Parashat Emor: Restraining the Anger
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,…
Thank you very much for this wonderful summary. I quite enjoy how this summary focuses on one detail of the Parashat, namely the blasphemer, and also focuses entirely on one of the very likely underlying causes of his behaviour, namely anger. Just last Sunday I asked a calm person that rarely ever shows any outward signs of discomfort during tense situations what they do when they feel frustrated. Their reply was that they "think of something else". The Rabbis at NoahideAcademy.org all seem to be very well mannered, calm, and controlled – I assume that is due to them being involved in spiritual activities, such as prayers and Torah study, for a big chunk of their time. I personally try to fit in some short time for prayer and Torah study every day , as much raising a family with children and my work allow it. I also suspect that if I reduced my work commitments, and instead increased my time dedicated to spiritual activities, I could also deal better with moments of frustration in my own life. As I have got older, I have become less inclined to make a lot of big changes in my life in a short amount of time, so I will have to see how I can incorporate this lesson in my life. Another important lesson from your summary is that everything comes from Hashem, so I guess we should focus on G'd, think about Him, and consult Him in every moment of our lives, even while involved in mundane activities.