We, Blessed God’s creatures, anticipating His loving-kindness, hoping for His mercies¹ – how can we become worthy in the eyes of our Lord? How will we win favor before Him, blessed be His name, if not by imitating, in some small way, His ways and His quality of goodness, which is spread over all His creatures without any prior cause, just pure compassion, without any stimulus to evoke it? So we must take the initiative² to help the weak without being asked and without [needing] any stimulus. Yet: What is our strength?³ Helpfulness is like nothing.⁴ Evil is rampant. Wickedness prevails. There is no safe haven and no refuge. We can only act by stealth⁵ to defeat the counsels of evildoers. With intelligence, we can effectuate our longings to capture wickedness in the bonds of righteousness, in the ropes of [good] character traits, and by distancing desires. This is the base on which to build a fortification. But who will prepare mortar and bricks? Who will carry the project to its realization? There is no upright person. Wisdom and understanding also are lacking. Then let us go back over this: Are there none in Israel who truly fear [God]? Why are remedy and medicine so far away? Let those who fear God clothe themselves in courage – to capture wickedness in the snare of its own desires. What can stop them [who fear God]? They are ready with all their heart’s desire to carry out their plans. Would the rains hold them back? Will shame and humiliation confound them? Would they be truly called “God-fearers” if these are the ways of the Torah?⁶ Is not the first word of God [to His prophets] to be not embarrassed by scoffers and to cast away the lures of the world and its vanities? But – in this – rational understanding and instinct are in conflict.

footnotes: ¹ Compare Psalms 33:18 and 147:11. ² Compare Numbers 32:17. ³ Compare Tanna DeVei Eliyahu (21) and Koren Sacks Siddur (Ashkenaz), 37. ⁴ Compare Psalms 144:4. ⁵ Compare Exodus 22:1. ⁶ I.e., if they let themselves be intimidated.

To this end – let us seek wholeness and pursue it,⁷” in this phrase is a double-entendre. Shalom means not just peace, but also wholeness. Shleimut (wholeness) in Mussar is not literal. It represents purity, simplicity, wholeheartedness in seeking to do good. Note also that we must not only seek our goal but pursue it. to know the source out of which reverence arises and from where it comes. Is it from daily routine, or from learning with knowledge and intelligence? Instinct attests that knowledge and understanding are nothing. They have neither a foothold [in consciousness]⁸ nor a share in the fear of God.⁹ They do not even stand at a distance.¹⁰ In this, the words of instinct are correct; they do not mislead: What can the notion of understanding contribute if it cannot exert its power over reverence at its foundations? Yet who does not understand that instinct is a vessel, ready to accept any shape? Change the shape, and instinct will change. If, by stratagems, you attach understanding to fear [of God], then instinct, too, will change, without any outside help or assistance.

footnotes: ⁷ Compare Psalms 34:15. The Hebrew word “shalom ⁸ Compare Genesis 8:9. ⁹ Under normal circumstances, without working to achieve it, consciousness is far from reverence/fear of God. ¹⁰ Compare Exodus 2:4 and Psalms 10:1.

Therefore, our first task is to strengthen weak hands,¹¹ to lead them to the Mussar study house, with understanding and knowledge, with ready heart, with flaming lips, and to repeatedly utter sayings of the Rabbis that enthuse the hearts of men. [Give] each person whatever he lacks.¹² If God is with us to execute our plan, then we will be able to endure.¹³ Therefore, it is right that each person who seeks closeness to God¹⁴ should hasten¹⁵ [to work] at this to remove and nullify every obstacle and impediment, with correct and effective strategies.

footnotes: ¹¹ Compare Isaiah 35:3; here, “weak hands” refers to average laypersons. ¹² Compare Deuteronomy 15:8 (give each poor person that which he specifically lacks). ¹³ Compare Exodus 18:23. ¹⁴ Compare Isaiah 58:2. ¹⁵ Compare Jeremiah 1:12.

There is one cure for every plague and sickness of the limbs and of the soul. Even when routine assisted fear [of God] and Torah,¹⁶ without Mussar study, [the situation] was very far from the desired goal. Now, when character traits are corrupted, how can we find the capacity for the battle with the [evil] urge – that battle for which we come to this world? Our strength would simply follow our will [to go in the wrong direction]. Then what can we say about now, when routine opposes reverence?¹⁷ Unless we turn to the Mussar cure, there is no room¹⁸ for service of God. It is almost a hopeless case.

footnotes: ¹⁶ Until the impact of modernity, the everyday routine and surrounding culture was in harmony with Torah and fear of God. ¹⁷ With modernization, there is much more dissonance between traditional behavior and the surrounding culture in which the individual operates. ¹⁸ I.e., there is no space to operate effectively.

Yet with all this, there is an easy cure that bears abundant fruit. He who wants life¹⁹ should be among those who uplift the masses, who shine like the stars,²⁰ and whose righteousness will never be erased.²¹ So that he may bask in the light of life,²² let him grab this mitzva in its right time.²³ For who knows what today will bring?²⁴ And if not now, when?²⁵ With this we will also fortify ourselves to hone our thought, to conquer the [evil] urge and its desires. One who comes to teach will end up learning. The first step is to become familiar with the psychology²⁶” (from the root tz-p-n, “to hide”), which we translate as “psychology,” to refer to the totality of motives that shape human behavior and decisions. These motives are “hidden” in that they are unexpressed. The subject may or may not be conscious of them; only later would R. Salanter develop his ideas about the human subconscious. of man – his inclination, his will, and his desire. How distanced has he become from the true purpose for which he was created? How can his desire be bound up and directed toward this wholesome service,²⁷ namely, the effort of Mussar study; toward becoming a solid base for fighting this “obligatory war,” the war against the [evil] urge – whether by forcing the limbs to go against the will or to hone his thought so that it can compel the heart; whether by repeating sayings of the Rabbis deliberately and thoughtfully, or by deepening his thinking by broadening his study of the matter – according to his natural tendency and habit. How lofty are these matters! The duty to fight these battles devolves upon everyone who breathes the spirit of life.²⁸ He can choose to conquer in the battle and direct his limbs toward true wholeness.

footnotes: ¹⁹ Compare Psalms 34:13. ²⁰ Compare Daniel 12:3. ²¹ Compare Ben Sira 44:13. It should be noted that the Hebrew edition of Ben Sira was lost and not recovered until it was found and published after R. Salanter’s lifetime. R. Salanter likely came across this phrase or paraphrase from a derivative source. ²² See Job 33:30. ²³ I.e., now. ²⁴ Compare Proverbs 27:1. ²⁵ Avot 1:14. ²⁶ R. Salanter uses the term “matzpun ²⁷ Note that R. Salanter has deepened his awareness that the consciousness unrefined by Mussar has distorted consciousness and can interpret and apply Torah in the wrong ways. Even the consciousness of a good person must be directed by Mussar to take a proper approach to life and a proper understanding of the Torah’s instructions. ²⁸ Compare Genesis 7:22.