Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

The next of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is to distance yourself from anger. Anger is something that can destroy a person as the Talmud tells us that even if the fires of hell were below him when he was angry, it wouldn't phase him. This is incredible, that anger can take a person to such a level.

Anger has the ability to consume a person to the extent that if he was wise, he would lose his wisdom. Why is this so? The reason is because anger weakens a person. We use up so much energy on what someone did to us, or said to us that we don't concentrate on what is really important.

This in fact leads us to not think clearly and basically lose ourselves in the process. If we do that, then slowly we continue in an unhealthy cycle which will weaken us physically and mentally. Even though we understand the negative effect anger has on us, it still consumes us!

The goal, like the other character traits of the 48 ways to acquire Torah is to be able to overcome this situation when it occurs. That means if we are placed in a certain situation which makes us angry, we have to be able to diffuse the situation without losing control. This is easier said than done, but that is what has to happen.

A first step in controlling anger is to realize how counterproductive it is. One should remember when a situation occurs, we should tell ourselves, why embarrass yourself and get angry, it won't help! Even if we fail at something or this situation doesn't go the way we planned, learn to appreciate what you do have and not focus on the negative and get aggravated by it.

If we focus on the negative and the bad, it can depress us and leave us badly defeated and frustrated. Even if we get knocked down, we have to brush ourselves off, continue on our path and try harder the next time!