BS’D
Who can say they haven’t fallen prey to anger?
In Sefer Iyov (18:4) anger is described as “Toref nafsho be’apo (One who destroys his soul in his anger)”. That is, a person’s soul is consumed by anger. A person whose anger rules him is out of control and does not realize himself what has come over him. He is temporarily insane.
Kabbalah compares anger to fire and rage to a volcano. The reasons why anger can erupt include:
- An unfulfilled need to be loved and to love. When our love is violated or unrequited, even in perception, we can become angry.
- Unfulfilled potential. Rebbe Nachman ztk’l teaches that unfulfilled potential boils over and turns into anger. A person is filled with latent energy; when unused it gets stored. As the storage reaches its maximum, it looks to empty itself. Its expression spills forth in the form of anger.
- Self-focus. As a person lives only for himself, he has no tolerance for others and clashes in anger with many around him.
- A lack of emuna. Mankind seeks a superficial feeling of control and independence. Emuna is knowing that we are continuously dependent on Hashem and His kindness.
However, anger is a normal human emotion. Many of our holy sages battled to control their anger and in turn became the tzaddikim we know and respect today. The question is what does the Torah teach that we do with our anger. Hit a pillow? Scream? The Torah teaches us not to ignore one’s tendency towards anger. However, we must systematically work to uproot it from our midst. The Vilna HaGaon ztk’l teaches that even if a person learns Torah all his life, if they haven’t worked to correct their negative traits they will still have nothing to show for themselves in the World to Come.
Today’s daily dose of emuna is dedicated l’iluy nishmat Hadar Cohen HY’D the 19 year old army police officer brutally murdered last week by terrorists. May Hashem avenge her blood and