Yaakov waits until the end of his life until he is ready to give his children some “hardcore” mussar. When Yaakov gets up to Shimon, he groups Levi together with Shimon and says אָר֤וּר אַפָּם֙ כִּ֣י עָ֔ז וְעֶבְרָתָ֖ם כִּ֣י קָשָׁ֑תָה אֲחַלְּקֵ֣ם בְּיַֽעֲקֹ֔ב וַֽאֲפִיצֵ֖ם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל—“Cursed is their fury for it is mighty [“az”], and their anger for it is strong [“kashata”]”; I will divide them in Yaakov and scatter them in Yisrael.” The Kli Yakar breaks down this pasuk as follows: Yaakov is saying that their anger causes them to express too much “az”—brazenness, as well as too much strong-mindedness/stubbornness [“kashata” in the pasuk can refer to this]. Yaakov said, I will take a great portion of these middot that are in excess in the nature of these two, and spread them out to the entire Jewish nation so that everyone receives a small portion of them.
Typically, these two middot—which are very similar and can overlap—contain a negative connotation, and indeed, Yaakov was seemingly concerned that their nature that contains an overabundance of these middot may bring them to utilize those middot in the wrong way. Hence, the curse here isn’t in the literal sense, but in a lessening sense (see Ibn Ezra), as Yaakov intends to transfer from them a major portion of these attributes to klal Yisrael. Be it as it may, it’s implicit that these middot are necessary and have their time and place (for if not, seemingly Yaakov would have declared a total ban on these middot instead of doing the opposite—spreading them out to everyone). Indeed, Kli Yakar says being strong-minded and stubborn are helpful in order to not be swayed by others and instead remain steadfast in our practices and beliefs in Judaism. Additionally, Orchot Tzaddikim notes that although brazenessness is a very negative middah, when it comes to doing mitzvot one may need to be bold and brazen if he feels people are deterring him from accomplishing. [As Pirkei Avot (chap. 5) says, be bold like a leopard…to perform Hashem’s will].
Upon seeing this Kli Yakar (the first one quoted above), one can perhaps argue that anger is the catalyst that brings out boldness and stubbornness, and therefore anger can be a good middah if it brings to fruition these two middot that when applied appropriately can ultimately motivate us to do the right thing. Interestingly, the Chatam Sofer (Torat Moshe, Vayechi) remarks that it’s possible to say that when Yaakov wishes to make this allocation, Yaakov is actually referring to the anger itself since Shimon and Levi contained an excess of anger in their nature. Yaakov realized that this anger actually propelled them to take action for their sister Dinah, while the other brothers did not do anything to help rescue Dinah. Yaakov realized the other brothers “can use” some anger as well, and he therefore wished to divide up the anger amongst the rest of the brothers.
Although Chatam Sofer seems to imply that even anger can be helpful if it gets us to do what is right, the practical applications and implications of it are beyond the scope of this discussion. Yet, I was wondering if based on the Chatam Sofer we can deduce a more practical idea. One way for us to “get to know ourselves,” and to understand what we value and are emotionally attached to, is to reflect upon our emotions and reactions when something we value, desire and are passionate about is not met. For Shimon and Levi, they valued and were passionate about morality, a civilized society and the dignity of their sister. Hence, to see a devastating breach in that, and their sister disgraced, made them furious. But the other brothers perhaps on some level didn’t have these values in the right measure and as a result weren’t upset enough.
We see a similar idea when Rachel said to Yaakov “give me children,” and Yaakov became angry and responded, “Am I in place of God?!” R’ Yerucham Levovitz asks, why is it here that Yaakov becomes angry at Rachel but not when Rachel deceived him when she put Leah in her stead at the time when Yaakov was to marry Rachel? After working under a person like Lavan for seven years in order to marry Rachel, wouldn’t anyone be furious to find out he was deceived by Rachel? R’ Levovitz answers that in the former case, Yaakov was defending Hashem’s honor—it’s Hashem Who is in control of what happens, including having children, and not me.
From Yaakov’s anger we can trace what he truly valued and was passionate about. For Yaakov it was when someone was potentially slighting Hashem’s honor, but not when he personally lost out and when he got tricked. Anger might be expected when something doesn’t go our way, but it is an entirely different level when it’s borne from a sincere upholding of Hashem’s will and honor. Both are personal, yet while the former might be viewed as somewhat selfish, the latter can be viewed as selfless.
Orchot Tzaddikim writes that anger is a “middah.” Meaning, although it’s something in our nature, it’s also something we can be in control of and use when needed. Granted, the time, place and measure, as well as the how and when, can be confusing and unclear. Nevertheless, perhaps something practical we can do is when we do become angry, to trace it back to what it was that made us angry: Was it something that was personal and truly unrelated to the greater good, or was it borne from a selfless perspective and a sincere desire and passion to uphold Hashem’s values?
Binyamin Benji is a graduate of Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan and Wurzweiler School of Social Work. He can be reached at [email protected].
