--- product_id: 106829903 title: "Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition" price: "FREE" currency: TND in_stock: false reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.tn/products/106829903-climbing-jacobs-ladder-one-mans-journey-to-rediscover-a-jewish store_origin: TN region: Tunisia --- # Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition **Price:** FREE **Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition - **How much does it cost?** FREE with free shipping - **Is it available?** Currently out of stock - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.tn](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/106829903-climbing-jacobs-ladder-one-mans-journey-to-rediscover-a-jewish) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description “A compelling portrait of the relationship between a student and a teacher,” this spiritual memoir “raises important questions about the meaning of Judaism and the search for spirituality in this world” ( Los Angeles Times ) Jewish by birth, though from a secular family, Alan Morinis explored Hinduism and Buddhism as a young man. But in 1997, in the face of personal crisis, he turned to his Jewish heritage for guidance. In his reading he happened upon a Jewish spiritual tradition called Mussar. Gradually he realized that he had stumbled upon an insightful discipline for self-development, complete with meditative, contemplative, and other well-developed transformative practices designed to penetrate the deepest roots of the inner life. Eventually reaching the limits of what he could learn on his own, he decided to seek out a Mussar teacher. This was not an easy task, since almost the entire world of the Mussar tradition had been wiped out in the Holocaust. In time, he found an accomplished master who stood in an unbroken line of transmission of the Mussar tradition, and who lived in the center of a community of Orthodox Jews on Long Island. This book tells the story of Morinis’s journey to meet his teacher and what he learned from him, revealing the central teachings and practices that are the spiritual treasury and legacy of Mussar. Review: A stunningly vivid verbal portrait - Written in the style of Tuesdays with Morrie - middle-aged Jewish guy, plodding through life's ethical dilemmas, connects with older, wiser Jewish man and learns much about himself and the world around him - Climbing Jacob's Ladder is an exceptionally well-crafted book. The guru figure of this book, though, is not a self-styled professor, saddled with a debilitating, terminal illness. Rather, he is, Rabbi Yechiel Perr, dean of an Orthodox Yeshiva, who is steeped in an age old ethics-based tradition, known as Mussar. The book's author, Alan Morinis, is effective on numerous planes. For one, he makes the somewhat arcane theoretical underpinnings of Mussar accessible to a larger audience: You don't just have a soul; you are a soul. Second, Morinis breathes new life into some of the perhaps stultified practices of Mussar. An example here is when he presents Heshbon Hanefesh/moral inventory in a manner that subtly deviates from the more statistics-based, quantitative approach introduced by its original author and heads toward a more descriptive, qualitative approach - one that empowers readers to move beyond simply identifying moral lapses to understanding their causes and finding solutions. An intriguing question that winds its way through the book is whether Mussar, as a discipline originally devised to help observant Jews adhere to the strictures of Orthodoxy, can be adapted for use by those who wish to remain part of broader society, even as they crave a more ethical, spiritual life. Morinis, on more than one occasion, poses this question to Rabbi Perr, and his mentor typically responds in oblique fashion. Whether or not we are to call Morinis' book and the endeavors it has spawned Mussar, his work has inspired (and moved to action) a wide array of people, many of whom are clearly not Orthodox. For those who personally know Rabbi Perr, this book holds an additional attraction. Morinis paints a stunningly vivid verbal portrait - one that seems to capture a great deal of the venerated dean's aura, from his imposing physical presence to the complex and seemingly contradictory facets of his personality. As someone who had studied in Rabbi Perr's Yeshiva for a number of years, I will often refer to the images presented by Morinis, and experience a tingling sense of the dean's, or (as we refer to him) the Rosh Yeshiva's presence - one that tides me over, in between our all too infrequent phone conversations. Review: Easy, captivating read - If you're planning on reading Mussar books, I'd suggest reading this one first, cause it mentions reading the other books, but suggests how to go about doing so. I think Mussar & Kabbalah are similar, but not the same (if you happen to be studying or are thinking of studying Kabbalah). Both worth studying. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #1,683,723 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #173 in Orthodox Judaism #284 in Jewish Life (Books) #388 in Jewish Orthodox Movements | ## Images ![Climbing Jacob's Ladder: One Man's Journey to Rediscover a Jewish Spiritual Tradition - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/91ci0TD7uAL.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A stunningly vivid verbal portrait *by A***R on November 16, 2011* Written in the style of Tuesdays with Morrie - middle-aged Jewish guy, plodding through life's ethical dilemmas, connects with older, wiser Jewish man and learns much about himself and the world around him - Climbing Jacob's Ladder is an exceptionally well-crafted book. The guru figure of this book, though, is not a self-styled professor, saddled with a debilitating, terminal illness. Rather, he is, Rabbi Yechiel Perr, dean of an Orthodox Yeshiva, who is steeped in an age old ethics-based tradition, known as Mussar. The book's author, Alan Morinis, is effective on numerous planes. For one, he makes the somewhat arcane theoretical underpinnings of Mussar accessible to a larger audience: You don't just have a soul; you are a soul. Second, Morinis breathes new life into some of the perhaps stultified practices of Mussar. An example here is when he presents Heshbon Hanefesh/moral inventory in a manner that subtly deviates from the more statistics-based, quantitative approach introduced by its original author and heads toward a more descriptive, qualitative approach - one that empowers readers to move beyond simply identifying moral lapses to understanding their causes and finding solutions. An intriguing question that winds its way through the book is whether Mussar, as a discipline originally devised to help observant Jews adhere to the strictures of Orthodoxy, can be adapted for use by those who wish to remain part of broader society, even as they crave a more ethical, spiritual life. Morinis, on more than one occasion, poses this question to Rabbi Perr, and his mentor typically responds in oblique fashion. Whether or not we are to call Morinis' book and the endeavors it has spawned Mussar, his work has inspired (and moved to action) a wide array of people, many of whom are clearly not Orthodox. For those who personally know Rabbi Perr, this book holds an additional attraction. Morinis paints a stunningly vivid verbal portrait - one that seems to capture a great deal of the venerated dean's aura, from his imposing physical presence to the complex and seemingly contradictory facets of his personality. As someone who had studied in Rabbi Perr's Yeshiva for a number of years, I will often refer to the images presented by Morinis, and experience a tingling sense of the dean's, or (as we refer to him) the Rosh Yeshiva's presence - one that tides me over, in between our all too infrequent phone conversations. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Easy, captivating read *by F***Y on September 17, 2017* If you're planning on reading Mussar books, I'd suggest reading this one first, cause it mentions reading the other books, but suggests how to go about doing so. I think Mussar & Kabbalah are similar, but not the same (if you happen to be studying or are thinking of studying Kabbalah). Both worth studying. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ How to Find Your Soul *by R***N on November 27, 2003* In a world where spiritual materialism is rampant, it is refreshing to find the real thing. _Climbing Jacob's Ladder_ by Alan Morinis is an up close and personal introduction to Mussar, a little known, nearly obliterated form of Jewish Wisdom which aims in the most practical way to help anyone find his soul and then to cut through the clutter to balance and strengthen that soul by various techniques. There is no quick fix here, but what this book has to say jibes with as much as I have learned. Spirituality is largely a matter of practice. God helps those who work on their technique! --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.tn/products/106829903-climbing-jacobs-ladder-one-mans-journey-to-rediscover-a-jewish](https://www.desertcart.tn/products/106829903-climbing-jacobs-ladder-one-mans-journey-to-rediscover-a-jewish) --- *Product available on Desertcart Tunisia* *Store origin: TN* *Last updated: 2026-09-20*