How Contemporary Psychology Supports Central Elements of Simḥah Zissel's Picture of Character

This is a contribution to the book symposium on Professor Geoffrey Claussen's book Sharing the Burden: Rabbi Simḥah Zissel Ziv and the Path of Musar. These brief comments note that when Simḥah Zissel was writing, he did not have the benefit of results from controlled experimental studies in psychology that we do today. Remarkably, though, it turns out that many of his empirical claims hold up quite well in light of recent findings. This article will focus on just two topics that figure prominently in Professor Claussen's book: human nature and the virtue of love.