"For Instruction shall come forth from Zion, The word of the L-rd from Jerusalem." -- Isaiah 2:3

Jerusalem

Torah Verses

Excerpt Sources

Complete List of Source Books

Navigate the Excerpts Browser

Before accessing the excerpts, please review a word about copyright.

Are you more of an "I'll dive right in and figure it out" person, or a "Show Me How This Thing Works" person?  If the former, go right ahead and try the excerpts browers on the right side of this page and/or scroll through the excerpts that start below the following information -- although we still suggest reading the information first.  If you are the latter, click here for a video demonstrating the Excerpts Browser. Either way (or both), enjoy! 

This page is recommended for searches limited to specific Torah books, weekly portions (parshiot), chapters, verses, and/or sources (authors). For keyword and/or for exact phrase (including verse and source) searches of the entire excerpts database, we recommend using the Search Engine page.  For broadest results, use both pages and alternative search strategies. 

This page displays the full text of all or "sorted" (filtered) excerpts in the database.  Use the "Torah Verses" and/or "Excerpt Sources" browsers at the right to locate the excerpts associated with your desired Torah book, portion, chapter. verse, or author.  Or, simply scroll through the excerpts, using the "boxes" at the bottom of any page displaying excerpts to "jump" ahead or back. 

Also note that immediately below the chapter, verse, and keyword of each excerpt is a highlighted line comprised of multiple links.  Clicking on any of the links will limit (filter) the excerpts display to the selected category.  

Transcription of excerpts is incomplete.  For current status, please see "Transcribed Sources" on the Search Engine page.  To assist with completion, please see "Contributors" page. 

126

LEVITICUS | 19:17 hate — LEV557 Maimonides summarizes various Talmudic pas...

LEV557 Maimonides summarizes various Talmudic passages and shows all the deleterious effects of someone who displays his or her anger. He says that the angry person [who] appears to be worshiping a different "God" loses his learning and wisdom at the moment of anger (if he is a prophet, he loses his prophecy), and loses his quality of life itself. Therefore, Maimonides strongly recommends that a person should constantly work on himself not to feel anger and not to react to those things that normally would generate anger. In this way, he becomes a righteous individual by accepting personal attacks without responding at all. In addition, he should strive to react to suffering with joy (Maimonides, Hilchot De'ot 2:3). Nevertheless, the Torah clearly says that a person should not hate another person "in his heart," to which the commentaries (such as Nachmanides) explain that if a person feels wronged and angry, he or she should not harbor that anger and hate inwardly, but rather confront the person (in a courteous manner) asking the offender to explain his or her behavior and letting the person know why one feels wronged [this verse with Nachmanides commentary]. This will ultimately engender more love, peace, and understanding, and remove anger (See chapter "Hatred in Judaism" for an expanded discussion of this issue). Thus, in this case we see that, if done in a civil manner, it is good for a person to express his or her feelings of anger to the one who is the object of that anger, and it is beneficial not to deny or hold these feelings inside of oneself. The Torah then understands that it is sometimes better to express one's angry feelings, but not in an angry way, if the goal is to dissipate them. That is why the Mishna, in describing four types of people, says that the best kind of person is someone who takes a very long time to become angry and then dissipates that anger quickly (and the worst is the opposite-someone who is very easily angered, who takes a very long time to calm down and forget his anger) (Mishna Avot 5:11). Thus, in Judaism, a person is judged by his or her reaction to anger and how he or she displays or does not display it, and not by the feeling itself.

Share

Print
Source KeyLEHRMAN
Verse19:17
Keyword(s)hate
Source Page(s)29

Comment

Collapse Expand Comments (0)

You are replaying to

Your comment was added, but it must be approved first.

Please enter your name
Please enter your email adressPlease enter valid email adress
Please enter a comment
Please solve Captcha.
Add Comment
Back To Top