- להאזנה דע את מידותיך 090 אש כעס
90 Fire-Anger
- להאזנה דע את מידותיך 090 אש כעס
Understanding Your Middos - 90 Fire-Anger
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Anger – A Root Trait of Fire
As mentioned, one of the negative traits which come from the element of fire is anger. This is one of the main traits that result from fire. The root traits of fire are conceitedness and anger, and the resulting traits of fire are seeking honor, seeking control, intolerance (hakpadah), and hatred. In this lesson, we will explain one of the root traits of fire: the trait of anger.[1]
“The Liver Gets Angry”
The Gemara says, “The liver gets angry.”[2] [Hence, anger gets is source from the liver (in Hebrew, the liver is called the kaveid). We will now analyze this in-depth and see the connection between anger and the liver.]
Anger – The “Dryness” of Fire
As mentioned earlier, the main properties of the element of fire are heat and dryness. Heat naturally rises, while dryness causes something to remain heavy and to remain in place. In that regard, heat and dryness are opposing aspects. Heat causes the properties of something to rise, while dryness causes the properties of something to remain in place.
To illustrate this idea from our physical world, we know that a dead person cannot move, and this is because the physical body has dried up. When fire burns something, it turns something into ash which causes something to remain where it is. Smoke rises, while ash stays where it is. Thus, the smoke of fire is the products of the heat of the fire, which rises above, and the ash which results from fire is a product of the dryness of fire, which essentially causes something it burns to become heavier in weight, and staying where it is, as a pile of ash, which is not able to rise.
All of the elements are able to interact with each other and combine with their different properties. [The properties of the elements can either clash with each other or supercharge each other, depending on the variables involved. Each of the elements contains a similar property to a different element, and when these similar properties combine, there is a stronger, more supercharged effect.] For example, fire and wind are both “hot” elements.[3] When the “heat” of fire combines with the “heat” of fire, what happens? The heat of fire can “supercharge” the wind’s heat, and the result is a stronger amount of heat.
With regards to our current topic, anger, the dryness of the element of fire (in the soul) produces anger by connecting with the dryness of the element of earth (in the soul). Fire burns something and turns it into ash. How? The fire totally dries out the object in its way, reducing it into a pile of ash. So it is the dryness in the fire which turns something into ash. Ash stays where it is, resembling the element of earth, which is heavy and unmoving. Thus, the heat of fire leads to an effect of “heaviness”, causing something to stay in place. In this aspect, fire combines with earth, a dry, heavy element.
This also explains the connection between two very similar Hebrew words, עפר afar (dust) and אפר aifer (ash). Ash, or aifer, which is a product of fire, is similar to the word the word afar, “dust”. The only difference is that aifer/ash is spelled with the letter aleph (א) whereas the word afar/dust is spelled with the letter ayin (ע) . The letter aleph represents a higher spiritual level, whereas the letter ayin generally refers to a lower spiritual level. Since ash is a product of fire, which is a more spiritual element than earth, the word for ash (aifer) is spelled with aleph, whereas the word for dust (afar) is spelled with an ayin. Ash (fire) and dust (earth) both bear the same root – “heaviness”. It is the “heaviness” of fire which activates the “heaviness” of earth, and this is how the trait of anger forms.
Anger comes from the liver, and in Hebrew the liver is called the kaveid. This is from the word k’veidus, “heaviness.” Here again we can see the connection between anger and “heaviness” in the soul. (To clarify, this “heaviness” is not coming from the element of earth, but from the heaviness that results from the element of fire, after the fire activates the “heaviness” of earth.)
The Depth of How Anger Causes A Person To Lose His Logical Thinking
Anger is described in the Torah with different terms, such as cheimah (wrath), rogez (fury), and zaam (wrath). The Torah mentions anger many times, but where is the first time in the Torah it is mentioned? Moshe rebuked the Jewish people that they had “angered” Hashem several times in the desert. Moshe’s absence led to the sin with the golden calf, when the people first “angered” Hashem.
Moshe himself became angry, and Chazal state that because of this he made a mistake. This happened three times.[4] Let us analyze this deeper. The Gemara says that Bilaam knew the exact moment when Hashem is angry at the Jewish people.[5] Bilaam is the evil counterpart of Moshe, in Side of Evil. Thus, we can understand that Moshe’s absence led to the Jewish people evoking Hashem’s anger, because Moshe’s very opposite, Bilaam, was the epitome of evoking anger.
Since Bilaam’s entire life was focused on evoking Hashem’s anger at the Jewish people, it follows that Bilaam’s opposite, Moshe, was entirely devoted to appeasing Hashem’s anger towards the Jewish people. Moshe spent great effort on appeasing Hashem after the sin of the golden calf, and he entreated Hashem not to show His wrath on the Jewish people. Moshe was entirely devoted to appeasing Hashem, which is called ritzuy, whereas Bilaam was entirely devoted to evoking Hashem’s anger. Moshe was all about ritzuy/appeasement, whereas Bilaam, who was Moshe’s evil counterpart and his exact opposite, was all about anger.
Moshe’s absence led to the people’s sin with the golden calf, which led to Hashem’s anger. The Gemara says that when one is angry, his wisdom leaves him, and he is called a fool during his time of anger.[6] Wisdom, which is chochmah, is also called daas (understanding). The concept of daas is epitomized by Moshe. Thus, the absence of wisdom, the absence of daas, the absence of “Moshe”, leads to anger. The opposite of “Moshe”, the opposite of holy daas, is the wicked “Bilaam” – the trait of evil anger.
Going deeper with this, there is a verse, “With much wisdom, there is much anger.”[7] This seems to imply that a lot of wisdom brings anger, which contradicts the basic idea that anger makes a person lose his wisdom, which clearly shows that wisdom negates anger. How do we reconcile this? However, the aforementioned verse is from sefer Koheles, a book of one of the Prophets. The prophets were on a lower level than Moshe. So we can answer that it is only the wisdom of Moshe which negates anger (and which the lack thereof leads to anger), but any other wisdom which is not on the level of Moshe, even if it is the wisdom of prophets, is not strong enough to negate anger. Thus, the verse is saying that even with much wisdom, there will be still much anger, meaning that even if a person has a lot of wisdom, it will not be enough to negate a lot of anger, if the wisdom is not on the level of Moshe’s wisdom, daas. A person needs daas to negate anger.
When a person loses his Torah wisdom, the wisdom of Moshe, this enables anger to take hold of a person. When one becomes angry, Anger makes a person lose his Torah wisdom, the wisdom of Moshe. Any wisdom that does remain with a person after he is angered can only be the wisdom that is on the level of the Prophets, because such wisdom isn’t strong enough to negate anger.
The Depth of How Anger Results From An Unmet Will
The Gra says that the element of fire comes from above, and therefore fire yearns to go above, back to its source, and that is why the nature of fire is to rise. Fire begins on this world, but it wants to go above. In contrast to this, the element of water begins above, in the heavens, but the nature of water is to descend, onto our world. That is why the nature of water is to go downwards (The wind moves the water below and fire above, so that water and fire can return to their sources).
As mentioned so far, within fire itself, there is heat and dryness. The heat of fire causes fire to rise. This is essentially the trait of gaavah (conceitedness) which comes from fire – it is the nature to rise higher. [This nature can be used for either good or evil]. The dryness of fire, which is epitomized by ash, doesn’t allow the fire to rise. The dryness in fire keeps fire from rising. Normally, fire can rise because of the heat in the fire, and the dryness is overpowered by the heat. But if there is only dryness and no heat, fire cannot rise, and instead fire remains on the earth and it cannot rise higher. Where do we see this? In ash. Ash, a product of fire, is the dryness of fire without the heat of fire.
Anger resembles ash, the dry product of fire without the heat of fire. What happens when a person is angry? Simply speaking, a person is angry when his will gets opposed. This comes from conceitedness. Without conceit, it wouldn’t be possible for a person to get angry. That is the simple understanding of how anger works. But there is also a deeper understanding. When one’s will gets opposed, one wanted to “rise” higher with his will, but he was stopped from getting what he wanted [whether it was about something material or something spiritual], and as a result, the person remains below, unable to rise higher with his will. That is why a person gets angry.
The Process of How Anger Comes From The Liver
This is also helps us understand further why anger comes from the liver, as follows.
When a person is angry, he is essentially attempting to “rise” higher through the “fire” of his anger. He can’t rise higher through his will, because he hasn’t gotten what he wanted, so, in a desperate attempt to go higher, he gets angry, so that he can feel like he is “rising” higher somehow. What happens when a person is angry? His face turns red, and anger is mainly expressed through the mouth. Thus, anger shows up on the face of the person. If anger comes from the liver, how does anger show up on the face? It is because the anger is the only thing that rises with the “fire” that begins in the liver. Instead of going higher with his “fire”, the person remains below, with his unmet will. The anger shows up on a person’s face, because his “fire” couldn’t get past his highest point, his head.
This is also the depth of the statement, “An angry person has nothing in his hands except for his anger.”[8] If anger would get the person to truly rise higher with his fire, then a person would indeed get higher through his anger. But when one’s fire doesn’t rise properly, the person becomes angry because his fire has remained below, unable to rise further. This is the meaning of “The liver gets angry.” The person’s wisdom leaves him, he didn’t rise any higher through his “fire”, and instead of rising to the level of the head, he remains on the lower level, represented by the liver, which is at a lower place in the body. That is why anger shows up on a person’s face – it is because the fire rises from the liver and doesn’t go higher than a person’s head, so it remains at the head, showing up on the face as a red pallor. This is the depth of the verse, “With much wisdom comes much anger” – when much wisdom leaves the person, the result is anger.
The Torah says that Bilaam knew daas elyon, “upper knowledge”, and the Gemara explains that this means that Bilaam knew the exact time when Hashem is angry. Thus, the only daas that Bilaam knows of is when Hashem gets angry. The teaching of the Sages that “The angry person has nothing except his anger” is the epitome of Bilaam. Bilaam’s entire daas elyon was that he knew when Hashem gets angry. Because Bilaam was the epitome of evil anger, who lived in order to arouse Hashem’s anger at His people, he was only able to “rise” with his “fire” through his anger, and the only perception he was able to reach was that he calculated the exact moment when Hashem is angry. Bilaam had truly nothing except for anger.
Two Ways To Rectify Anger: Compassion and Laughter
The Gemara says that a person is recognized by his cup, his wallet, and his anger.[9] All of these terms have the letters kaf and samech in them, which is the root of the word kisuy, covering. The hint of this is that anger can become “covered over” and thereby rectified [we will soon explain how].
There are two main names of Hashem in Creation: the name of havayah, and the name of Elokim. The name of havayah refers to the mode of rachamim, the mercy of Hashem, whereas the name Elokim refers to Hashem’s trait of din, judgment. Hashem’s anger, which is rooted in the element of fire, is the epitome of din/judgment. The opposite of Hashem’s anger, or His attribute of din/judgment, is Hashem’s rachamim, His compassion. In the Selichos and in the prayers on Yom Kippur, we ask Hashem to overcome His anger through His rachamim. Thus, the opposite of anger is the concept of rachamim/compassion.
We also find another opposite of anger: the idea of laughter. The Gemara says that laughter comes from the spleen, and that the laughter from the spleen can quell the anger that comes from the liver.
Thus, there are two “opposites” of anger: compassion, and laughter.
Laughter Is Not The Complete Repair For Anger
While laughter can help for anger, it is not the complete solution to anger. Laughter is regarded as the “lower” rectification for anger (whereas compassion is the “higher” and more complete rectification for anger). Laughter (sechok) comes from lightheadedness (kalus rosh), and when a person has kalus rosh (lightheadedness) his wisdom is absent. When a person is in a state of lightheadedness and laughter, his daas is not present. When a person has kalus rosh, he loses his wisdom, his daas, and that is why he is able to laugh. We see this from the verse, “The anger of the righteous is better than the laughter of the wicked.” The laughter of the wicked comes from lightheadedness, from a lack of wisdom. Thus, while laughter can mitigate anger, it is not the complete repair for anger, because laughter comes from lightheadedness, a loss of daas – which is the same issue that comes from being angry.
In contrast, rachamim (compassion) is from the word rosh, “head”, which connotes wisdom and daas. Anger stems from the liver but doesn’t make it past the head, and therefore anger shows up on a person’s face and reddens it. Rachamim, which corresponds to the “head”, is above the endpoint of the anger – the face - and therefore, it is the truer way to rectify anger.
Laughter comes from the spleen, which is in the lower third section of the body. The spleen is nearby the liver, where anger comes from. Therefore, laughter can only repair anger on a lower level. Laughter can repair anger on the level of the “spleen”, the lower level of the body, but laughter cannot repair anger on a higher level.
Hashem’s name of havayah represents the rachamim (compassion) of Hashem, while the name Elokim connotes judgment, which conceals the rachamim of Hashem. Hence, the name Elokim “covers” over the rachamim of Hashem and conceals it. The Hebrew word for “covering”, kisuy, is similar to the words kaas, anger, and kis, wallet, and kos, cup. Those are the three things by which a person’s level is recognized.
The evil nation of Amalek is associated with the trait of laughter. This is lower and unrefined kind of laughter, which comes from spleen. It is the laughter that comes from kalus rosh, of lightheadedness. Since laughter is the trait of Amalek, laughter cannot be the true rectification for anger. This is especially because the laughter of the spleen, the “lower” laughter, can only rectify the anger which comes from its neighboring organ, the liver.
How Rachamim (Compassion) Is The More Complete Repair For Anger
The true opposite of anger, the true rectification for anger, is the rosh, the head - which is represented by rachamim. How can we see that rachamim repairs anger? The Midrash teaches that Hashem first created the world with middas hadin (the attribute of judgment), and He saw that the world wouldn’t last with middas hadin alone, so He included the middas harachamim to create the world.[10]
Laughter is a result of the combined “dryness” of earth and fire together. Therefore, although laughter opposes anger, it cannot completely rectify anger, because anger comes from the “dryness” of fire and earth together, and so does laughter. However, the trait of rachamim (compassion) comes from a combination of the elements of wind and earth together. The wind opposes earth. Therefore, rachamim is the true rectification for anger.
Chazal teach that even when Hashem is angry His creations, He still remembers the tzaddikim, and in their merit, He mitigates His anger. This means that His rachamim is present even in the midst of His anger. Hashem never allows His anger to completely dominate His conduct. Even in the heat of His anger, He lets the rachamim come through, by remembering the tzaddikim. This resembles the teaching of the Midrash that Hashem saw that the world wouldn’t last, so He included the middas harachamim into Creation. Thus, we learn from this that [when we show] rachamim [on another who angers us], this is the true and complete way to negate anger.
Anger Is Rooted in the “Empty Space” in Creation
The Gemara says that “One who gets angry is considered as if he committed idol worship.”[11] Why? This is because when anger is allowed to burn, without any rachamim, the result is kefirah, heresy. Heresy is at the root of idol worship. Idols are sometimes called atzavim, which is from the word atzvus, sadness. Thus, there is a connection between heresy, idol worship, and sadness.
The connection is as follows. Chazal teach that when Hashem first made the world, He first made an empty space, and then filled the empty space with Creation.[12] So there were three stages: When the Creator existed by Himself and there was no Creation yet, when the Creator allowed a space for Creation, and when the space was filled with Creation. In the moment that there was only an empty space in Creation, with nothing else in Creation other than this empty space, the idea of heresy (denying the Creator) took root, and this allowed for the concept of idol worship [and the root of all sadness].
In that sense, anger is also related to the idea of heresy and idol worship. When a person’s will is opposed, when one’s will remained unfulfilled, this is like an empty space, a chalal, because the space of the person [represented by the will of the person] hasn’t been filled. The result of an unfulfilled will is anger. Thus, anger comes from the empty space (chalal).
On a deeper, more cosmic level, anger is allowed to take root when a person’s will is unfulfilled because of Hashem’s anger, which happens when Hashem’s will is unfulfilled, so to speak. This allows for the realm of tohu (void) to exist – a dimension where there is only chaos and destruction, where there is no rachamim of Hashem. This lays the “empty space” that allows for Hashem’s anger, and that is why all anger in general is the result of the chalal, the empty space in Creation.
Moshe corresponds to the concept of ratzon (the true will). Moshe, who appeased Hashem’s anger at the Jewish people, represents Hashem’s ratzon to upkeep the world. Moshe represents Hashem’s plan to include the middas harachamim in creating the world. Bilaam, the opposite of Moshe, who wanted Hashem to destroy the Jewish people, represents the chalal, the empty space of the world, a world that cannot last, which is a situation of middas hadin without middas harachamim, a situation of tohu, the dimension of void and chaos.
The root of Hashem’s anger is represented by the fact that Hashem wanted to first create the world with middas hadin (judgment), which could not last. This is like the verse, “A moment is His anger”[13] – Hashem’s anger, or the chalal (empty space) lasts only for a moment, for there was only one moment when Hashem saw that the world cannot last, when Hashem saw that the creations will not fulfill His will. In contrast with this, there is a verse, “For there is life in His will”,[14] which refers to Hashem’s will to upkeep the world, His inner will, His rachamim (compassion), represented by Moshe. Thus, ratzon, which corresponds to rachamim, opposes anger and din/judgment.
Anger is mainly expressed through speech, through the mouth. When Hashem saw that the world shouldn’t last, it meant that “His word”, which upkeeps Creation, wouldn’t last [so to speak]. This was rooted in the chalal, in the first tzimtzum (contraction).
There is the Creator and there are His creations, and the root of His creations are represented by the 12 tribes, who come from Yaakov, from the word kav, the line, because the kav connects all of the creations with Hashem. Dan, who is considered to be the lowest of the tribes, has the blessing of “L’yishuacha kivisi”, “In your salvation I hope for”[15], the concept of hope, kivuy. In other words, through kivuy/hope, we are connected to Hashem’s salvation through the kav, the line, by which Hashem sends all illumination through. The lower realm, the Creation, can only be connected to the higher realm, Hashem, through hoping for Hashem’s salvation. The lower realm places its “hope” in the higher realm – meaning that the creations have kivuy, hope, for the Creator.
But in the chalal (empty space) of Creation, there is no kivuy, no hope, and everything stays where it is, with no kav, no line to connect the creations with the Creator. This is the root of anger – the dimension of the chalal, where there is no hope.
The above also explains why anger is connected with the liver, the kaveid, which is from the word k’veidus, heaviness. The anger of the liver corresponds to idol worship, heresy, the chalal, the empty space of Creation. The root of idol worship is in chalal, where there is no hoping of the creations in their Creator, where everything stays as it is (hence the connection to “heaviness”). When all hope is lost, the creations cannot rise higher from where they are. The “heat” of fire is lost, and the result is ash, a product of fire that cannot rise, because it is no longer hot and it cannot rise anymore, and it is nothing but a dry, unmoving product of the fire.
Anger – The Frustration of Seeing Another’s Success
The depth of anger is contained in the concept of how anger comes from the liver.
Simply speaking, anger results when a person’s fire wanted to rise higher – when a person wanted to achieve his will, which is a form of rising - and the person didn’t end up achieving His will, so the person cannot rise. The person can only “rise” higher through his anger, and that is why he gets angry, in an attempt to “rise” higher through the “fire” of his anger.
But on a deeper level, anger is not simply a result of an unmet will. It is because anger comes from the liver, meaning that the “fire” in the liver rises but doesn’t get past a person’s head, causing the “fire” to stay where it is, where it cannot rise. When one can only stay in his place the depth of his anger is reached when he sees that others have something that he doesn’t, that others have achieved their will but he isn’t. This is how anger comes from the chalal (empty space): When one is angry because of what another person has, he is angry at his very havayah (existence), and when one negates his havayah, the result is chalal, an empty void.
The Gemara says that when one is angry, all kinds of Gehinnom will come on the person.[16] This is referring to when a person is angry at another person and therefore he laughs at the other person and mocks him. Laughing at the other person will not save him from being angry, and he will still suffer the Gehinnom that comes upon a person when he is angry. This hellish anger will only be increase when he laughs and mocks the person whom he is angry with, because such laugher is not for the purpose of fixing one’s anger, but to belittle the other person’s existence. Such laughter and mockery comes from being angry at the other person’s very havayah (existence), because the person is angry that he doesn’t have what the other has.[17]
In Summary
We have so far explained two general ways to fix anger: rachamim [arousing compassion] and laughter.
There are always two different ways to overcome evil. One way to overcome evil is by revealing “good”. The power of the good can overcome the evil. This is the method of the first way to overcome anger, which is rachamim. The other way to destroy anger is to let “evil destroy itself”. This is the method of laughter. Through laughing off one’s anger, there is combined anger (the liver) and laughter (the spleen), which causes the anger to leave, by default, because the evil laugher of the spleen destroys the evil anger of the liver. (This is one of the ways of how evil can be used to destroy evil.)
The first way, rachamim, is essentially using the element of wind to overcome anger. The second way, laughter, is essentially using the element of earth to overcome anger.
Emunah – The Ultimate Antidote To Anger
[Now we will mention a third way to fix anger, which is the deepest way.]
Avraham Avinu came from his father Terach, and he was commanded by Hashem to leave behind his father Terach and his homeland. The word “Terach” is from the word ratach, which means “anger”.[18] Thus, Avraham came from a source of evil “anger” When Avraham was told to leave his household, he was told to leave behind this evil “anger” that he came from.
The root of the Jewish people is in Avraham Avinu, and Avraham Avinu came from Terach, from evil “anger”. Terach had Avraham cast into the fire of Ur Kasdim, and this was because Avraham didn’t want to serve idols. The depth of this is because Avraham opposed Terach, the fire of evil anger, and therefore, Terach had Avraham thrown into a fire. Terach, who was “fire”, wanted to get rid of Avraham through the means of fire, which represented his desire to destroy and negate everything that Avraham existed for.
Chazal teach that Terach did teshuvah at the end of his life.[19] Terach, who epitomizes evil anger, and who taught idol worship to the world, was clearly a product of the chalal, the empty space in Creation, where heresy and idol worship can take hold. Chazal teach that there is no tikkun (rectification) for those who enter into the heresy and spiritual contamination of the chalal.[20] Being that Terach’s impure state epitomized the chalal, how was Terach able to do teshuvah?
In terms of the elements, we can understand it in the following deep manner. Anger is the result of the dryness of fire where there is no heat left. The chalal, which anger comes from, is essentially a state of dryness, a state where everything stays the same, and there is no heat, a situation of “no hope”, because there is no hope there for anything to rise higher from where it is. But when Avraham was thrown into the fire of Ur Kasdim, and he emerged alive from the fire, he essentially elevated the angry “fire” of Ur Kasdim and all that it represented. He revealed a “fire” that had both the heat and dryness of fire. Terach’s “fire”, represented by the fire of Ur Kasdim, was no longer a “dry” fire devoid of its “heat”. Now there could be “heat” in the fire, and now Terach can rise higher. Thus, Terach was able to do teshuvah after Avraham emerged from the fire of Ur Kasdim.
Chazal teach that Avraham shined the light of emunah (faith of G-d) upon the world.[21] When Avraham left Terach, he left the chalal (the empty space) where evil anger comes from. In doing so, he was able to remove the “empty space” in Creation and fill the void of Creation with emunah, with faith in G-d.
Chazal state, according to one opinion, that the entire world was created for the sake of Avraham[22]. This was because Avraham Avinu removed the chalal from the world, through teaching emunah to the world. This was only possible because he had left behind Terach, which ultimately led the way to Terach doing teshuvah at the end of his life.
When Avraham was thrown into the fire of Ur Kasdim, on a deeper level, what saved him and what raised him from the fire? The heat of the fire enabled that Avraham shouldn’t be burned into ash. The fire which Avraham was thrown into did not burn him. There is a kind of fire which doesn’t burn: a “spark” of fire. When a spark of fire touches a person, it does not burn the person, because there is no heat in the spark of fire. It is dry, like fire, but it is not hot, so it doesn’t burn a person. Thus, Avraham was saved from the fire because Hashem made the fire act like a “spark” to him, which is only dry and which isn’t hot.
A spark of fire is the “dryness” of fire alone, without the heat of the fire. The “spark” of fire, Avraham’s elevated “fire” of Ur Kasdim, which ultimately led to the soul-searching of Terach and the “destruction” Terach’s idol worshiping ideas, which led to Terach’s teshuvah, was a “spark” of fire that was able to “destroy” even though it was dry without the heat. This is a holy kind of “fire” that can “destroy” just through its dryness alone, even though there is no “heat” empowering this “fire.” Avraham’s fire, which furthered emunah upon the world and “destroyed” the idol worship of Terach, is essentially the idea of how emunah destroys the chalal, the empty void of Creation. Emunah negates the emptiness of idol worship and heresy, so emunah fills the void of the empty space (chalal) of Creation and essentially destroys the empty space.
This is the depth of how “Avraham shined emunah upon the world” and destroyed the chalal, the empty space of the world, which was teeming with heresy and idol worship. This was the “spark” of “fire” that Avraham revealed at that time, which “destroyed” the empty void of heresy in Creation – it was essentially the light of emunah, which is also called a “spark of the Creator” (nitzotz haBorei).
This is a third way to destroy anger, and it is also the deepest way. It is essentially by shining the light of emunah, which reveals the “spark of the Creator”, the nitzotz HaBorei, which destroys evil “anger”, represented by the idol worship of Terach, the chalal, the empty void in Creation. Revealing emunah in the Creator upon the world is the revelation of the true havayah, the true reality, which destroys anger, idol worship, and emptiness of the world.[23]
In Conclusion
To summarize, in this lesson, we have explained three different ways to remedy anger.[24]
[1] Editor’s Note: Some parts of this lesson has been condensed or omitted where necessary, for the sake of clarity. Some of the concepts have been deliberately repeated throughout the translation, and some minor adjustments and additions were made in the translation, so that the lesson can be better understood by English readers.
[2] Talmud Bavli Berachos 61a
[3] Rambam Hilchos De’os 4:1
[4]Vayikra Rabbah 13:1
[5] Berachos 5a
[6] Nedarim 22a
[7]Koheles 1:18
[8]Kiddushin 41a
[9] Eruvin 65a
[10]Beraishis Rabbah 12:15
[11]Zohar I 27b
[12] As explained in Etz Chaim of Rav Chaim Vital
[13]Tehillim 30:6
[14] ibid
[15]Beraishis 49:18
[16] Nedarim 22a
[17] Editor’s Note: This is also the evil laughter of Amalek, who is also associated with the trait of mockery. Amalek’s empty laughter and mockery at the Jewish people stems from their anger at the very havayah of the Jewish people and at the eternal share and status of the Jewish people which they do not possess.
[18] For example, in the term, “ritcha d’Oiraisa” – the “anger” or “fire” in Torah study
[19]Rashi to Beraishis 15:15, citing Beraishis Rabbah 38:12
[20] See Mishlei 2:19, “All those who come to it cannot return”. This is explained in sefarim hakedoshim to be referring to the chalal hapanuy, the empty space, otherwise known as the shaar HaNun d’Tumah, “50th Gate of Defilement”.
[21]refer to Bava Basra 15a
[22]Beraishis Rabbah 12:1
[23]The Rav also discusses practical ways to fix our anger in the series Fixing Your Anger – Fire.
[24] In summary, anger is repaired through (1) Laughter – laughing off our anger. (2) Rachamim (compassion) – awakening compassion on whom we are angry at. (3) Emunah – faith in G-d.
NOTE: Final english versions are only found in the Rav's printed seforim »