When anger is all the rage...

One of the shortest and most succinct mishnayot in Avot is credited to Rabbi Elazar HaKappar:

הַקִּנְאָה וְהַתַּאֲוָה וְהַכָּבוֹד מוֹצִיאִין אֶת הָאָדָם מִן הָעוֹלָם

In translation: “Jealousy, lust and [the quest for] honour remove a person from the world”.

The harmful consequences of jealousy, lust and the quest for kavod (loosely speaking, “honour” or “respect”) are well known and well attested, both in real life and in literature. But they are surely not the only personal qualities that have the effect of causing self-destruction as well as wreaking terrible harm on those who are the objects of such unwanted attention. Indeed, there is something missing. The mishnah’s shortlist list does not feature anger, even though Jewish sages over the centuries have not only condemned it but have likened it to idolatry. Why then does Rabbi Elazar HaKappar omit it?

A possible answer is that anger does not flare up in a vacuum: it is usually caused by something. And, if one considers carefully the deepest and most powerful forms of anger that one experiences, it is possible to allocate them to one of three causes: jealousy, lust or the thirst for honour.

This analytical process works fairly well for most types of anger.  Road rage, for example, can be traced back to the acute disrespect shown by a fellow road user. So too can the anger not just felt but all too frequently inappropriately expressed by parents when their children are disobedient. Jealousy and lust can be seen to work in tandem, where a person’s unrequited physical passion for another is compounded by jealousy that the object of one’s desire prefers the attentions of someone else.

The bottom line: perhaps, if we look carefully at the reasons for our anger and seek to understand them better, we will be better equipped to curb our anger or, better still, find a positive and constructive means of channeling it.

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Based on an idea of Rabbi Reuven Melamed (Melitz Yosher al Pirkei Avot).

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