It is only with infinite patience that we can arrive at a thoughtful response and a guidance that is built upon the individual nature of the child.
- Rav Shlomo Wolbe, Mussar Master
The Mussar Institute is proud to announce that thanks to our Visionary Investors, at the completion of our 5-year research and development private grant-funded period, we are able to offer the Challenges and Choices Teen Mussar Curriculum in full to the public for a one-time perpetual license fee of $180. Access to the curriculum will never expire. Lose a copy, send us an email and we will get you any materials you lost.
As the program expands with new learning units, we will offer those for a nominal fee, and those units will be enveloped into the original perpetual license. Even if we change learning platforms, you access will not be disabled. Come grow with us!
New sites can now also onboard more quickly with our Essentials 2-Session Teen Mussar Facilitator Training Series. Offered only once per year each summer, a recorded version will be made available to those educational sites who need more flexibility. As always 1-on-1 and small group support is available to all sites at any time throughout the year.
Essentials 2-session customized program training now available 1-on-1 (or small groups for large teams).
Led over Zoom by Helaine Sheias, PhD,
Director of Facilitator and Program Development
If you are a returning site with teacher(s) familiar with our program, simply purchase the license for $180. If you have new teacher(s), we recommend that you sign them up for the Essentials program training for an additional $100 (any number of educators welcome, not a per person fee)
New sites must purchase the license and the training for $280. You can have as many teachers as you’d like join us for Essentials.
Have questions? Please contact us at . A member of our team will be happy to speak with you.
Challenges and Choices offers practical ways for teens to become their “best selves” through the spiritual practice of Mussar.
With the goal of creating a deeper connection to Judaism, Challenges and Choices helps teens find meaning and purpose by navigating life choices in healthy ways that reflect Jewish values. Using practical Jewish wisdom, facilitated discussions, and a focus on social, emotional, and spiritual learning, the program also addresses the mental health stressors brought on by life’s challenges facing today’s teens.
The program was developed, piloted, and evaluated through a generous grant from The Templeton Foundation and supported by our visionary investors. Thanks to their generosity, we are able to offer the program at a low price-point.
The Mussar Institute’s teen program, Challenges and Choices: A Jewish Teen’s Guide to a Balanced Life, is an interactive, experiential, and engaging 14-unit middot-centered curriculum for students grades 9-12 that is available to Jewish organizations across the United States and beyond.
We offer our Essentials 2-Session (3-hour total) Teen Curriculum Facilitator Training Series once per year each summer to help prepare Teen Mussar Facilitators at your site to navigate the curriculum online and off. For new sites, this training – or another TMI Mussar facilitator training program – is required prior to receiving the curriculum. Understanding the need for flexibility in a variety of religious education settings, a recorded version of Essentials can also be attended with 1-on-1 follow-up with our Director of Facilitator and Program Development for support.
14 Units of Self-Discovery
Teens explore their own inner character traits, known as middot, in Hebrew.
Based on the Jewish Spiritual Tradition of Mussar
With 1,100 years of Mussar wisdom to draw from, teens learn about and try tested techniques to understand and balance their inner qualities. This inner awareness supports them as they manage the real-life stressful situations they encounter with friends, school, family dynamics, and social unrest.
Engaged Learning with Peers and Trained Facilitators
They learn in an engaging manner through role-play, movement, meditation, chanting, visual aids, TED talks, animation, games, and of course, meaningful conversation with their facilitators.
Equips Teens to Face Personal Challenges with Confidence
Each unit explores a different and unique middah or character trait and introduces the teens to holistic skills offered by the Mussar masters. They’ll experience centering activities, multiple ways to understand and process the middah, and practices to bring the middah to life, culminating in a personal practice to “seal in” the learning.
A Proven Program Piloted by The Mussar Institute and The Templeton Foundation
The facilitators are guided through each unit with an overview of Mussar, Mussar facilitation perspectives and techniques, best practices, suggested lesson outline templates, and a resource section for both new and seasoned Mussar facilitators.
Teens, program authors, and site leaders introduce you to the Challenges & Choices Teen Program.
TEENS MEET IN VA’ADIM
The va’ad is a small-group learning and sharing experience that connects and supports both group and personal teen growth.
A va’ad is a unique facilitated group learning environment that is traditional to Mussar. It is a small-group learning and sharing experience that connects and supports both group and personal teen growth.
While we learn a great deal on our own, we learn differently with a partner, and differently again when we discuss things with other people, who bring additional experience and perspectives to the issue.
The ultimate goal of the va’ad is to give all the teens a safe and sacred space to deepen their personal understanding of their inner life, and to process their social, emotional, and spiritual experiences by learning and growing with others.
WHAT WE TEACH
Facilitators receive Mussar training for teens and guidance for leading teen sessions using a variety of learning modalities.
Facilitators receive Mussar training for teens and guidance for leading teen sessions using a variety of learning modalities.
We offer an Introduction to Mussar unit, Mussar, Myself, and More, followed by eleven middot units. The units explore the nature of the middot or character qualities, ways to balance and manage them within ourselves, and ultimately, how to transform to become our “best selves”.
The middot our program focuses on are:
PROGRAM HISTORY
Challenges and Choices has been years in the making. Learn about how it was developed and who piloted it.
A 2017 report by The Jewish Education Project, Generation Now Understanding and Engaging Jewish Teens Today, revealed that teens want and need Jewish knowledge to be relevant. Teens are seeking greater purpose and meaning in their lives.
Alan Morinis, Founder of The Mussar Institute, responded by contacting Evie Weinstein, then Executive Director of the Jewish Education Bureau of Buffalo, NY. Alan and Evie created a curriculum of eight middot (character traits) for religious and day school settings which was piloted in Buffalo.
Later that year, TMI was awarded a substantial grant from the John Templeton Foundation for a 3-year pilot program with an assessment of the impact and scalability. 35 sites registered for the program, including synagogues, day schools, and summer camps, with over 300 teens participating.
In May 2020, TMI Co-President Irv Robinson appointed a Teen Program Task Force of Jewish teen educators, professional educational leaders, and others involved in the Templeton grant implementation to scale up program outreach.
In December 2020, Leslie-Anne Copes-Finke began as Teen Program Manager, later Director, to recruit, orient, and provide support to program sites and facilitators throughout North America in order to reach 1,300 teens in the next five years. She and her team developed the online version of the program to be delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic, and added additional learning units to the curriculum.
Present Day: TMI continues to offer our Teen Mussar Curriculum with greatly reduced barriers to access through an affordable perpetual license agreement and new Essentials training series to help new school sites get their programs up and running with less paperwork, less training time, and continuous support for as long as they need from our dedicated team of professional educators. Site administrators can look forward to an expansion of available units in the future.
SELECT SITES ACROSS THE US
Funded initially by the Templeton Foundation, the program was piloted in several sites.
Bergen County High School of Jewish Studies, Bergen County, NJ
Beth Chaim Reform Congregation, Malvern, PA
Beth El Temple Center, Belmont, MA
B’nai Israel Galveston, Galveston, TX
Camp Alonim, Brandeis, CA
Camp Ben Frankel, Carbondale, IL
Camp Coleman, Cleveland, GA
Camp Eisner, Barrington, MA
Camp Havaya, Wyncote, PA
Center for Jewish Engagement and Learning, Buffalo, NY
Congregation Ahavas Israel United Jewish School, Grand Rapids, MI
Congregation Albert, Albuquerque, NM
Congregation Albert Summer Camp, Albuquerque, NM
Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY
Congregation B’nai Israel, Galveston, TX
Congregation Sha’arei Shalom, Ashland, MA
Contra Costa Midrasha, Walnut Creek, CA
Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, Kansas City, KS
Jewish Student Union, St. Louis, MO
Kehillah High, Houston, TX
King David High School, Vancouver, BC
Kulanu at BJE Atlantic, Margate, NJ
Midrasha at Congregation Beth Shalom, Carmichael, CA
Polsky Religious School of Congregation Beth Shalom, Kansas City, KS
Temple Adat Elohim Religious School, Thousand Oaks, CA
Temple Beth-El, Hillsborough, NJ
Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, TX
Temple Sinai of Glendale, Robert Seiden School of Jewish Studies, Glendale, CA
The Leffel School, Hartsdale, NY
The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, Overland Park, KS
United Hebrew Congregation, Millstone Religious School, St. Louis, MO
URJ Camp George, Seguin, ON
Yachad, Minneapolis, MN
*This list includes sites that participated in TMI’s Pilot Program, funded by a generous 3-year grant from The John Templeton Foundation, as well as current sites that have signed onto our revitalized teen program with updated curriculum and support.
THE FAQ’S
Learn how to purchase a perpetual curriculum license and prepare your educators.
Who is the target audience for the teen Mussar program?
Teens 9-12th grade. This program was designed for synagogues, Jewish Day Schools, Hebrew High Schools, and Jewish community centers and summer camps that offer teen programming.
How can we offer this program to our students?
Begin by purchasing a perpetual curriculum license, and for sites with no TMI Mussar trained facilitators, register for the Essentials training series as well.
How much does this curriculum cost?
Thanks to generous contributions from nearly two dozen visionary investors, TMI is able to offer this program at a highly subsidized cost: $180 for the perpetual license, $100 for Essentials training. New units added in the future may come at an additional nominal fee.
What is a perpetual license?
A perpetual license has no term limit. You have access to the curriculum materials forever. New units purchased later will be included in the perpetual license.
What is included in the Essentials training series?
3 hours of live or recorded training, a facilitator guide, supplemental resources, and for those new to Mussar, an introductory mini-course all about the origins, study, and practice of Mussar for contemporary Jewish living.
How can our educators get support as we implement the curriculum?
Our team of educators/administrators is available for 1-on-1 and small group support at anytime throughout the year. Just reach out to to set up an appointment.
STUDY RESULTS
Read the study results from a 3-year Templeton Foundation Grant.
The Teen Program Task Force guided the expansion of the Teen Program in the early years of development and testing. The task force included the program authors, as well as Irv Robinson, a former Co-President of TMI; Sandy Garrett, TMI Board member and co-chair of the Teen Task Force; Rabbi Amy Ross, Temple Emanu-El, Dallas, TX and Rivka Felsher, Chief Operating Officer.
Dr. Alan Morinis, Founder of The Mussar Institute, is a leading figure in the contemporary revival of the Mussar movement, a 1,100-year-old authentic Jewish personal and communal spiritual tradition that was nearly lost following the Holocaust. A filmmaker, Rhodes Scholar, and anthropologist whose focus had been Hindu religious pilgrimages, he reached a personal turning point in his life in 1997 that led to his exploration of Mussar.
Alan sought out Rabbi Yechiel Perr, an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition. Following years of study he reinterpreted the ancient Mussar learnings and practices for modern audiences in Climbing Jacob’s Ladder and Everyday Holiness. To address the growing public interest in Mussar, he founded The Mussar Institute in 2004. He went on to author two more books, Every Day, Holy Day, and With Heart in Mind.
Alan continues to explore and interpret original Mussar sources in Hebrew and is making these valuable teachings available to the contemporary world.
Evie Weinstein has spent most of her professional life in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal work. She was the Executive Director of the Bureau of Jewish Education of Buffalo and the Principal of the High School of Jewish Studies. It is there where she was introduced to Mussar and Alan Morinis when the “Lead with Jewish Values” course for professional staff was piloted in Buffalo. Evie was trained as a Mussar Facilitator and has facilitated many TMI courses. She has attended many TMI Kallot and is the co-chair of the Facilitator Development Council.
She has worked with Alan on the “Challenges and Choices TMI course for teens and is now on the Teen Curriculum Task Force.
Evie is an active volunteer of the Buffalo Jewish community. She has been married for 48 years to her husband, Barry, and is the proud mother of two sons and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren. In her professional capacity, Evie’s most cherished moments were working with teens and young adults in an informal Jewish educational setting.
Leslie-Anne Copes-Finke is the former Director of Teen Program for The Mussar Institute (TMI), and was the co-leader of the Teen Task Force, and a member of the Board of Directors. As a member of the education staff at Beth El Temple Center in Belmont, MA, she has facilitated TMI’s Challenges and Choices: A Jewish Teen’s Guide to a Balanced Life with a group of 11th and 12th grade teens.
Leslie has a deep love for Jewish learning and is particularly passionate about bringing Mussar to life with teens, hoping to plant the seed of seeking holiness and wholeness in the next generation of Jews and to provide ways for teens to better understand themselves to live more purposeful and healthy lives.
With over ten years of experience in the areas of leadership and team effectiveness, and another ten years working professionally in fundraising, Leslie has served as a consultant for Combined Jewish Philanthropies’ Leadership Development Institute, is a Vice-Chair of the URJ Communities Leadership Team (NE), and has held senior positions at several not-for-profit organizations, including Boston Baroque, WNET-NY, UCS, and Common Ground Stage and Film Company. She is the proud mother of three, ages (17, 20, and 23), and is a past president of her synagogue.
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