Musar literature is didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards character improvement. This literature gives the name to the Musar movement, in 19th century Lithuania, but this article considers such literature more broadly.
Musar literature is often described as "ethical literature." Professor Geoffrey Claussen describes it as "Jewish literature that discusses virtue and character." Professors Isaiah Tishby and Joseph Dan have described it as "prose literature that presents to a wide public views, ideas, and ways of life in order to shape the everyday behavior, thought, and beliefs of this public." Musar literature traditionally depicts the nature of moral and spiritual perfection in a methodical way. It is "divided according to the component parts of the ideal righteous way of life; the material is treated methodically – analyzing, explaining, and demonstrating how to achieve each moral virtue (usually treated in a separate chapter or section) in the author's ethical system."
Musar literature can be distinguished from other forms of Jewish ethical literature such as aggadic narrative and halakhic literature.
In Judaism, ethical monotheism originated, and along with it came the highly didactic ethics in the Torah and Tanach.
Mishlei is commonly regarded as a musar classic in its own right and is arguably the first true "musar sefer." In fact, the Hebrew word musar (מוסר, discipline) being the title of this genre stems from the word's extensive use in the book of Mishlei.
An example from the Tanakh is the earliest known text of the positive form of the famous "Golden Rule":
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Hillel the Elder (c. 110 BCE – 10 CE), used this verse as a most important message of the Torah for his teachings. Once, he was challenged by a ger toshav who asked to be converted under the condition that the Torah be explained to him while he stood on one foot.
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Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (, 1255–1340) was a rabbi and scholar of Judaism, best known as a commentator on the Hebrew Bible. He is one of two scholars now referred to as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda. Bahya was a pupil of Rabbi Shlomo ibn Aderet (the Rashba). Unlike the latter, Bahya did not publish a Talmud commentary; he is, however, considered by Jewish scholars to be one of the most distinguished of the biblical exegetes of Spain.
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was produced in many different parts of the world throughout the medieval and modern eras, while contemporary Hebrew literature is largely Israeli literature. In 1966, Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature for novels and short stories that employ a unique blend of biblical, Talmudic and modern Hebrew, making him the first Hebrew writer to receive this award.
Le mouvement du Moussar est un mouvement pour l'éducation éthique visant à promouvoir et développer les enseignements et les pratiques adoptées par Israël de Salant (1810-1883). Les notions de Salanter pour revigorer la société juive ont suscité, dans les mains de ses disciples, des programmes de réforme de l'éducation dans le cadre circonscrit mais culturellement significatif des yechivoth lituaniennes, tandis que ses idées furent progressivement réinterprétées et révisées.