Editing Musar movement (section)

== Controversy ==

In later years, opposition to the Musar movement developed in some segments of the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] community. Many opposed the new educational system that Yisrael Salanter set up, and others charged that deviations from traditional methods would lead to assimilation as expected in classical German [[Reform Judaism]].

In 1897, [[Eliezer Gordon]], of the [[Telshe yeshiva]], hired a new Musar supervisor, Rabbi Leib Chasman, who instituted a very strict Musar regime in the yeshiva. Many of the students opposed this approach, which caused dissent among the student body. At the same time, dissent against Musar also broke out at the Slobodka Yeshiva. A group of Lithuanian rabbis then published a declaration in the Hebrew newspaper ''Ha-Melitz'' in opposition to the study of Musar. According to the ''[[YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe]]'',

{{blockquote|they argued that while the study of moral texts was venerable if distinctly limited element of Torah study, the sainted Salanter himself surely had had no intention of overturning traditional priorities and certainly not of creating a new sect that was itself contributing to that collapse of traditional Jewish life which it claimed to combat. This set in motion a wave of similar declarations, counterdeclarations, and polemics for and against Musar in the Hebrew press which reverberated throughout traditional circles. Eventually a sort of equilibrium emerged, with Musar remaining a feature of many yeshivas and its most heartfelt advocates and opponents finding for themselves distinct but congenial venues.<ref name="Mirsky" />}}