I am deeply appreciative to Geoffrey Claussen for allowing me a peek into a world I would not have spent as much time in as I did with this fine book. The Musar movement is an endlessly fascinating and intriguing world for a Christian theologian to learn from, and I admire Israel Salanter, Simḥah Zissel Ziv, and those who would follow them in performing spiritual and moral formation as an art. Simḥah Zissel pursued his moral vision in the heartfelt belief that the moral journey is not marked for us by a set of rules, but a joyful willingness to let ourselves be shaped by God's spirit working through reason and imagination. This alone, which rebuts Luther's spurious distinction between the law and gospel, offers the reader rich treasure to contemplate when considering moral life.
I must also confess, however, that I found myself more perplexed at the end of...
