בס "ד

In this week’s portion, Parashat Emor, we learn about controlling an important character trait- anger. The son of Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, who, in a fit of emotional turmoil and a struggle within the camp, lost control of himself and blasphemed the Name of G-d. Blasphemy is one of the fundamental Seven Noahide Laws. However, the blasphemer did not commit any physical act, he expressed a curse only by speech, so why was he punished severely for a transgression that does not involve physical deed?

The story of the blasphemer teaches us a critical lesson about the human psyche: Anger is a destructive trait. The Sages of the Talmud warned against it.

“Whoever falls into anger is as if they have worshipped idols”

Why? Because at the moment of anger, a person forgets that there is a Creator to the world. When someone harms us, or when something does not go as we planned, the natural tendency is to be angry at the external cause.

“One who is angry—even the Divine Presence is not important before him” (Nedarim 22b).

Anger blinds a person’s eyes from seeing the Divine Providence, to the point where they are capable of uttering words they would never dream of saying during normal times. The spiritual root of the trait of anger is a lack of awareness of G-d’s infinite presence in every detail and moment of our lives.

Unlike a flesh-and-blood craftsman who builds a tool and sets it down (like a carpenter who builds a table and the table exists by its own power afterwards), in the creation of the world the power that constitutes must be present within the creature at every moment. When a person curses the Name, he performs a destructive action from a logical and spiritual perspective. He uses his mouth, his tongue, the air in his lungs, and the power of thought – all of which are given to him at that very moment by the Creator – to rebel against Him. This rebellion is in fact a rebellion against life itself.

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Maimonides (Laws of idolatry chapter 2:1) rules that the prohibition of idolatry also includes belief in the unity of Hashem and not attribute any independent power to any other creature. Anger is the result of the mistaken thought that there is another power in the world besides G-d. He Blessed Be He does not have any “partners” in running the world. The goal is to reach a refined belief that every detail in the world is led only by G-d. For Noahides and for Jews as well, the commandment not to blaspheme the Name is a fundamental law. Mastery over anger is the “fence” that protects this commandment. If one encounters a moment of anger, he should try to pause for a second and remember: it is only a test aimed to elevate me, “There is none besides Him”.

Par le rabbin Moshe Bernstein

Source:

Leviticus 24:10–23. Tractate Nedarim 22b. Igeret HaKodesh (Tanya), Epistle 25. Laws of idolatry chapter 2:1.





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