They [each] said three things: Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your fellow be as cherished to you as your own, and do not be easy to anger. Repent one day before your death. Warm yourself by the fire of the sages, but beware of their coals lest you be burned; for their bite is the bite of a fox, their sting is the sting of a scorpion, and their hiss is the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like fiery coals.
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The above talk is cute, but it doesn't define anger. IN psychoanalysis there is a displacement reaction, where stress from another problem is displaced as anger towards another person or object.
There is righteous anger, hwo exactly are you to fulfil the mitzvah of remembering and fighting amaleik? with simcha? it is nto possible, in anger, a sword is more powerful than in simcha, it is called adrenaline. It may be that anger channeled to the wrong object is the sin.
The opposite of what sacks may also be the case, as Shaul did not kill Amaleik properly, and showed some restraint. Similarly Chizkiahu did not show anger to the babylonian visitors, and instead sinned by showing them them the treasures of his House.
Also, being kind to the cruel wil lead to being cruel to the kind - which is the worst sin of all.
And my claim is that too much mussar can cause problems, and pervert the True Torah way. And look at the mishnah form Pikrei Avot above - what are coals if not the anger of sages?
הֵם אָמְרוּ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד
ReplyDeleteחֲבֵרְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלָּךְ, וְאַל תְּהִי נוֹחַ לִכְעֹס. וְשׁוּב
יוֹם אֶחָד לִפְנֵי מִיתָתְךָ. וֶהֱוֵי מִתְחַמֵּם כְּנֶגֶד אוּרָן שֶׁל
חֲכָמִים, וֶהֱוֵי זָהִיר בְּגַחַלְתָּן שֶׁלֹּא תִכָּוֶה, שֶׁנְּשִׁיכָתָן
נְשִׁיכַת שׁוּעָל, וַעֲקִיצָתָן עֲקִיצַת עַקְרָב, וּלְחִישָׁתָן
לְחִישַׁת שָׂרָף, וְכָל דִּבְרֵיהֶם כְּגַחֲלֵי אֵשׁ.
פרק ב משנה יג
They [each] said three things: Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your
fellow be as cherished to you as your own, and do not be easy to anger.
Repent one day before your death. Warm yourself by the fire of the
sages, but beware of their coals lest you be burned; for their bite is
the bite of a fox, their sting is the sting of a scorpion, and their
hiss is the hiss of a serpent, and all their words are like fiery coals.
----------------------------------------------
The above talk is cute, but it doesn't define anger.
IN psychoanalysis there is a displacement reaction, where stress from another problem is displaced as anger towards another person or object.
There is righteous anger, hwo exactly are you to fulfil the mitzvah of remembering and fighting amaleik? with simcha? it is nto possible, in anger, a sword is more powerful than in simcha, it is called adrenaline. It may be that anger channeled to the wrong object is the sin.
The opposite of what sacks may also be the case, as Shaul did not kill Amaleik properly, and showed some restraint. Similarly Chizkiahu did not show anger to the babylonian visitors, and instead sinned by showing them them the treasures of his House.
Also, being kind to the cruel wil lead to being cruel to the kind - which is the worst sin of all.
And my claim is that too much mussar can cause problems, and pervert the True Torah way.
And look at the mishnah form Pikrei Avot above - what are coals if not the anger of sages?