Editing Musar movement (section)

===Rabbi Yisrael Salanter===
{{Main|Israel Salanter}}

Yisrael Lipkin Salanter, a promising young rabbi with exceptional knowledge of Jewish law living in [[Salantai]], Lithuania, was initially inspired to dedicate his life to the cause of spreading Musar by his teacher Rabbi Yosef [[Zundel Salant]] (1786–1866). Zundel Salant was a student of rabbis [[Chaim Volozhin]] and [[Akiva Eiger]], whose profoundly good-hearted and humble behavior and simple lifestyle attracted Yisrael Salanter's interest. Zundel Salant was said to urge Salanter to focus on Musar.

Widely recognized as a rabbi of exceptional talent, Yisrael Salanter became head of a yeshivah in [[Vilnius|Vilna]], where he quickly became well known in the community for his scholarship. He soon resigned this post to open up his own yeshiva, in which he emphasized moral teachings based on the ethics taught in traditional Jewish rabbinic works, especially Musar literature. Salanter referred to his approach as the ''Musar'' approach, using the Hebrew word for ethical discipline or correction.

In seeking to encourage the study of Musar literature, Salanter had three works of Musar literature republished in Vilna: ''[[Mesillat Yesharim]]'' by [[Moshe Chaim Luzzatto]], ''Tikkun Middot ha-Nefesh'' by [[Solomon ibn Gabirol]], and ''Cheshbon Ha-Nefesh'' by [[Menachem Mendel Lefin]].

He particularly concentrated on teaching [[Jewish business ethics]], saying that just as one checks carefully to make sure his food is [[kosher]], so too should one check to see if his money is earned in a kosher fashion.<ref>Chofetz, Chaim. ''Sfat Tamim,'' chapter 5</ref>

Rabbi Salanter set an example for the Lithuanian Jewish community during the [[cholera]] [[epidemic]] of 1848, ensuring that necessary relief work on [[Shabbat]] for Jews was done by Jews (despite the ordinary prohibition against doing work on Shabbat), and ordering Jews whose lives were in danger to eat rather than fast on the fast day of [[Yom Kippur]].<ref>Immanuel Etkes, ''Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Musar Movement'' (Jewish Publication Society, 1993), 170-172</ref>

In 1848, the [[Czarist]] government created the [[Vilna Rabbinical School and Teachers' Seminary]]. Salanter was identified as a candidate to teach at the school, but he refused the position and left Vilna.<ref>Immanuel Etkes, ''Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Musar Movement'' (Jewish Publication Society, 1993), 177</ref> Salanter moved to [[Kovno]], where he established a Musar-focused yeshiva at the [[Nevyozer Kloiz]].<ref>Immanuel Etkes, ''Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Musar Movement'' (Jewish Publication Society, 1993), 213-215, 229-238</ref>

In 1857, he moved to Germany. By this time, his own students from Kovno had begun to set up their own yeshivot in [[Kelm Talmud Torah|Kelme]], [[Telšiai|Telz]], and elsewhere. Salanter later helped to found another institution, the [[Kovno Kollel]].

In Germany, Salanter founded a periodical entitled ''Tevunah'', dedicated in part to Musar. Many of Rabbi Salanter's articles from ''Tevunah'' were collected and published in ''Imrei Binah'' (1878). His ''Iggeret ha-Musar'' ("ethical letter") was first published in 1858 and then repeatedly thereafter. Many of his letters were published in ''Or Yisrael'' ("The Light of Israel") in 1890 (edited by Rabbi [[Yitzchak Blazer]]). Many of his discourses were published in ''Even Yisrael'' (1883).

Salanter also wrote "An Essay on the Topic of Reinforcing Those who Learn our Holy [[Torah]]," published by his students in a collection of essays titled ''Etz Pri.''<ref>{{cite web
 |url=https://winners-auctions.com/en/node/18086
 |title=Etz Pri - Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, Vilna 1881. First Edition
 |date=February 21, 2018
 |access-date=May 20, 2019
 |quote=40 pages, cardboard binding
 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> This essay is important for its exploration of the concept of the [[subconscious]], well before the concept was popularized by [[Sigmund Freud]]. In Salanter's essay, the concept of conscious ("outerness" [''chitzoniut'']) and subconscious ("innerness" [''penimiut'']) processes and the role they play in the psychological, emotional and moral functioning of man is developed. Salanter explains that it is critical for a person to recognize what his subconscious motivations [''negiot''] are and to work on understanding them. He also teaches that the time for a person to work on mastering subconscious impulses was during times of emotional quiet, when a person is more in control of his thoughts and feelings. Salanter stresses that when a person is in the middle of an acute emotional response to an event, he is not necessarily in control of his thoughts and faculties and will not have access to the calming perspectives necessary to allow his conscious mind to intercede.

Scholar Hillel Goldberg and others have described Salanter as a "psychologist" as well as a moralist.