Rabbi Israel Salanter and the Mussar Movement

Israel Salanter was one of the most original and influential Jewish leaders and thinkers of Eastern European Jewry in the modern period. One of Salanter’s most striking innovations was the transformation of the issue of ethics from the domain of theology to the realm of psychology. Immanuel Etkes traces Salanter’s unique view of Mussar doctrine, especially his introduction of modern psychology to the traditional understanding of personal ethical development.