[ BOOKS | With Heart In Mind ]
With Heart In Mind
Mussar Teachings to Transform Your Life
Books have the capacity to transform us. But that actual process of transformation can be tricky. Sometimes it comes down to hoping that you retain the lesson(s) that you've read about long enough to actually put them into practice. And, without being clear on how to put these lessons into practice, we sometimes fall short of our goal of transformation.
Alan Morinis, founder and dean of the Mussar Institute, has written a new book, With Heart in Mind, Mussar Teachings to Transform Your Life. And Mr. Morinis has simply and ingeniously combined both the what and the how of our transformation into his book. From the first line of the book's introduction, Mr. Morinis makes his purpose clear:
“The central concern of Judaism is that you and I accomplish a personal spiritual transformation in our lifetimes.”
The balance of that very first paragraph makes what may be Mr. Morinis's frustration equally clear:
“That core intention can be lost in the welter of rituals, festivals, liturgy, and other performative aspects of the tradition. It becomes even less visible when buried under the weight of buildings, institutions, campaigns, and political struggles that are, for some, the face if not the totality of the Jewish world. But the fact remains that, at its core, the driving concern of Judaism is personal spiritual transformation.”
Readers quickly discover that Mr. Morinis has a very clear idea of what that personal spiritual transformation must be based upon, and how it should be achieved. As Mr. Morinis explains, “Jewish tradition has always taught that Torah provides the blueprint for human experience, and so when we understand what the Torah teaches and bring its lessons into our lives, we acquire for ourselves the truth it contains.”