i once remember learning (with a not frum organization) that the mussar movment was rejected by many gedolim when it first began. is this true or just revisionist history (like alot else they taught). could one of the Rabbis perhaps give a torah perspective on the history of the mussar movment.

There was an argument of whether the time of learning Musser would of been better use by learning Torah, and through the Torah itself would help your Middos, so Musser was Bitul Torah.

There is this story that the Chazon Ish went to hear a speach from a baal musser. The Baal Musser asked him that he thought that he was against learning Musser in general. In which he replied that he's more against people that are against Musser (I think what he wsa saying that he agrees with the concept of Musser, the question is where you get the dose of it.)

Another story that Some godol asked Rav Yisrael Salanter if someone only had 10 minutes to learn, what should he learn, Torah or Musser (implying that of course one must spend his time in Torah) which R' Yisrael answered he should learn Musser, then he would realize he has more time to learn.

thank you Rav chaim.
i dont understand why would the gedolim object to the learning of mussar on the basis of bittul torah, isent learning mussar considered learning torah? when, also, did musser become accepted as a genuine part of torah and considering the complaints of these gedolim, why? thank you again

Maybe, that there is a lot in Musser that one thinks about his actions, thinks about his obligations to Hashem etc. that is not actually technically learning. Secondly, the learning is a more basic learning, and thus a bittul B'aichus hatorah (stopping a better quality of deeper learning)

There was a period shortly after R' Salanter, where there were a lot of Yeshiva boys that was "grabbed" by the haskalah, thus the Gedolim recognized the need for Musser. This could of been R' Yisroel's meaning in the first place in the movement, i.e. he saw this coming.

interesting.
Did it work?

I'm not a great historean, but it does seem to me of what I know of those times, that there were less Haskalah members in the Yeshivas in Europe in the period before the war than there were when the Netziv was the head of Valozon. This is all are from what i understand from the periods, and not properly researched.

Thank you, Rav Chaim. Someone in shul on Shabbos told me that a good book on this subject would be the controversial Making of a Godol by Rabbi Kamenetzky. I can't buy it in the stores but perhaps i'll be able to find it on-line. Does anyone have any idea? What do you think about the book in genneral? On second thoughts, this probably deserves a forum for itself...

Interesting Hashgachah Peratis:
I just "happened" to glance at this forum today, and only last night I heard a tape of Reb Ya'akov Kaminetsky ztvk"l explaining that there were two arguments the opponents of Mussar had: 1) They were not against learning Mussar. However, they did not like the idea that during any designated time in Yeshiva, I should not be allowed to learn anything else but Mussar. In other words, they were against the concept of a Mussar seder; not against Mussar itself. 2) They felt that one could get everything necessary from the Gemara itself without the need for other seforim. The Mussar adherents argued that, also this may be so, it is only if one learns Torah lishmah, which most do not. Therefore they have the need for learning Mussar.