Netivot Olam, Netiv Hakaas

And in the chapter of ‘These are the Words’ (Pesachim 66b): Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish said: any person that becomes angry: if he is a wise man, his wisdom departs from him; if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him. If he is a wise man his wisdom departs from him – as it is written (Numbers 31:14), “And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host”, and it says (Numbers 31:21) “And Eleazar the priest said…”, implying that it (the wisdom/laws) became hidden from Moses. If he is a prophet his prophecy departs from him – from Elisha, as it is written (II Kings 3:14): “…surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshapat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee,” and it is written (II Kings 3:15): “But now bring me a minstrel.’ And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the spirit [hand] of the LORD came upon him.” Rabbi Mani the son of Patish said: any person who becomes angry, even if he is destined for greatness from the heavens is lowered. From where do we know this? From where do we know this? From Eliab, as it is written (I Samuel 17:28) “and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David and he said..,”, and when Shmuel went to anoint him with reference to all of [David’s brothers] it is written, (I Samuel 16:8) "

And in the chapter “The Morning Prayer” (Berakhot 29b): “Rabbi Eliyahu said to Rabbi Yehuda the brother of Rav Selah Chisda: ‘Don’t get angry and don’t sin; don’t get drunk and don’t sin; and when you go out to the path [to start your journey], consult with your Owner and go out, etc.” Rabbi Yaakov said Rav Chisda said: ‘this is Tefilat HaDerech [the Prayer for the Journey].’” This statement is surprising, for what is the connection between each of these? But this statement comes to inform that one should not remove his cleaving to the Name May He Be Blessed, he should only cleave to him, and regarding this it says don’t get angry and don’t sin. Behold the Name May He Be Blessed created man from body and soul, and the body is the material and the soul is the spiritual and they are opposites, and when man stands as is fitting, without leaning to one side, so the man stands in his equilibrium and cleaves to May He Be Blessed. And this idea is hinted at in [the Hebrew words for] ‘man’ and ‘woman’, because the body is like a woman and the soul is like a man, and the name Yud”Hey is between them when they are together as is fitting. And when the soul, with its strength, deviates from that which is fitting by way of anger; or when the drunkenness of man leads him to the material side to the extreme until he is all material, as was explained above, and when he leans to the material he leaves the center point and removes the cleaving [to G-d]. And because of this it says about these two ‘and don’t sin’, because immediately when a man goes to the extreme [lit. leans to the edge of edges] he leans towards sin, and thus it says, “don’t get angry and don’t sin; don’t get drunk and don’t sin.” And after this it says for there is a side that does not lean to the edge, it is a side of separation and removal from the cleaving: for when it is fitting for him to request the cleaving from May He Be Blessed, and he does not request the cleaving, behold he separates from Him, and this is in the hour where he goes out and the man needs the cleaving - it is the accompaniment - and when he doesn’t request the cleaving behold he separates from the cleaving, for the accompaniment is so that he will have a connection with May He Be Blessed, and He will cleave to the man, and therefore it is called ‘accompaniment’ from the language of “For they shall be a chaplet of grace unto thy head” (Proverbs 1:9), and by way of these three things man does not remove or lean from the Name May He Be Blessed. And we already explained this in the Path of Prayer....

In the fourth chapter of tractate Nedarim (Nedarim 22a): “Rabbi Shmuel the Son of Nachami said: Rabbi Yochanan said: Anyone who is angry – every type of punishment of Gehinom shall rule over him, as it is written: “Therefore remove vexation from thy heart, And put away evil from thy flesh; For childhood and youth are vanity” (Ecclesiastes 11:10), and ‘evil’ is only Gehinom, as it is written: “The LORD hath made every things for His own purpose, Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil” (Proverbs 16:4).” And the meaning of this is that one who is on fire with rage is essentially Gehinom, because the power and greatness of the strength of Gehinom is connected to the power of fire, and thus it is said in every place [in rabbinic literature] ‘the fire of Gehinom’. And because man has a spiritual soul, when he becomes angry and departs from the order, every type of Gehinom rules over him, because the Gehinom also is a departure from the order of the world; thus every type of Gehinom rules over he who is angry, and thus it is written, ‘And put evil away from thy flesh’. And because his soul that is angry is spiritual, and he departs from the Name May He Be Blessed by way of the anger, thus the Gehinom which is also spiritual and departs from the balance rules over him. [Nedarim 22b continues…] “Rava Bar Rav Huna said anyone who is angry – even the Shechina is not important to him, as it is written (Psalms 10:4), “The wicked, in the pride of his countenance [, saith]: 'He will not require'; All his thoughts are: 'There is no God.'” Rabbi Jeremiah from Difty said: he also forgets his Torah learning and adds stupidity, as it says (Ecclesiastes 7:9), “For anger resteth in the bosom of fools,” and it is written (Proverbs 13:16), “But a fool unfoldeth folly.” Rav Nachman said it is known that [as a result of getting angry] your sins will be greater than your merits, as it says (Proverbs 29:22), “And a wrathful man aboundeth in transgression.” ” And that which is written that the Shechina is not important to him – this is as I will explain, for when a person is angry, he departs from the appropriate order and therefore leaves the order until the Shechina is no longer important to him on a large change, because the person is aligned with the Name May He Be Blessed, who is his Cause, and when he is angry he departs from the order, and thus it says also the Shechina is not important to him because he does not recognize his Cause, may He be blessed, when he departs from the order. And it is said also that he forgets his Torah learning, as it was explained above, because his wisdom is the organization of his intellect, from the angle that he departs from the order and therefore his intellect leaves him. And thus that which is written that he is a sinner is also this idea, for every sinner departs from the fitting path, which the Name May He Be Blessed set for him, and because of this he is a sinner, and this idea is obvious. And these three ideas mentioned here - that the Shechina is not important to him, and that he forgets his Torah learning, and that he becomes a sinner – each one adds to the other: when the Shechina is not important to him, this is the primary root [lit. first] – when therefore he departs from the order until the Shechina is no longer important to him; and more, when his wisdom is removed from him when he does this there is an impression on himself until his wisdom departs from him; and it adds even more that he becomes a sinner himself. And this is also because the anger is a completely foreign departure from the fitting order until he will find these three ideas, which are foreign, and by way of these three he will depart from the order in everything when he understands these three ideas. ...

In the first chapter of masechet Gittin (Gittin 6b; Gittin 7a): “Rav Chisda said: a man should never impose too much awe in his home, for behold the concubine in Gibeah (Judges 19) – her husband imposed too much awe, and cause tens of thousands to fall from Israel. Rabbi Yehuda said that Rav said: anyone who imposes excessive awe within his home – in the end he will come to the hands of the three transgressions: immoral sexual acts, spilling of blood [i.e. murder], and desecration of the Sabbath. Rava Bar Rav Chana said this is what the rabbis say: a man is required to say three things in his home on the eve of the Sabbath as it gets darker: Did you tithe? Did you prepare the eruvs? Did you light the candle? He is required to say them calmly in order that they will accept from him. Rav Ashi said I did not hear this statement from Rava Bar Rav Chana, but I understood it through logic.” Behold the great punishment for one who imposes too much awe according to the great size of the thing that he did, which is too much awe, and he causes an alteration of every aspect of man. And these are the things: they are immoral sexual acts, spilling of blood [i.e. murder], and desecration of the Name, and this is the version of R”H. This is a change in every person, and this thing is a tremendous matter of wisdom how violating these three distorts a person completely: because immoral sexual acts are specifically connected to the body, and just as it says in the Writings (Leviticus 18:6), “None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness…”, one who uncovers nakedness changes his body; and the spilling of blood changes the soul because one who murders sins with his soul and therefore it is called ‘spilling of blood’ because the blood is specifically the soul that is not inside the body; and the idol worship changes the intellect when the brain errs after idol worship; and so desecration of the Name will be explained in the Path of the Good Name, that this sin is a sin of the intellect. And these three things encompass all three parts of a person: body, soul and intellect, which are the three parts of the person, and therefore one who imposes too much fear within his home in which the fear acts on the person and since the fear overcomes the person it changes the person in these three parts of the person, and regenerate from this immoral sexual acts, spilling of blood and the desecration of the Name which are the three parts of the person and it is all from the force of too much fear. And it is important to understand the matter of too much fear that generates these three things when it is known to those with understanding and there is no need to continue longer here.

In the first chapter of Rosh HaShana (Rosh Hashanah 17a): “the minin and the apikorsim who deny the Torah and deny resuscitation of the dead, and separate themselves form the ways of the community, and they placed fear on the land of the living [i.e. they imposed fear on others], etc. ‘They placed fear on the land of the living’ - this is a parnes [secular community leader] who imposes too much awe on the community not in the name of heaven, as Rav Yehuda said that Rav said, any parnes who imposes too much awe on the community not in the name of heaven will not see a son who is a Torah scholar, as it says (Job 37:24), “Men do therefore fear Him; He regardeth not any that are wise of heart.”” And behold, the parnes who imposes too much awe on the community, he is like all of the minim and those who separate themselves from the way of the community, for also the parnes who imposes too much awe on the community, he separates himself from the community and is not included in the community. Of course, when he does it in the name of the heavens and for the sake of the community, this is not referred to as separating from the community, but when it is not for the sake of the heavens, then behold he separates from the community. And I already explained the matter of separating from the way of the community, which is separating from the Name May He Be Blessed, because He May He Be Blessed is called the God of Israel, and therefore it is fitting that one who separates from the community will be considered like one who separates from the Name May He Be Blessed, and this matter is clear. And that which is said that he will not see a son who is a Torah scholar, it’s meaning is (Kohelet 9:17) “The words of the wise spoken in calmness are heard,” and this we explained above, for every matter of the seichel [intellect] is calm, and organized, and the seichel does not leave the order like the other forces that are in man that act with their power, for it is not a matter of seichel unless it is organized. And therefore it is said that one who imposes too much awe on the congregation not in the name of heaven will not see a son who is a Torah scholar, because the seichel is also the parnes and the leader of all the limbs of the man, and it leads with calmness, and thus it is fitting that the man who leads the community without having to be admired by those beneath him, it is like the intellect of man that leads the city as they are all the limbs of the man, for man is called a city, as it says (Kohelet 9:14) “there was a little city, and few men within it,” etc., as was explained above. And just like it is thus with a person, so too it is fitting when leading a community, and if one does not lead the community thus, and only rules the community by force and imposes too much fear on the community, a son who is a Torah scholar will never derive from him, for how can a son who is a Torah scholar derive from him, since his leadership is not similar to the power of the intellect which is a parnes who also leads the community with order and calmness, and this matter should be understood.