Our Gemara on Amud Beis records an incident where a person sought an expert opinion from Rabbi Chiyyah who was appraising the quality and value of a certain coin.  He appraised it incorrectly, causing her financial loss. The Talmud rules that experts are not strictly liable for errors made in good faith. Nonetheless, as an act of piety, Rabbi Chiyyah took financial responsibility. He made a cryptic notation in his record book, “Deyn Esek Bish, this was a bad exchange.”

 

Divrei Yoel (Yisro) says this was not a financial ledger, but rather a personal journal, that Rabbi Chiyyah used for self-assessment.  He assumed that his being an instrument of loss and mishap indicates some sin on his part that he must remember to reflect upon, and correct.

 

The idea of journaling is well embraced by both practitioners of mussar, as well as psychology. According to Jeremy Sutton, PhD, journaling offers many benefits ( https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-journaling/ ):

 

While the exact mechanisms involved in journaling that confer physical and mental health benefits are not clear, the following psychological processes may be involved, to a greater or lesser degree (Baikie & Wilhelm, 2005):

 

  • Emotional catharsis -An emotional release of unconscious conflicts through venting negative feelings. 

 

  • Increased cognitive processing - Time spent creating coherent narratives of what has happened.

 

  • Repeated exposure - Increased and prolonged exposure to stressful events may lead to a reduction in harmful thoughts and feelings. Actively inhibiting negative emotions takes a considerable effort, further stressing the body and mind. Confronting them may support cognitive integration and further understanding.

 

There is a famous mussar sefer, “Cheshbon Hanefesh”, written by Rav Mendel Lapin (1749-1826) which was endorsed by Rav Yisroel Salanter.  It was a systemic day by day system of goals and record keeping, which he disclosed not his own, but rather an adaptation from another wise person. (It was actually Benjamin Franklin’s system of character development described in his autobiography (Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography and Other Writings, ed. Kenneth Silverman (New York: Penguin Books, 1986).  

 

Rav Lapin borrowed Benjamin Franklin’s 13 character qualities and adapted them to Hebrew and Jewish sensibilities.  Here is a link to a side by side comparison from Ben Franklin’s original to Rabbi Lapin’s version and then Rav Yisrael’s version:

 

http://soulagogy.blogspot.com/2018/09/benjamin-franklin-and-musar-movement.html?m=1

 

To make matters more interesting, Rav Lapin was a Maskil - not just a haskala sympathizer, but the real thing. Ideologically, a sworn enemy of those in the mussar camp. (See https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Lefin_Menahem_Mendel ).  However, despite this, Rav Lapin’s system was so erudite and supported by Jewish traditional sources which he spelled out, and written in a beautiful Hebrew, that it was endorsed by Rav YIsrael and the Mussar movement.  Here is what Rabbi Avigdor Miller ZT’L reportedly said about this phenomenon:

 

(From the book 'Shiurim of Avigdor' on Torah and holidays – Edition of Derech HaChaim, 5780, page 365, Parashat Behar Bechukotai).

 

"One must seek advice on how to succeed…There is advice on this in the book 'Cheshbon HaNefesh' written by Rabbi Mendel Satanover, of blessed memory, who lived during the time of the GR”A. This book…is full of great wisdom about the various powers of the soul and advice on how to harness them for the good in the service of God – in this book, there is a path that we can follow to succeed and transform.

 

When I was in Slabodka, there was a 'Mussar Committee,' a group of Slabodka students, including heads of yeshivas, rabbis, and students from the yeshiva…They took it upon themselves to reprint one of the ethical works and bring it to light in a new edition for the benefit of the public. I attended one of the meetings, and there they considered whether to choose the commentary of Rabbi Yonah on  Mishle. But in the end, despite Rabbi Yonah being a Rishon,' it was decided to publish the book 'Cheshbon HaNefesh.'

 

Do you understand the significance? The people there were experts in the matter of mussar, heads of yeshivas, scholars. And from all the ethical books, they chose 'Cheshbon HaNefesh.' Another interesting fact – Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, of blessed memory, in his book 'Ohr Yisrael,' does not mention any specific book, except in one place where he writes 'see Cheshbon HaNefesh.' This is a great, special recommendation worthy of note, regarding this unique book.

 

Sources: 

https://www.kikar.co.il/haredim-news/410396  

http://rabbilapin.com/index.php?route=module/kbm/article&kbm_article_id=47