Simcha Zissel Ziv threats to traditional Judaism and to strengthen the cause of the Musar movement, Simcha Zissel decided to open a school in Kelm, the Kelm Talmud Torah. At the time, Simcha Zissel was almost forty years old. The Talmud Torah opened in approximately 1865 and attracted young students, mainly thirteen and fourteen-year-olds. Simcha Zissel’s teacher – Rabbi Yisrael Salanter – had taught Simcha Zissel the importance of Musar and so the Talmud Torah aimed not only to enhance its student’s Torah knowledge but also to shape their personalities and develop their character traits using the Musar approach. Indeed, much of daily
Simcha Zissel Ziv in Stone's, "A Responsible Life: The Spiritual Path of Musar". Simcha Zissel Ziv Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida (; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or as the Alter of Kelm (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as the founder and director of the Kelm Talmud Torah. Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv was born as Simcha Mordechai Ziskind Broida in 1824 in Kelmė. His father, Reb Yisroel, belonged to the well-known Lithuanian Braude family. His mother, Chaya, was