Alan Morinis
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| name = Alan Morinis
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| birth_date = December 8, 1949
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| language = English
| nationality = Canadian
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| tradition_movement = Musar Movement
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| notable_works = Everyday Holiness
| spouse = Dr. Beverly Spring
| children = Dr. Julia Orkin, Dr. Leora Morinis
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Alan Morinis (born December 8, 1949) is a Canadian anthropologist, filmmaker, and writer who has been a leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Musar movement, a Jewish ethical movement.
Early life and secular education
Morinis was born into a left-wing secular Jewish home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He completed his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology at Oxford University, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship (Ontario 1972). Morinis studied religious pilgrimages, especially in Hinduism, and authored the book Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition: A Case Study of West Bengal as well as edited Sacred Journeys: the anthropology of pilgrimage.{{Cite web|url=https://mussarinstitute.org/mussarinstitute/books-cjl-reviews-full.htm|title=Reviews of Climbing Jacob's Ladder|last=|first=|date=|website=mussarinstitute.org|access-date=2019-05-20}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Mussar education
After pioneering work in academia, and a successful career television production, Morinis experienced a major professional failure that sent him reeling. He began to search Jewish tradition for spiritual guidance and came across the Mussar Movement. He began to study musar under the tutelage of Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr. Morinis has described his early Mussar education in his book Climbing Jacob's Ladder.{{Cite web|url=https://www.jweekly.com/2015/03/27/study-more-be-a-better-person-the-way-of-mussar/|title=Study more, be a better person the way of Mussar|last=Himmelstein|first=Drew|date=2015-03-27|website=J.|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-20}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.juf.org/news/local.aspx?id=75800|title=JUF News : 'Feeding the soul' through the Mussar practice|website=JUF News|language=en|access-date=2019-05-20}}
Revival of the Mussar movement
In 2004, Morinis founded the Mussar Institute, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He sought to revive the Musar movement, which he saw as having largely died off after the Holocaust.{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/111127325.html?dids=111127325:111127325&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+23%2C+2002&author=RUTH+ANDREW+ELLENSON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Religion%3B+BOOK+REVIEW%3B+An+Assimilated+Jew%27s+Connection+With+an+Old+Tradition%3B+%22CLIMBING+JACOB%27S+LADDER%22+By+Alan+Morinis%3B+Broadway%2C+226+pages%2C+%2423.95&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130312151312/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/111127325.html?dids=111127325:111127325&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Mar+23%2C+2002&author=RUTH+ANDREW+ELLENSON&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=Religion%3B+BOOK+REVIEW%3B+An+Assimilated+Jew%27s+Connection+With+an+Old+Tradition%3B+%22CLIMBING+JACOB%27S+LADDER%22+By+Alan+Morinis%3B+Broadway%2C+226+pages%2C+%2423.95&pqatl=google|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 12, 2013|title=An Assimilated Jew's Connection With an Old Tradition|last=Ellenson|first=Ruth Andrew|date=23 March 2002|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=10 January 2011}}
Morinis has been credited as being, along with Rabbi Ira F. Stone, the leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Musar movement among non-Orthodox Jews.Geoffrey Claussen, "[http://www.iasc-culture.org/publications_article_2010_Summer_claussen.php The American Jewish Revival of Musar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110203075407/http://www.iasc-culture.org/publications_article_2010_Summer_claussen.php |date=2011-02-03 }}," The Hedgehog Review. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat of the web site Spirituality & Practice have described Morinis's teachings as offering "a treasure trove of spiritual practices," "explications of the practical spiritual tradition of Mussar," and "insights into how to change your behavior and bring out your soul."Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, [http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/teachers/teachers.php?id=290&g=0 "Living Spiritual Teachers Project: Alan Morinis"]. Retrieved 10 January 2011. Geoffrey Claussen of Elon University has described Morinis as emphasizing "the honesty, humility, patience, and discipline that doing Musar requires" but as giving less attention to the importance of "traditional liturgy and community."
Books
Morinis's books include:
- Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition (2007)
- Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar (2008)
- Every Day, Holy Day: 365 Days of Teachings and Practices from the Jewish Tradition of Mussar (2010)
- With Heart in Mind: Mussar Teachings to Transform Your Life (2014)
References
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Category:Jewish Canadian writers
Category:Canadian Rhodes Scholars
Category:Canadian anthropologists
Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford
Category:Hindu studies scholars
Category:Canadian religious writers
Category:Writers of Musar literature
Category:Canadian male non-fiction writers