Movement centered primarily in the rabbinical academies (yeshivot) of Lithuania, dedicated to ethical teaching (musar) and the development of ethical behavior in the spirit of Halakhah. The movement was founded in the 19th century by Israel Lipkin (Salanter; 1810-1883); its influence is felt today mainly in the curricula of non-Ḥasidic yeshivot.
In the second half of the 19th century, the quality of religious life in the non-Ḥasidic circles of Eastern Europe was increasingly being eroded under the impact of economic impoverishment on the one hand and the Haskalah (Enlightenment) on the other. The community was faced with the problem of maintaining traditional observance according to both the letter and the spirit of the law, based---unlike the Ḥasidic approach---mainly on learning and intellectual endeavor. Salanter, possessed of an unusually keen mind and known from his youth as an outstanding talmudic scholar, was troubled by the situation and by the tendency of many to devote more attention to ritual than to the moral precepts of Judaism. Seeking to address the problem through community action, he proposed the establishment in Vilna of a musar shtibl, a room for moral reflection, where the city's busy tradesmen might meet on the Sabbath to work together on their ethical betterment. When it became apparent that this effort would not meet with success, Salanter together with two followers, Isaac Blaser and Simḥah Zissel Broida, redirected their efforts to the yeshivah world, believing it would be easier to develop moral habits in the young and that the yeshivah world would ultimately influence the general population. In its early years the movement met with criticism in certain quarters, but it later succeeded in penetrating the curriculum of most rabbinic academies. The Musar movement sought to reinforce traditional values, underscoring the view that Judaism makes no distinction between ethical and ritual law. Learning was not merely an intellectual exercise but was meant to lead to proper character behavior. Salanter and his disciples inculcated strict observance of Jewish law, a lifelong process of self-improvement, and service to man within the context of service of God.
As practiced in the majority of yeshivot, the movement focused largely on supplementing the traditional yeshivah curriculum of Talmud and codes with the study of religio-ethical texts, such as the writings of Moses Ḥayyim Luzzatto, Jonah ben Abraham of Gerondi, and others for half an hour each day. In order to evoke a mood of serious reflection, these ethical texts were usually studied during the twilight hours or in subdued light and read aloud to a particular melody. The other chief element of Musar was the Mashgi'Aḥ or supervisor. The mashgi'aḥ gave regular talks on morals and character development and took a personal interest in the ethical and intellectual growth of the students. Students might also be asked to keep notebooks in which they recorded aspects of their personalities that required work as well as their progress on various projects of self-improvement. Yeshivot known for the development of this approach included Slobodka, Telshe, and Mir. A more maximalist approach with even greater attention given to character development is associated with the yeshivah of Novaredok (Novogrudok) led by Joseph Josel Hurwitz. In this school of Musar, students were given projects in order to uproot pride and vanity and implant humility. At present, Musar, in one form or another, constitutes an integral part of the curriculum of nearly every yeshivah of the Lithuanian type.
