R' Binyamin Grodkeh described the Novardok branch in Bialystok as a place with two types; those who were mainly into learning, and those who were Baalei Mussar. When asked: “Which type were you?” he answered: “I was just a Bat’lan” (loafer). This is typical Novardok humor, and: יִמְצַﬠ לוּטיִבּ making nothing of yourself. He remembered an American Bachur who was wearing a fancy suit. The Bachur was once in middle of a fiery Mussar Seder, when he suddenly got up and tore off his fancy golden buttons, and folded over his luxurious collar.
During Elul, many Bachurim from other Yeshivos would come to Novardok, including R' Chaim Shmuelevitz, who considered Novardok to be more on fire than the greatest Baalei Mussar of the times. When the Bachurim would cram together to hear a Shiur or Shmuess, the son-in-law of the Alter, R' Yisroel Yaakov Lubchansky Zatzal, would walk slowly between the rows, and very, very gently would tell them to be careful not to push each other.
Being gentle and Eidel was a major Novardok issue, despite their fire. No heavy Kana’us-type “Mussaring-out” people; just Eidelkeit, which is the Jewish way, as is says: בֹקֲﬠַי לוֹק לוֹקַה בכ זכ תודלות the “voice” is the voice of Yaakov. They say that whoever heard a Shmuess from R' Yisroel Yaakov had to become a new person.
Both Slabodka and Novardok had an ongoing agenda of people changing themselves completely.
Novardokers never make Cheshbonos and plans, like the Gemara warns: רָחָמ תַרָצ רַצָתּ לַא יבמות סג ב Don’t worry about tomorrow’s problems. Their situations were so difficult, they would not have been able to last even one day, if not for the fact that they threw all their Cheshbonos and worries on Hashem. They weren’t involved in Protec’tzia (i.e., flattering the rich) and trying to get on the good side of important people. 'ה םִﬠ הֶיְהִתּ םיִמָתּ ˃יֶק˄ֱא “Have Temimus with Hashem” was a favorite Mussar refrain.
There is a picture of all the Gedolei Novardok together; but R' Gershon Liebman Zatzal, although he was sitting up front, you don’t see his full face; he was facing to the side. Despite the fact that all those giants of his own Shita were posing normally, he made sure to do what he felt was good for him, and he wasn’t impressed. No Hispa'alus in Novardok! He probably felt that normal posing for a picture is a form of Redifas HaKavod and trying to impress others, and he didn’t care if he would look slightly weird
