Anger is only one letter away from danger TB Shabbat 105

With today’s daf TB Shabbat 105 we conclude the 12^th chapter our massechet and begin the 13^th chapter. Since there are 24 chapters in massechet Shabbat we have officially finished half of the tractate! However, we must note that we have finished 78.5% of this massechet by the number of pages we have studied.

This new chapter deals with the prohibitions of weaving and sewing. When it comes to sewing the Mishnah qualifies this prohibition by teaching “And one who sews is liable if he sews two stitches. And one who tears is liable if he tears enough fabric in order to sew two stitches to repair it.” (Sefaria.org translation) The halakha makes a distinction between a constructive tear and a completely destructive tear. If you have a shirt that is shoddily put together and you tear the stitches in order to sew the seam better is an example of a constructive tearing and is forbidden. Tearing your shirt in a fit of rage is an example of a destructive tear and you are exempt from bringing a sin offering.

We have to be careful of such destructive anger. Anger is one letter shy of the word danger! To make this point Rabbi Yohanan ben Nuri taught the following. “Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says in the name of Ḥilfa bar Agra, who said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Nuri: One who rends his garments in his anger, or who breaks his vessels in his anger, or who scatters his money in his anger, should be like an idol worshipper in your eyes, as that is the craft of the evil inclination. Today it tells him do this, and tomorrow it tells him do that, until eventually, when he no longer controls himself, it tells him worship idols and he goes and worships idols. Rabbi Avin said: What verse alludes to this? “There shall not be a strange god within you, and you shall not bow to a foreign god” (Psalms 81:10). What is the strange god that is within a person’s body? Say that it is the evil inclination. One may not rend his garments in anger, because in doing so he is deriving pleasure from satisfying the evil inclination.” (Sefaria.org translation)

Today there is an outpouring of righteous anger by our citizens throughout our country because of the systemic racism in our midst. People are taking to the streets and demonstrating against police brutality when confronting the black and people of color communities. Because of the outpouring of this righteous anger, small but positive steps are being made to change the racist nature in our country. Communities are beginning to ban the choke holds used by police. Statues of Confederate traitors are coming down. Companies are rebranding their products which use racist stereotypes. This is only the beginning and we shouldn’t be satisfied with what has been accomplished. As we continue down this road to perfect our country, we must not allow the evil inclination to persuade us to vent destructive anger in our communities.

Rabbi Sidney Greenberg wrote:

“Long ago a Hebrew Sage taught that ‘he who conquers his anger is more to be admired than he who conquers a city.’ (Ben Zoma, Avot 4:1-gg) to conquer anger does not mean to try to suppress it, to be ashamed of it, to deny its legitimacy. To conquer anger means to express it at the appropriate time, in the appropriate manner.

“Aristotle anticipated modern psychology when he wrote: ‘anybody can become angry-that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time and for the right purpose and in the right way-that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.” (Say yes to life, page 27)