In parshas Matos Hashem commands Israel to go to war of vengeance against
Midian. Moab and Midian had prostituted there women in an attempt to destroy
Israel through moral corruption. The scheme caused a plague in Israel killing
24,000 people. Rashi (Numbers 31:2) explains that Moav was exempted from
punitive action because they were fearful that like the kingdoms of Sichon and
Og, they, too, would be plundered. In addition Ruth the matriarch of King David
would come from them as well as N’ama who would wed King Solomon. This hints
that there was some good in them but Midian was basically bad.
The war is successful with all adult men of Midian killed and their
cities burnt. Their woman and children are captured, their property is seized,
and everything is brought to Moshe. With this Moshe becomes angry at the army
leadership and says with disbelief, “Why have you allowed the woman to live”,
(Ibid 15). He continues that they were precisely the ones that instigated the
people against Hashem and caused the plague. He then orders that all women and
mature girls be killed.
Anger is generally regarded in Jewish thought as an extremely negative
characteristic. Maimonides writes, “Anger is a very bad characteristic and it’s
appropriate for a person to distance him from it in the extreme. He should
teach himself not to get angry even about something that is appropriate to get
angry about. If he wishes to scare his household or the community for which he
is the benefactor, and he wants to scream at them in order that they should
come back to being good; he should only act like he’s angry in order to
chastise them. However, for himself he should be calm, behaving like a man who
is only acting angry at the moment of his anger, but in fact is not angry.
(Mishna Torah, Book of Knowledge, Laws of Character 2:3)
Never the less we learn that the Holy One, blessed be He, does get
angry, as it says in the Talmud: Says Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi
Yossi, “Where do we learn that we should not try to appease a person at the
moment of his anger. It is written, “My face will go and I will give thee rest”
(Exodus 33:14). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Wait till My
countenance of wrath has passed then I shall give thee rest. But is anger then
a mood of the Holy One, blessed be He? — Yes. For it has been taught, “A G-d
that is indignant every day” (Psalm 7:12).
It is written in Proverbs (17:25), “Anger to his father is a foolish (כסיל) son”. The idea is that a “kaseel” provokes
anger. A כְּסִיל is
not somebody who is simply stupid rather it is more of a case of somebody who
really should know better. The things that he has learned have no depth or
practical application. As a result he misses the obvious point and provokes
anger and exasperation. Also there is an issue of intensity. The misdeeds are
atrocious and the reasoning behind them is grotesque. As a result they provoke
righteous indignation.
From the side of evil anger is often overused, excessive, and corrupted
into a tool of petty vanity. As an emotion its onset is often sudden and emanates
from the subconscious mind. At times it can be assuaged or moderated, but
typically cannot be indefinitely suppressed. It would seem that there are times
we should get angry but it should be in proportion and about the right things.
The cabalists place anger on the tree of life as a line between the
sefiros of understanding and teferes (beauty). The idea seems to be that anger
is purified by means of depth of knowledge and discernment. The book of Zachariah
(8:14-17) is more specific about provocation and its remedy. “Thus says the
Lord of Hosts: When I planned to do bad to you when your forefathers provoked
Me, said the Lord of Hosts, and I did not relent. So, too, have I have returned
to what I planned in those days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of
Judah; so do not fear. These are the things that you shall do: Speak the
truthfully each man to his neighbor; truth and fairness rooted in peace, you
shall render in your gates. And let no one consider evil towards his neighbors
in your heart, nor shall you love a false oath; because all these are what I
hate, says the Hashem”.
לע"נ, הדוד ,לייב
הערש בן אהרון ז"ל נלב"ע י"ז תמוז תשל"ב
Acknowledgements to websites:
תורת אמת, וויקיטקסט, http://dictionary.reference.com/,
http://hebrewbooks.org/,
וגם בדואר אלקטרוני
ניתן באתר http://dyschreiber.blogspot.co.il
Blogger English
Blogger Hebrew
YouTube
No comments:
Post a Comment