At the beginning of this week's Torah portion, we're told that Elazar HaKohen teaches the people a certain topic of Jewish law. This is surprising, because up until that moment, all the Torah had been taught by Moshe Rabbeinu, who had come down from Mount Sinai with the Tablets. Why wasn't it Moshe this time? Well, because he had become angry with the people over a certain sin, and as a result he forgot the law. Rashi writes about this:
”Since he came to anger, he came to error.” (Bamidbar 31:21)
Anger — even when justified, and even when it happens to Moshe Rabbeinu, for whom this was a one-time lapse — causes a person to err, to forget, to become confused, not to know.
Our commentators ask us to pay attention to this small but significant story in the Torah: anger is not just a bad character trait. It causes us to lose ourselves, our reason, and our wisdom. It causes us to do things we will regret.
We should act out of joy, composure, trust in God, and inner peace. Anger does exactly the opposite — it throws us off balance and prevents us from functioning properly.
How important it is to know how to recognize this feeling, to be able to say "Sorry, I'm angry right now," and to stop.
May we not come to anger, so that we do not come to error.
