Mesillat Yesharim

A completely redone version of a treasured classic. This newly translated volume, complete with facing Hebrew-English text and shoulder captions for clarity, revitalizes the study of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's classic ethical work. The Path of the Just has long been regarded as the crown-jewel of mussar study. The Gaon of Vilna constantly kept a copy of Mesillas Yesharim at his side, and yet the piercing wisdom of the Ramchal is just as relevant to our own lives. The author gently guides the reader through various levels of character refinement, shining a beacon of life on the path to perfection.

Mesillat Yesharim is a classic of Jewish ethical literature. Written by one of the leading kabbalists of the late Middle Ages, it is also a window into the kabbalist’s understanding of the connection between ethics and mystical vision. Luzzatto, one of the great Hebrew stylists of his time, is acknowledged by some as the first writer of modern Hebrew; thus Mesillat Yesharim is also important for its place in Hebrew literature. This translation, published originally in 1936 by JPS, is a landmark in Jewish publishing. It made this Hebrew text finally available to English readers, and it gave us insights into the groundbreaking work that Kaplan did in orienting American Jews to the deep connection between ethical living and religious belief. It is no wonder that this book has become the centerpiece of the modern-day Mussar Movement, which inspires so many on their spiritual path. Rabbi Ira Stone, consummate teacher and stirring speaker, is a major force in the resurgence of the Mussar Movement. In his introduction, he presents Luzzatto and Mesillat Yesharim in their historical context, and gives us new insights into Kaplan’s emerging theology. Stone also explains the principles of reading that he uses in his commentary and teaching to make this medieval text so inspiring to readers today. This volume contains the original Kaplan translation, as well as those sections of the text that Kaplan omitted, along with Stone’s new commentary. The original Hebrew text is in the back of the book.

The classic text that focuses on the talmudic perspective of the Jewish path to holiness. Bilingual edition (Hebrew and English).

A completely redone version of a treasured classic. This newly translated volume, complete with facing Hebrew-English text and shoulder captions for clarity, revitalizes the study of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto's classic ethical work. The Path of the Just has long been regarded as the crown-jewel of mussar study. The Gaon of Vilna constantly kept a copy of Mesillas Yesharim at his side, and yet the piercing wisdom of the Ramchal is just as relevant to our own lives. The author gently guides the reader through various levels of character refinement, shining a beacon of life on the path to perfection.

What is good character? What are the traits of a good person? How should virtues be cultivated? How should vices be avoided? The history of Jewish literature is filled with reflection on questions of character and virtue such as these, reflecting a wide range of contexts and influences. Beginning with the Bible and culminating with twenty-first-century feminism and environmentalism, Jewish Virtue Ethics explores thirty-five influential Jewish approaches to character and virtue. Virtue ethics has been a burgeoning field of moral inquiry among academic philosophers in the postwar period. Although Jewish ethics has also flourished as an academic (and practical) field, attention to the role of virtue in Jewish thought has been underdeveloped. This volume seeks to illuminate its centrality not only for readers primarily interested in Jewish ethics but also for readers who take other approaches to virtue ethics, including within the Western virtue ethics tradition. The original essays written for this volume provide valuable sources for philosophical reflection.

In 1727, while immersed in kabbalistic speculations, Luzzatto claimed to have heard the voice of a maggid - a divine power inclined to reveal heavenly secrets to human beings. Henceforth, the revelations of the maggid served to comprise future kabbalistic writings, only a few of which survived and were published.

A bi-lingual Hebrew-English Version, fully annotated. Mesillat Yesharim Dialogue Version. Mesillat Yesharim Thematic Version. Mesillat Yesharim, the basic ethical work, is presented here in twin versions, both written by RaMHaL. Mesillat Yesharim Dialogue Version is published for the first time from an autograph manuscript, Moscow Guenzburg 1206. Mesillat Yesharim Thematic Version is based on the first edition published in Amsterdam, 1740, during the author's lifetime, and corrected from parallel passages in the newly found manuscript.