A Student of Mussar Responds to the pain of Sydney
In love, in grief, and in a tradition of ethical soul-work.

I write not as a rabbi, nor as someone with answers, but as a student of Mussar living in the 21st century, trying to learn how to keep my heart open when the world breaks it.

When I read about the attack at a Hanukkah gathering in Sydney, I felt a familiar teaching from the Mussar tradition rise up inside me, not as comfort, but as a challenge: Do not turn away. Do not rush to explain. Do not harden your heart in the face of pain.

The great teachers of Mussar, those who devoted their lives to refining the human soul, taught that real spiritual work begins where the heart wants to close.

So, I sit with the pain.
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