way instead of just bouncing off you and causing a firestorm. This is the first of two convos about how to receive a rebuke. P.S. It's been five lessons! If everyone donates a dollar a lesson we'll be able to keep teaching for free. Please do what you think everyone else should do and send in a little something right now: https://mussar.center/donate Thank you!

START HERE: https://mussar.center ❦ Moralism never worked for you? Just couldn't get excited about being good? Good! Because Mussar isn't about being a good person, and Middot aren't virtues. Mussar is the path of the heart - it's about facing those parts of yourself you've been avoiding or suppressing so you can relate as a whole person instead of being fake. And middot are neutral, they're not good or bad. If a situation calls for a specific middah and you whip out the opposite, that could be a problem. Same goes for if you're always one thing and never the other. But walking the middle path doesn't mean being average or bland, either. Mussar will make you lots of all the different sides of yourself, not lots of nothing. Let's look at seven pairs of opposite middot and see what makes these neutral qualities helpful or harmful. 48 Middot (Simple): https://www.mussar.center/lists/48 48 Middot (Detailed): https://www.mussar.center/lists/middot Rambam: https://t.ly/b2Lcf ❦ #Mussar #Middos #Balance

START HERE: https://mussar.center To say that Mussar is "inner work" is kind of vague. What kind of work? Well...you know how last week we talked about Mussar and how it gives you words for things? This is one of those things that don't have an English equivalent. The Hebrew word is TIKKUN and it means way more than you think. Let's start by unpacking tikkun/תִּיקּוּן as it's used in the Bible and see how it relates to your personal Mussar practice. If you're feeling down I'm also going to give you some encouragement, invite you to dream again, and teach you a simple one-word prayer to say when you don't feel like doing anything at all.