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Rabbi Chaim Coffman
Rabbi Coffman has helped people from all across the spectrum to prepare themselves properly for Orthodox Conversion to Judaism. His students admire his vast knowledge and appreciate his warm, personal attention and endearing sense of humor.
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Followers

Welcome to Rabbi Chaim Coffman's Blog!

I would like to thank you for visiting my blog, Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism.

The conversion process can be a lengthy and daunting one to say the least and I want you to know that I am here to help you through it.

I have been teaching newcomers to Judaism for over a decade and over the last few years I have seen that conversion candidates really lack the support and knowledge they need to navigate the conversion process and successfully integrate into the Orthodox Jewish community.

I created my mentorship program in order to help make this whole experience as smooth and as painless as possible! (Can't do much about the growing pains, though ;)

Feel free to get to know me a little through the posts on my blog and visit the mentorship and syllabus page if you are interested in possible joining us.

I sincerely wish you all the best in your search for truth and spiritual growth.

Looking forward to meeting you,
Chaim Coffman

My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Sternbuch

In case you were wondering why I have all of these articles written by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, he is my Rebbe, and one of the gedolei hador (greatest Rabbis of our generation).

Rav Sternbuch fully endorses me and supports my mentorship program.

He is the address for all of my halachic or hashkafic (practical and philosophical) questions that I or my students may have.

The articles are based on his weekly talks on the Torah portion that the Rav gives in Jerusalem in his kollel. As a member of the kollel I get first dibbs on the photocopies and I type them up for my blog so you can all benefit from the Rav's erudition and insight.
Monday, April 15, 2013

The 48 ways to Acquire Torah: Distance yourself from Anger

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!

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