Jews have been reflecting on the human condition for more than 3,000 years. Two of the many teachings from this reflectiveness, which have captured the attention of many contemporary professionals in the psychological, coaching, and pastoral fields, are known as Mussar and Hasidic teachings. Mussar, a Jewish ethical literature and discipline, has been developed as a methodology for all Jews to develop the human capacity for kindness and to develop ethical and moral levels of behavior. Mussar posits a dynamic and reflective process not only to sustain the spiritual and psychological life but to propel it forward. Similarly, Hasidic teachings evoke the Kabbalistic promise that teaches that the individual can evoke and experience the divine within. As it states in the Torah, “Great is the power of joy. It takes away the heart from judgment,” meaning that joy can uplift a person to a place beyond his or her limitations and into a place of his or her genius.

While Mussar presented a systematic treatment of character development and personal growth, Hasidic teachings explained the fervor and joy, both of which were needed to propel the Mussar process. Mussar without fervor could become a cerebral and impotent process, and the fervor of the Hasidic movement was considered to be based on the rigorous self-discipline promoted by the Mussar methodology. Therefore, the high capacity for joy in the Hasidic tradition could, if unchecked by the Mussar practice of moderation, lead to either arrogance or personal negligence. These two bodies of teachings were not mutually exclusive. It may be argued that the Mishnah describes a process of controlled reflective practices that align with the Mussar approach, while the divine nature of a person is driven by the joyous soul as described in Hasidic and Kabbalah teachings. These two movements actually complement one another: the Mussar laws serve as a grounding system for deep personal and spiritual growth through the narrative and reflectiveness of the Hasidic systems. The time of the Mishnah marked a time when the organized systems of the mystics began to give way. Mussar and Hasidic renewals are, in many ways, a contemporary reflection of such historical moments. The Hasidic masters of the 18th and 19th centuries blended many Mussar teachings from the Jewish philosophers and mystics. They are in the annals of the Talmud and Mishnah teachings, which date back as early as the 2nd century BCE.