Published In
Literature and Aesthetics The Journal of the Sydney Society of Literature and Aesthetics
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Subjects
Mussar, Yoseph Yozel Horowitz, The Work, Gurdjieff, work on oneself, spiritual exercises, esotericism
Abstract
This paper compares aspects of the teachings launched in pre-revolutionary and revolutionary Russia of two spiritual figures: Rabbi Yoseph Yozel Horwitz and George Gurdjieff. Yozel founded the Novarodok school of Mussar within Judaism; Gurdjieff founded the spiritual tradition known as “the Work” or “Fourth Way.” There are of course great differences between Judaism and the Work, but some similarities might be expected between spiritual disciplines, especially similarities in practice as opposed to doctrine. This paper explores similarities of some spiritual exercises in the Mussar school of Novarodok and secondarily in later or other Mussar teachings and in the early Gurdjieff Work and secondarily in its later development, specifically exercises that are undertaken in the midst of the ordinary activities of daily life. These similarities are interesting given the substantial differences in their Jewish and non-Jewish contexts.
Rights
Copyright 2025 by Martin Zwick.
Publisher Statement:
Immediate open access to content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
Locate the Document
https://openjournals.library.sydney.edu.au/LA/article/view/21770
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/44439
Citation Details
Martin Zwick, "Spiritual Exercises in Novarodok Mussar and the Early Work, Literature and Aesthetics 35 (2), 2025, 59-80.
Included in
Ethics in Religion Commons, Jewish Studies Commons, New Religious Movements Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons