If you spent the day working at a fish factory, wouldn’t you change your clothing before coming to shul? After a sweaty workout at the gym, wouldn’t a shower be in order before meeting the family for dinner at a restaurant? As a general rule, people aim not to share or display their off-putting scents for public consumption, but what about presenting a bad mood?

Our Sages teach that a person’s face is a window to their soul; the word panim (face) is related to the word pnim (inside). Interestingly, the same person who would never come to work in a smelly sweat suit may come to work with a sour face. After a tough day in the office, a parent could arrive home with less than a smile on her face when greeting the children off the bus. Our bad moods and behaviors shine through and affect our surroundings just like a bad odor.

The parsha hints to this in Exodus 22:5: Ki teitzei aish… When a fire spreads and ignites thorns and burns up crops and fields, the responsible party will be liable full damages. The Ohr Hachaim explains that beyond the plain meaning of the verse, the fire in the verse also indicates badness—tzarot that cause pain and upset. Just as we are responsible to not let a fire spread beyond our property and destroy, so too we must not allow our own tzarot to inflict pain and bad will on others.

To be sure, there are times and places to share one’s woes and sadness to family and close confidantes. When feeling low, there are healthy and productive ways to deal with anger, sadness and frustration. We owe it to ourselves and others to be in touch with our own feelings and concerns so we can properly process them and live productively and meaningfully.

Children are taught to shut off the toaster, iron and barbecue when finished so that, God forbid, a fire does not spread. So, too, when our inner fire ignites, we must be careful and not allow it to spread and burn others. We may not be able to control our feelings, but we can and certainly should control our actions and outer behaviors that impact our surroundings. Let’s position our disposition to influence goodness to all we come in contact with.

Shabbat shalom.

By Rabbi Ephraim Epstein

 Rabbi Ephraim Epstein, who grew up in Northern New Jersey, has been the rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel in Cherry Hill since 2000.