Rabbi Yigal Cohen – What Happens After We Get Angry?

I bring you a terrifying article I found in the holy Zohar regarding the damages of anger (Parashat Tetzaveh, page 182), and this is its language translated into the Holy Tongue:

"A Jew who becomes angry uproots the supreme holy soul granted to him by the Blessed Creator and places it in the realm of the sitra achra, and this Jew rebels against his Lord, Hashem, and he is called 'one who tears his soul with his own hands,' for he tears his soul from within and places it in the domain of a foreign god, thus being considered as if he had engaged in idol worship."

"And whoever speaks to him during his anger is as if he had joined actual idol worship, for actual idol worship settles upon him, and it is forbidden to look upon his face during his anger, and it was regarding this that it was said 'turn not to the idols.'"

"All impurities can be purified except for the angry person, because through anger he defiles his body internally and externally, and his entire soul becomes impure. And even if this angry person attempts to correct his deeds, to uproot the impure soul that entered him, and try to draw back the pure soul, he might succeed if only because when a holy soul is uprooted from a person, much effort is needed to restore it."

- The words are astonishing...

Thus wrote Rabbi Chaim Vital, student of the holy Ari, in Shaar Ruach HaKodesh (page 12): "And my teacher, may his memory be blessed, was very strict regarding anger more than all other sins, even if one becomes angry for a mitzvah. He reasoned that all other sins harm one part of the body, but the trait of anger damages the entire soul completely, and changes it entirely, etc."

"It also causes another great harm to oneself, for if one performed a great mitzvah, through which a holy soul of some ancient righteous person was impregnated within him in the secret of ibur to assist him, now through anger, the soul of the righteous departs from him."

"Additionally, whoever is angry cannot attain Ruach HaKodesh all the days he possesses this trait. Even if he is otherwise perfectly righteous, he will not succeed, for he builds and destroys everything he built. Even when I taught my brother, and he did not understand as I wished, and I was angry with him for this, my Rabbi and teacher (the holy Ari) would sternly warn me not to become angry, even over Torah matters."

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"All forms of Gehenna reign over the angry person" (Nedarim 22a).

The Midrashim explain: There are different types of Gehenna for various sins, and the angry person, it seems, transgresses several types of sins, and thus, Heaven forbid, he will be punished with several types of penalties since in his anger, he loses reason and might, Heaven forbid, even reach the point of shedding blood or denying the God of Israel, and embarrassing his friend publicly, and more actions he would prefer not to do, only that in his anger, he loses control over his actions.

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The Loss of an Angry Person

Many ailments come, Heaven forbid, to the angry person, such as heart attacks, abnormal blood pressure, high or low sugar levels, ulcers, and even deep depression, and ultimately anger shortens a person's life.

Conversely, the patient person generally lives his life with inner peace, which harbors bodily and mental health. Scientists have already examined and found that all those who lived long lives lived most of their days in peace and joy.

Additionally, it is very hard to love the angry person, as there is always a fear that they might explode over something not done according to their will, and the end of an angry person is that no one wants to be near him, not even his wife, who fears him, and the Talmud has already brought a story of a righteous man who used to be angry with his household, and they almost caused him to stumble in severe transgressions because they feared him, whereas the patient one is beloved by people, and everyone is happy in his company. Even the Gentiles understand the value of patience and offer workshops on anger management.

Anger causes a person to make mistakes they will regret in the future. For example, during a quarrel with his wife, he might even, Heaven forbid, strike her in his anger, as at that moment, he is not in control of his actions.

The same is true in raising children; the angry person loses his temper and hits them for no reason and purpose, simply because he is angry, and this damage is double because many children experience serious crises as they grow up just because of the anger they saw in their parents, attempting to solve their problems with shouting and anger just like their parents.

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"He hangs the earth upon nothingness" (Job 26:7).

Our sages learned (Chullin 89a) from this verse that the Blessed Creator sustains the world thanks to the Jew who restrains himself during a quarrel.

How many times have you felt after a quarrel that you shouldn't have said a certain sentence?

If only we would wait a little before responding, matters would look much better for us and for others. Sometimes families break apart because of a quarrel that got out of control, and things were said that were unfair, in a moment of anger.

Maran Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt"l used to tell a story about the consequences of anger:

An incident about a Jew who was hot-tempered and had a truck for carrying concrete, from which he made his living, and one day his wife wanted to surprise him for his birthday and bought him a new car.

Before he returned home, she parked the new car in his private parking spot.

When the husband returned home, he saw a strange car parked in his truck's spot. He immediately burst into rage and poured the leftover concrete from the truck onto the new car.

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