Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Rediscovery of a Jewish Spiritual Tradition [Hardcover]

Alan Morinis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 12, 2002

Jewish by birth, though from a secular family, Alan Morinis took a deep journey into Hinduism and Buddhism as a young man. He received a doctorate for his study of Hindu pilgrimage, learned yoga in India with B. K. S. Iyengar, and attended his first Buddhist meditation course in the Himalayas in 1974. But in 1997, when his film career went off track and he reached for some spiritual oxygen, he felt inspired to explore his Jewish heritage. In his reading he happened upon a Jewish tradition of spiritual practice called Mussar. Gradually he realized he had stumbled on an insightful discipline for self-development, complete with meditative, contemplative, and other well-developed transformative practices designed to penetrate the deepest roots of the inner life.

Eventually reaching the limits of what he could learn on his own, he decided to seek out a Mussar teacher. That was not easily achieved, since almost the entire world of the Mussar tradition had been wiped out in the Holocaust. In time, he did find an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition, and who lived at the center of a community of Orthodox Jews on Long Island. This book tells the story of Morinis’s journey to meet his teacher and what he learned from him, and reveals the central teachings and practices that are the spiritual treasury and legacy of Mussar.

Alan Morinis has written this book because the wisdom and practices that helped him so much have not penetrated the world beyond the confines of Orthodox Judaism, and may not be fully appreciated even there at this time. His hope is that Jews and non-Jews alike will find in Mussar a time-tested path of spiritual practice that will help them discover the hidden radiance within.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

How can a person be generous to the poor when his own bank account is almost empty? Mussar, a thousand-year-old Jewish spiritual tradition, offers answers to this and many other questions regarding the distance between religious ideals and everyday realities, as Alan Morinis explains in Climbing Jacob's Ladder. Morinis, a Canadian baby boomer who grew up to become a Rhodes Scholar, anthropologist, and film producer, discovered Mussar teachings at the low point of his midlife crisis. After he made some high-flying business deals that crashed, Morinis found reassurance in the Mussar idea that human life is holy and people can improve themselves. And Mussar, a system of ethical discipline conceived by Orthodox Jews to help them meet the demanding requirements of observant life, does seem perfectly designed for readers seeking step-by-step instruction for building or rebuilding their spiritual lives. In Climbing Jacob's Ladder Morinis tells the story of how he used Mussar to climb back up to holy life and invites readers to come along on his ascent. --Michael Joseph Gross

From Publishers Weekly

This moving account of a secular Jew's search for spirituality begins with his explorations of Eastern religions in India and ends with his quest's eventual culmination in Jewish tradition. Born and raised in Toronto, Morinis won a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a Ph.D. in anthropology at Oxford. After teaching at different universities in Vancouver, he became involved in filmmaking and abandoned academia. He was successful for many years but his business finally failed. During his resulting depression, he turned to Judaism for solace since his investigation of Eastern religions had proven fruitless. He learned about Musar (ethics, morality), a little-known Jewish movement that emphasizes the study of Judaism's ethical writings and their practical application. The need for a teacher to guide him beyond his reading led him to a rabbi in Far Rockaway, N.Y. For the next three years, Morinis traveled frequently between Vancouver and New York. What he learned is incorporated in this well-written book which sets forth the teachings of Musar, often through parables told to Morinis by his teacher. These homilies make a profound connection between belief and behavior. The narrative also reveals the story of the author's life, including the impact of his studies on his relationship with his physician wife and their two daughters. The achievement of personal growth through spirituality is richly demonstrated by this touching account of the author's journey to Judaism.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Broadway; 1 edition (March 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767906454
• ISBN-13: 978-0767906456
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,169,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Journey, May 7, 2002

By 

A.Naomi Katz (Vancouver, B.C. Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Rediscovery of a Jewish Spiritual Tradition (Hardcover)

It's not often that one comes across a nonfiction book as smooth reading as "Climbing Jacob's Ladder." Alan Morinis has produced what might be called a spiritual autobiography, with a specific purpose, explained in the title as, "One Man's Discovery of a Jewish Spiritual Tradition." Underlying all is a searing honesty that is positively inspiring.
The tradition in question is Mussar, which has its roots in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. This so decimated Mussar practitioners that Mussar did not gain prominence in the study of Judaism as a whole. So, for Alan Morinis, after much research, it was a "find". His description of it is so impelling that it is hard to put aside. As an autobiography, the character of the author as a secular Jew comes through very clearly in all its ramifications during his journey towards spiritual fulfilment.
Also central to the book's treatment of Mussar is the character of the person who ultimately became Morinis' teacher. Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, living in New York to where the author travelled several times from Vancouver for study. Rabbi Perr, though orthodox himself teaches without imposing orthodoxy on the learner as the writer might have expected, since he found the subject grounded in orthodoxy.
However, Mussar is not only for studying, but for practising: its basic principles emanating from the soul of every practitioner, different as they are from every other practitioner.
I found the book positively exciting because of the honesty of expression about the author's feelings at every stage of the journey. The writing is imbued with a very human quality that draws the reader into the author's soul, which is the whole point of the exercise of Mussar: to develop the soul toward spiritual perfection as far as possible.
We are all different from each other with regard to the elements of our characters. Mussar calls these elements, "soul-traits". "We don't have a soul. We are a soul". Through the discipline of Mussar we are helped to improve these various soul-traits: for example, by working on our anger, impatience, etc. until we become more holy. Rabbi Perr side-steps a definition of holiness, saying that, "you'll know about holiness just from the experience."
There's a lot more to the book than can be described here, such as what the Mussar exercises consist of. Suffice it to say that the end result of the book is a beautiful document, the essence of it being the "soul-perspective", leading to the possibility of all who read it to face life with equanimity.
A. Naomi Katz

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal account of Orthodox Jewish introspection, April 28, 2002

By 

nycbookreader (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Rediscovery of a Jewish Spiritual Tradition (Hardcover)

Picking up this book, I was afraid that it would be the standard fair of criticizing traditional Judaism and replacing it with a sophmoric system. However, as the back cover contained glowing praise from both Rabbi Jonathan Saks, Chief Rabbi of England, and Rabbi Abraham Twerski, the best English language author on traditional Judaism, I immediately purchased the book.

The author who is an admitted neophyte on the book's subject, writes skillfully, respectfully and passionately. I easily absorbed the book in a single reading, feeling refreshed and inspired the whole way through. The book never becomes preachy or emotional but maintains a discipline of even handedness which is the hallmark of mussar, the book's sunject.

The book is a journey taken in middle age by Alan Morinis, a professor and movie producer whose life hits a roadblock. Searching for a way to move forward, he stumbles across some texts relating to the mussar movement, a small but highly influential school of thought within Orthodox Judaism. Mussar, which thrived in Eastern Europe during the 19th century, applies a highly introspective and self-critical approach to life.

The author locates and visits one of the great luminaries of the Mussar school, Rabbi Yechiel Perr. Perr is a traditional rabbi, dean of an orthodox yeshiva in the suburbs of New York. Far from being a strict disciplinarian, Rabbi Perr is described as a happy man with a great sense of humor and passion for life. Perr invites the author into his home and shares with him insights into ethics and life, which inspire the author.

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Climbing Jacob's Ladder, May 1, 2002

By 

stan eaman (Vernon, British Columbia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Rediscovery of a Jewish Spiritual Tradition (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book wrtten with courage, sensitivity and clarity.
The theme is a story of getting lost on life's journey and on finding a way back- no easy task in our North American culture of "materialism and self-centeredness".
Alan Morinis generously shares his "journey" which took him to the little known ancient Jewish spiritual practice called Musar.
At first through his reading and studying of obscure texts and eventually with the guidance of a wise and compassionate teacher, the author rediscovers his "true nature".
The book overflows with wisdom and ancient truths and the practices and techniques of Musar are clearly laid out at the end of each chapter.
Morinis wrestles with the question of whether one has to be a practicing Orthodox Jew to follow the path of Musar and concludes that one doesn't. In fact, I think that the path of Musar is open to all who genuinely thirst after truth and wisdom.
The author generously shares his "journey" and his discoveries in a way that enables the reader to begin an ancient practice that can be life transforming.