Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition
by Alan Morinis
On This Page
Description
Jewish by birth, though from a secular family, Alan Morinis explored Hinduism and Buddhism as a young man. But in 1997, in the face of personal crisis, he turned to his Jewish heritage for guidance. In his reading he happened upon a Jewish spiritual tradition called Mussar. Gradually he realized that he had stumbled upon an insightful discipline for self-development, complete with meditative, contemplative, and other well-developed transformative practices designed to penetrate the deepest show more roots of the inner life. Eventually reaching the limits of what he could learn on his own, he decided to seek out a Mussar teacher. This was not an easy task, since almost the entire world of the Mussar tradition had been wiped out in the Holocaust. In time, he found an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition, and who lived in the center of a community of Orthodox Jews on Long Island. This book tells the story of Morinis's journey to meet his teacher and what he learned from him, revealing the central teachings and practices that are the spiritual treasury and legacy of Mussar. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I found this to be fascinating, but not for reasons that would apply to most people. This book, you see, concerns the discovery of Mussar—which is more or less a Jewish approach to ethical matters—by an unobservant Jew, who eventually has a series of meetings with a rabbi in New York in which he learns more about it.
The rabbi in question is the head of the high school and seminary where I studied for eight years. Seeing my school through the eyes of an outsider? Utterly fascinating.
Otherwise... not a bad introduction to Mussar. Kinda simplified, and definitely eclectic, but not a bad read, and I suppose it might be a useful starting point, which is all it really tries to be.
The rabbi in question is the head of the high school and seminary where I studied for eight years. Seeing my school through the eyes of an outsider? Utterly fascinating.
Otherwise... not a bad introduction to Mussar. Kinda simplified, and definitely eclectic, but not a bad read, and I suppose it might be a useful starting point, which is all it really tries to be.
Excellent memoir on Alan Morinis journey to integrate Mussar into his life and some great insights on how we can do the same
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Judaism & Israel
104 works; 2 members
Author Information
10 Works 446 Members
Alan Morinis is the founder and director of the Mussar Institute (www.mussarinstitute.org), an organization that promotes the study of Mussar through study groups, courses, and public talks. He has been a student of the Mussar tradition since 1997, training under Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr. He is also the author of Everyday Holiness, Climbing show more Jacobs Ladder, and Every Day Holy Day. show less
Classifications
- Genres
- Religion & Spirituality, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 296.832 — Religion Other religions Judaism Jewish sects Contemporary sects of Judaism Orthodox Judaism
- LCC
- BM723 .M67 — Philosophy, Psychology and Religion Judaism Judaism Practical Judaism Jewish way of life. Spiritual life. Mysticism. Personal
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 126
- Popularity
- 259,048
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.59)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
