Start your Mussar Journey with CCM
CCM renews spiritual practice and Jewish text to transform relationships, awakening each person to their profound responsibility for the other. We offer introductory and continuing classes that focus on Mussar texts, theology, and practice. Students commit for a semester at a time; a complete curriculum is offered over four years.
Check out the list of available classes below!
Available classes
-
Mussar of Aging
6:30-8:30 p.m. CT, Wednesdays | July 23 - Sept. 17, 2025
Heidi Schneider & Rabbi Harold Kravitz
This five-session course is an introduction to the practice of Mussar as we age. In this course we will explore four middot (Jewish values): patience, equanimity, gratitude, and generosity and how we can apply these middot to our lives as we age or accompany aging relatives on their journey. Students will be paired in chevrutah for study outside of the class.
*Open to new students
-
Foundations / Kibbush 1
4-5:30 p.m. CT, alternating Tuesdays | Aug. 26 - Dec. 23, 2025
This course offers an accessible and meaningful introduction to Mussar, as well as continued growth for returning students. Together, we will explore core Mussar tools and middot (soul traits) that support ethical living and spiritual awareness in a relational world.
*Ongoing and open to new students!
-
Advanced Va'ad
10:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. ET, Thursdays | Sept. 11 - Nov. 13
This new class is designed for those who have completed the CCM program (recently or in the past) and are looking to keep Mussar alive in their lives. As part of the CCM structure of shiur and va’ad, participants will have a chance to explore and wrestle with their notions of God, develop a gratitude practice, focus on what information the body is telling us about the state of our nefeshot, and take turns giving weekly divrei torah. The text for the shiur will be Rabbi Sharon Brous’ The Amen Effect.
-
Seeds of Mussar
9-10:30 a.m. MT, Sundays | June 8 - July 6, 2025
Seeds of Mussar will introduce a method that focuses on refining our attributes so that they enable us to serve others with greater and greater joy. The Torah introduced the idea of loving our neighbor as ourselves thousands of years ago; this Mussar program provides each student with a personal operating manual toward meeting this overarching goal of Judaism.
*This introductory class is designed for new students!
-
Weekly Mussar Meditations
10-10:30 a.m. ET | Tuesdays
*MEDITATION CLASS WILL BE TAKING A SUMMER BREAK FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER*
Mussar is fundamentally a mindfulness practice; that is, in order to truly practice Mussar, one needs to be ever more aware of what is actually happening – not just immediately responding to projections, fears, and entitlements. I think some sort of meditation practice is necessary as a precursor to practicing Mussar, but increasingly I feel like it’s even more than that – Mussar is what meditation looks like when one leaves the cushion and enters the realm of relationship.
*Free & open to new students!
On-going Va’ads
(not open to new students, unless noted)
COMING SOON
In addition to the classes listed above, CCM also offers:
Madrichim Training Course — available to those who have completed the 3-year CCM curriculum and who are accepted into the teacher training program.
Rabbis Mussar Cohort — a year-long course offered to Rabbis with Mussar experience who are looking for deeper training and community.
Local Mussar classes — our madrichim are spread out throughout the United States and Canada, and many teach Mussar classes at their local synagogues.