One should do everything possible to contain his anger. Perhaps, if one seriously considers the devastating effect of anger, he would exert more effort to control himself. This seems to apply only in the event the anger is unfounded. What about situations in which one feels his anger is justified — or if it really is justified?
Rav Chaim claims that the detrimental results of anger, the loss of one’s wisdom and stature, apparently occur regardless of the nature of the anger. Indeed, by taking into account the tragic effects of anger, one might quite possibly deter the anger from developing. Why does anger produce such a damaging effect upon a person? First, we must understand that this effect is not a punishment for a sin, but rather a natural consequence. Moshe was certainly appropriate in his response to the soldiers, but this did not preclude the loss of some of his wisdom as a consequence of his anger.
We still may wonder why wisdom which had already been acquired and stored in a person’s mind should also have disappeared? We can understand how anger transforms a person’s character, decreasing his stature, but how does it effect wisdom which he already possesses?
We may understand this anomaly once we take into consideration that all forms of wisdom are not equal. There is secular wisdom, and there is a higher form of wisdom – Torah wisdom. Secular knowledge does not assimlate into one’s psyche. It does not relate to the personality or character of its possessor. Hence, one may be uncouth or obnoxious and yet be a scholar. Torah is spiritual knowledge. This means its source is Hashem, Who has imbued it with a special essence. Torah knowledge establishes itself only in a person who can be a proper vessel for it. One must maintain a refined character in order to be a true talmid chacham, a student of wisdom, inclined to absorb the Torah into every aspect of his personality. One who lacks spiritual integrity is no longer qualified to retain Torah. One who becomes unfit to retain Torah loses even that knowledge that he has already acquired. It no longer has a “home” in this individual. The knowledge that he already had did not become contaminated, rather the person has changed. He ceases to be an appropriate vessel for containing Torah.
Rav Chaim’s thesis sheds light on why we find individuals who at one time had been talmidei chachamim. As they steered their Torah hashkafah, perspective/philosophy, to the left, their seichal ha’yashar, ability to think correctly, seems to have been affected. Individuals who had been capable of expounding Torah and were proficient in its profundities suddenly seem to have lost their ability to analyze the logic of Torah. They conjure up svaros, logical deductions, that make sense only to themselves and their misguided followers. Why? It is because their spiritual character has been sullied. They no longer reflect the Torah that they expound in their spiritual demeanor. Torah shapes a person’s moral and spiritual character. When a change transpires in one’s character it indicates that he is not ascribing to the Torah with the same intensity he had previously.
