Community Magazine December 2003

20 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE s xc CURSED TEMPER Far from a laughing matter, rage, the outward expression of frustration or dis- pleasure, is not taken lightly in the Torah. At the end of his life Yaakov our forefather imparts a blessing unto each of his beloved sons. For Shimon and Levi he says “For they have killed men with anger, maimed bulls with will. Cursed be their rage for it is fierce and their fury for it is cruel. I will disperse them among [the nation of] Jacob and scatter them in [the land of] Israel.” A harsh rebuke, it sounds more like a curse than a blessing! But it was a lesson given from love, to help his great sons become even greater by perfecting their character. The Or Hahaim explains that Jacob cursed their rage because it was excessive. They both had extreme levels of anger in their character and cursing it was a means to weaken this dangerous trait. “I will…scattered them in [the land of] Israel” alludes to the future of Shimon and Levi’s descendants, as teachers and collec- tors. This too, is part of their blessing. These two professions would contribute to their rehabilitation. Can a fundraiser get angry? He must be on his best behavior, or he may risk losing the favor of a possible donor. A teacher has an even bigger requirement to suppress his rage. He must have patience to be successful in the class- room. If a teacher isn’t tolerant and can’t control his temper, he will not last long in his position. Our wise forefather deemed the struggle against rage so crucial that the whole destiny of Shimon and Levi was rearranged to combat their inclination to it. Since then, the great men of our nation have constantly worked on themselves to extinguish anger from their character. Rav Moshe Feinstein, who was known as an extremely patient and tolerant man—said that he battled with anger as a youngster. The Hafetz Haim was once overheard praying to Hashem to save him from anger. “Yisrael Mayer,” he would some- times say to himself, “Don’t get angry. Yisrael Mayer, don’t let it upset you.” These men earned their greatness by exert- ing a tremendous amount of effort in order to refine their character—through hard work they sought to expel the precarious trait from their spiritual genes. Rav Chaim Vital says of the renowned Kabbalist, the Ari”zl, “My master was more concerned about anger than any other sin in the Torah.” An authority on the deepest of life’s secrets, the Ari”zl knew the essence of every Mitzvah in its fullest scope. On anger, he went so far as to say that it brings upon a person the highest level of impurity—the same as coming into contact with a corpse. More than kashrut, stealing, or even immorality, why was anger his greatest apprehension and how did it produce the physical effect of impurity? THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS On the physical level, the medical dan- ger that an inclination to rage poses to the human body is well known—no trait is more damaging. Medical research has dis- covered that when a person becomes over- come with anger, his blood congeals faster, his muscles contract, his heart beat speeds up, and the arteries to his heart shrink. He is susceptible to migraine headaches and depression. There are even published works that equate chronic anger to ciga- rette smoking and a high-fat diet as a lead- ing cause of early death. No other charac- ter trait is so detrimental. For example, there are no studies that relate early death to being miserly. It is certainly an undesir- able trait, but if a man goes to the super- market and determinedly hassles the man- ager until he accepts his expired 25 cent coupon, it won’t affect his health. His DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF JACK A”H & MARCELLE A”H SHASHO BY ELLIOT SHASHO “You’re a good for nothing!” she yells. Socrates doesn’t react. His wife continues in her tirade. “You just sit around all day! Why don’t you ever help me?” He remains unresponsive. Inflamed, she takes a bucket of water and dumps it on his head. He laughs! “Why are you laughing she demands?” Socrates answers “When I heard thunder, I knew the rain was coming soon.” B Y : R A B B I E L I MA N S O U R