Salanter (Lipkin) Israel (1810, Zhagory [now Žagarė, Lithuania] — 1883, Königsberg, Prussia [now Kaliningrad, Russia]) — Talmudist and religious preacher, founder of the Musar (ethical) movement.
His father, the well-known Talmudist Zeev Wolf ben Aryeh Leib Lipkin, was head of a yeshiva in Zhagory and later served as rabbi in Goldingen (now Kuldīga, Latvia) and Telz (now Telšiai, Lithuania).
From the age of 12, Salanter studied under Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Broda in the town of Salant (Salantai) — from which he acquired the name Salanter (“from Salant”), which effectively replaced his family name. His teacher highly valued his abilities and called him the “little Alfasi” (after Isaac Alfasi). A major influence on his intellectual development was Yosef Zundel of Salant (1786–1866), a scholar and ascetic who refused an official rabbinic position, earned his living as a peddler, and devoted his free time to the study of the Talmud.
Having set as his life’s goal the moral renewal of the Jewish people, Salanter prepared himself for the role of a preacher. While carefully studying Halakha, he devoted his main attention to ethics, self-knowledge, and self-improvement. He saw a threat to traditional Judaism, in particular, in Hasidism. In contrast to Hasidic teaching, which emphasized serving God with joy, Salanter regarded excessive joy and merriment as sinful frivolity. Opposing the proponents of the Haskalah, who called for rapprochement with the Christian world, he insisted on a return to the traditional moral values of Judaism. To achieve this, he believed it necessary to present ethical teachings in a form accessible to all, including those without formal Jewish education.
Invited in 1840 by the Vilna (Vilnius) community to head a yeshiva, Salanter not only spread the ideology of the Musar movement among students but also founded in 1849 a special prayer house — a Musar shtibl (distinct from Hasidic shtiblekh). There he delivered sermons to artisans and merchants, calling for repentance and vividly describing the inevitability of divine retribution for any wrongdoing.
Although personally a strict ascetic, Salanter interpreted the principle of pikuach nefesh (the preservation of life) broadly. During Yom Kippur 5608 (1848), when a cholera epidemic was raging in Vilna, he publicly recited a blessing and began eating in the synagogue, urging others to do the same. Although strict fasting is required on that day, Salanter considered the preservation of life and health more important than ritual observance. He selflessly cared for the sick, ignoring the risk of infection, and encouraged others to do likewise.
Israel Salanter (Lipkin) (Ger. Israel Salanter (Lipkin))
Salanter repeatedly refused offers to assume an official rabbinical post. After moving in 1849 to Kovno (Kaunas), he founded there a Musar shtibl and also established a new yeshiva, from which many prominent preachers of the Musar movement later emerged, including Moshe Yitzhak Darshan (the Kelm Maggid), Simcha Zissel Broda (1824–1898), and Yitzhak Blazer (1837–1907). Salanter improved the living conditions of students by abolishing the traditional system whereby they were fed in rotation in private homes, and instead organized a dormitory and dining hall. He demanded neatness and cleanliness in dress and taught proper conduct and aesthetics.
Recognizing the strong influence of German Jewry on Lithuanian Jews — where the ideas of the Haskalah had spread widely — Salanter decided to confront this ideology at its source. In 1857 he traveled to Germany at the invitation to deliver a course on Judaism to students at the University of Königsberg; his erudition and energy were also recognized among German Orthodox circles.
In 1860, after moving to Memel (now Klaipėda, Lithuania), Salanter began publishing the weekly journal “Ha-Tvuna”, promoting the ideology of Musar. He adopted German citizenship, wore European clothing, and delivered sermons in German. While living in Tilsit, Frankfurt am Main, Halberstadt, and Berlin, he maintained an active correspondence with his students in Lithuania.
He continually sought new ways to disseminate Orthodox Judaism. Salanter proposed ideas that were ahead of his time, including:
compiling an Aramaic–Hebrew dictionary for the study of the Talmud
translating the entire Talmud into Hebrew (a project only undertaken a century later by Adin Steinsaltz)
translating the Talmud into European languages
promoting Jewish religious literature in Russian
In 1880–1882, Salanter lived in Paris, where he worked to spread Jewish knowledge and strengthen Jewish institutions. In 1882 he returned to Königsberg.
Salanter’s personality and teachings had a profound influence on the development of Orthodox Judaism, although within the Lithuanian Jewish community his statements and actions often met with strong opposition.
His most important works include:
“Iggeret ha-Musar” (Epistle on Morality, 1858)
“Imrei Bina” (Words of Understanding, 1878)
“Even Yisrael” (The Rock of Israel, 1883)
Salanter’s sons were also notable figures:
Aryeh Leib Lipkin-Horowitz (1840–1903), a Talmudist and author of works including “Baraita di-Shmuel ha-Katan” (Baraita of Samuel the Small) and “Klalei ha-Tekhelet Ḥokhmat ha-Emet” (Azure Principles of True Wisdom), among others
Yitzhak Lipkin, also a well-known rabbi
Another son, Yom-Tov Lipman Lipkin (c. 1845–1875), an outstanding mathematician and mechanician, died young of smallpox.