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Anger:
- You must break the force of your anger with love. If you feel yourself
becoming angry, make sure you do nothing unkind because of your anger. You
must make a special effort to be kind to the very person you are angry with.
Sweeten your anger with kindness. When you do this, you will be able to draw
benefit from the Tzaddik and then you will be able to understand the true
goal of all things. You will taste the delight of the World to Come, and
you will see how everything in the world is part of the movement to this
ultimate goal. Your perception will be according to the root which you have
in the soul of the Tzaddik (18:2).
- Through breaking the force of anger with love and kindness, the true Tzaddikim
receive honor and greatness and the world finds a true leader, one who will
have pity for the world and lead it in the right way, bringing each individual
to his ultimate goal (Ibid.).
- Anger and unkindness arise when people's understanding is limited. The
deeper their understanding the more their anger disappears, and kindness,
love and peace spread. This is why the study of Torah, which deepens the
understanding, brings love and peace into the world and banishes anger (56:6).
- Immersing in the mikveh is also an antidote to anger,
because immersing in the mikveh brings understanding
(Ibid. 7).
- When a person gives way to anger, it stirs up the great
accuser, Esau, or Edom. The accuser in the upper world is the source of a
flurry of accusers and enemies who come down and take charge of this angry
man. His anger puts his wisdom to flight, and the image of God disappears
from his face. He no longer has the face of a man. This is why he is in the
power of his enemies. Because he has the appearance of a beast they are not
afraid of him (57:6).
- The remedy for anger is to fast. In fact, the main value of fasting lies
in this. That is why when a person is fasting the Evil One comes against
him and creates all kinds of pretexts for making him angry. The Evil One
wants to spoil the fast. One has to be very careful to avoid getting angry
on a fast day. The whole value of the fast lies in subduing one's anger (Ibid.).
- Through the holy act of eating on Shabbat, anger is crushed (Ibid.).
- Anger can make a person lose his money. When a person gets angry he spoils
the blessing of wealth which was due to come to him. He causes a stain upon
his good name and, indeed, his very soul. But when a person holds his anger
back and behaves patiently even in the most trying of circumstances, he attains
wealth, a good name and an unblemished soul. All the other souls yearn to
be merged with his soul and he can succeed in drawing many souls closer to
God. Through this the glory of God is revealed (Ibid.).
- When a person fights his anger and breaks it, the spirit of Mashiach is
drawn into the world. Such a person is accounted as if it was through him
that the world and all that is in it was created and brought into being.
He will be worthy of rich blessings, and he will attain true prayer, directing
himself to God alone without any extraneous motives of gaining people's respect
and admiration. He will succeed in carrying out all the mitzvot and other
holy acts that he must accomplish (66:3).
- Through the sanctity of the Land of Israel it is possible to
break the force of anger, depression and laziness completely. For this reason
one must plead with God to be worthy of coming to the Land of Israel speedily.
There a person can attain tranquility in the face of any experiences he may
undergo. He will never be angry or upset with anyone, no matter what they
may have done (Ibid. 155).
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