Modern Musar: Contested Virtues in Jewish Thought

by Geoffrey D. Claussen, Louis E. Newman (Foreword)

How do modern Jews understand virtues such as courage, humility, justice, solidarity, or love? In they have fiercely debated how to interpret them. This groundbreaking anthology of musar (Jewish traditions regarding virtue and character) explores the diverse ways seventy-eight modern Jewish thinkers understand ten honesty and love of truth; curiosity and inquisitiveness; humility; courage and valor; temperance and self-restraint; gratitude; forgiveness; love, kindness, and compassion; solidarity and social responsibility; and justice and righteousness. These thinkers—from the Musar movement to Hasidism to contemporary Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal, Humanist, and secular Jews—often agree on the importance of these virtues but fundamentally disagree in their conclusions. The juxtaposition of their views, complemented by Geoffrey Claussen’s pointed analysis, allows us to see tensions with particular clarity—and sometimes to recognize multiple compelling ways of viewing the same virtue.

By expanding the category of musar literature to include not only classic texts and traditional works influenced by them but also the writings of diverse rabbis, scholars, and activists—men and women—who continue to shape Jewish tradition, Modern Musar challenges the fields of modern Jewish thought and ethics to rethink their boundaries—and invites us to weigh and refine our own moral ideals.
 

Genres: Judaism, Jewish

464 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2022

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books on Jewish values often focus on what the author perceives as the mainstream of Jewish tradition, which sometimes makes for dull reading.

By contrast, Claussen focuses on areas where Jewish thinkers disagree, which makes this book more interesting. For example, a chapter on social responsibility includes (among other mini-essays) writings by an Egyptian nationalist and by an anti-nationalist, a Hasidic rabbi who suggests that some sinners are not worthy of much concern, another Hasidic rabbi who emphasizes outreach to the nonobservant Jewish masses, another Orthodox rabbi who castigates Noah and even Abraham for not adequately praying for sinners, a pro-Zionist speech by David ben-Gurion, and an attack on the Vietnam War by A.J. Heschel.

However, sometimes Claussen's tent is a bit too big for my tastes. Claussen includes a variety of thinkers whose only connection to Judaism seems to be a matter of ancestry; I'm not sure an essay by atheist Emma Goldman counts as "Jewish thought."

Also, sometimes he tries so hard to include non-mainstream views that he omits more moderate ideas; his chapter on self-restraint seems split between ascetics who believe even sex with a spouse is something to be minimized, and post-1960s progressives. Claussen could have used an essay or two from what I would today call the modern Orthodox mainstream (Shmuley Boteach perhaps?)

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should be subtitled "Two Jews, Three Opinions."

With extensive extracts, this anthology explores the diverse ways that 78 modern Jewish thinkers understand 10 virtues: honesty and love of truth; curiosity and inquisitiveness; humility; courage and valor; temperance and self-restraint; gratitude; forgiveness; love, kindness, and compassion; solidarity and social responsibility; and justice and righteousness." It firmly establishes that most of them agree on the words, but are all over the place on what the words mean.

It could be a bit misleading for newbies, in that it gives equal time to writers without mentioning their vastly different types and degrees of influence. It also suggests a complete free-for-all when in fact there's extensive agreement among writers who differ widely on specifics, especially when the specifics are political.

I can't recommend it as an introduction to Jewish virtue ethics. But the book's goal is to show that common claims of consensus are just rhetorical bootstrapping. For that, I give it 4 stars.

[Joelle]

I'm loving the book but it needs to go back to the library unfinished. I'm on page 154. Looks like I'm less than halfway through. It's been slow going, but I know I won't want to reread this, making the price tag too much.