Parsha Halacha

Parsha Halacha – Parshat Matot Masei - Shabbat Chazak and Rosh Chodeah

When Moshe Rabeinu Got Angry

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The Torah portion of Matot-Masei^[1] includes the story of the war against the Midianites, in which the Jewish army led by Pinchas destroys Midian as punishment for their participation in seducing the Jews to sin.

The Jewish soldiers, all of whom were tzadikim, killed all the adult male Midianites and took the women and children as captives. This follows the Torah instructions as to how to act when battling any nation other than the seven nations native to the land of Canaan.^[2]

Although many of these women were the ones who had seduced the Jews to sin on the Plains of Moav, the soldiers felt that they should not avenge those sins by killing them since the women had been coerced by their fathers and husbands to do those deeds.^[3]

Despite their thinking, Moshe was angry with the commanders of the army and rebuked them, saying,^[4] “Did you let every female live? They were the very same ones who, on Bilam’s advice, were involved with the Jewish people to cause them to commit a betrayal against G-d regarding the matter of Pe’or, so that the plague broke out within the community of G-d!”

Moshe Rabeinu’s reasoning was that, although they were coerced by their fathers to seduce the Jewish men, they went beyond that and, of their own volition, influenced the men to serve the idol Pe’or. This is what brought about the plague that killed 24,000 men.^[5]

Anger Begets Forgetfulness

The Talmud^[6] points out that, after Moshe got angry, he forgot to teach the soldiers about the laws of kashering utensils, and so his nephew Elazar did so in his place. The reason for this is that “Any person who becomes angry, if he is a Torah scholar, his wisdom departs from him.”

The commentaries give several reasons for this:

●      Losing one’s Equanimity

A person who gets angry has lost the proper balance between his intellect and emotions and has allowed his instincts to rule him. This behavior is the opposite of wisdom and thus causes the loss of wisdom.^[7]

●      Akin to Idol Worship

The Talmud says^[8] that anger is akin to idol worship. As such, one who loses his temper is no longer deserving of the Divine assistance that is needed to attain true Torah wisdom.^[9]

●      A Host for Evil Forces

According to the Zohar,^[10] it is forbidden to interact with someone who is angry as when one is angry, one can lose his G-dly soul and supplant it with a foreign god (negative forces). Just as the Torah forbids one to “turn towards idols,”^[11] so, too, it is forbidden to look at the face of someone who is angry as that person is considered to have a foreign god within him.

Since Torah wisdom cannot coexist with unholy forces, one who gets angry loses that Torah wisdom.^[12]

Two Other Occasions

According to the Midrash,^[13] Moshe got angry on two other occasions^[14] and on both of those occasions forgot some of his wisdom.

●      With the Manna

When Moshe told the Jewish people about the Manna, he instructed them not to leave any Manna from one day to the next. Two men (Datan and Aviram) went ahead and left over some until the next day, causing Moshe to lose his temper. On Friday, when a double portion of Manna fell, the Jewish people asked Moshe why that happened and he explained that a double portion was supposed to fall on Fridays in order to allow them to keep Shabbat and not gather the Manna on the Shabbos day. Although G-d had already told Moshe this, Moshe had forgotten to tell it to the Jewish people because of his anger.^[15]

o  It is possible that Moshe’s anger at Datan and Aviram was a result of the fact that they were his primary adversaries at that time, so he was already upset at them before this event occurred.^[16] This relates to the Mishnah in Avot^[17] where Rabbi Eliezer said, “Do not be quick to anger.” In the previous Mishnah, Rabbi Eliezer taught that the best path one should choose in life is to have a good eye. These two teachings are connected as when one looks at the other person with a good eye (attitude), he is much less likely to get angry at him.^[18]

●      With the Burnt Sacrifice

After the deaths of Nadav and Avihu on the day of the consecration of the Mishkan, Moshe instructed Aharon and his sons to continue the service in the Mishkan as usual, which they did. The one exception is that they burned the sacrifice of Rosh Chodesh instead of eating it. This angered Moshe who demanded an explanation for it. Aharon promptly explained that he understood the command to continue with all the sacrifices to apply only to the unique sacrifices of the consecration of the Mishkan and not to the standard sacrifices such as the Rosh Chodesh sacrifice. Moshe immediately admitted that he had heard this from G-d but had forgotten it. According to the Midrash it was Moshe’s display of anger that made him forget this matter.^[19]

Losing Leadership

The Talmud also says that one who is destined for a leadership position but displays anger can lose that position. This is derived from Eliav, the oldest brother of King David. Originally, he was supposed to be the founder of the dynasty of kings as opposed to his youngest brother, David. This is why, when the prophet Shmuel saw Eliav, he immediately thought him to be the future king and proclaimed,^[20] “Surely, G-d’s anointed stands here.” G-d then informed Shmuel that He had rejected Eliav and that Shmuel was “seeing with his eyes but G-d sees into the heart.”^[21] The term “rejected” indicates that Eliav was considered for the position but was ultimately rejected. The reason for this rejection is that Eliav had a propensity towards anger. We see later, when David brought supplies to his brothers in Saul’s army, Eliav got angry at David, telling him,^[22] “Why did you come down here, and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your impudence and your impertinence: you came down to watch the fighting!”

Why Did Moshe Maintain his Position?

The commentaries wonder why Moshe wasn’t punished by losing his leadership position as a result of his incidents of anger. They explain that one who is already in a leadership position isn’t necessarily demoted due to losing his temper, whereas one who hasn’t yet been appointed but has a short temper will not be appointed in the first place. In addition, all of Moshe’s incidents of anger were in situations where he believed the people were disobeying G-d’s command. Thus the anger was (somewhat) justified. Whereas Eliav’s anger at David wasn’t connected to any sin on David’s part.^[23]

Anger, the Source of All Sins

According to Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twersky of Czernobyl, anger is the source of all sins, as he says,^[24]

“It is said in the name of the holy Rabbi Nachman of Kosov, OBM, regarding what the Talmud says,^[25] ‘A hot-tempered person gets nothing in his hand except for his anger.’ The expression ‘gets nothing in his hand’ means as follows: Every night, when souls ascend, a heavenly ‘Hand’ writes down all the sins a person committed that day. Now, if a person was angry that day, this Hand writes down only the sin of his anger—and no more. Why? Because anger leads to all other sins. Once that is written down, there is no need to record anything further, for ‘whoever has this sin, is (automatically) considered to have all the sins (in the book).’ This is because anger is equivalent to serving idols which is equivalent to all of the sins in the Torah.”

The Test of True Holiness

According to the Zohar,^[26] “One can discern whether a person is one whose acquaintance should be cultivated or shunned by his temper and by his demeanor when roused to anger… If he guards his holy soul (Neshama) when he is roused to anger (and manages to maintain his composure) in order that his soul not be uprooted from its place and replaced by an evil soul from the ‘other side,’ then he is indeed a man who is a servant of G-d and is complete and holy.”

May we merit to maintain our souls and be servants of G-d, complete and holy!

[1] Numbers 31:14.

[2] See Deut. 20:14 “However, the women and the children and the animals and everything that will be in the city—all its booty—are yours to plunder for yourselves.”

[3] Kli Yakar. He explains that the Jewish people knew this because they were aware that the Torah forbade male Moabite converts from marrying into the Jewish people but permitted female converts to do so (Yevamot 77a). One of the reasons for this is that the males had caused the Jews to sin by sending their daughters to seduce the Jews. Whereas the women, who were coerced into this deed, weren’t to blame. The same was true about the Midianite women. 

[4] Numbers 31:15 and 16.

[5] Ohr HaChaim.

[6] Pesachim 66b.

[7] Maharal.

[8] Shabbat 105b.

[9] Ein Eliyahu.

[10] Vol. 2, Parshat Tetzaveh 182b.

[11] Levit. 19:4.

[12] Ben Yehoyadah.

[13] Vayikra Rabbah 13:1.

[14] It’s noteworthy that the Midrash doesn’t mention how Moshe got angry when he hit the rock (see Numbers 20:8 and on and Ramban there) and during the rebellion of Korach (Numbers 16:15). 

Perhaps the Midrash doesn’t count the occasion of hitting the rock as it doesn’t say explicitly there that Moshe got angry (although he used angry words). 

Regarding the rebellion of Korach, the word וַיִּ֤חַר can be translated as “he became heated” or “distressed” as opposed to וַיִּקְצֹף which means “he became angry.” On that occasion, Moshe managed to control his anger since Korach was fighting against him personally rather than committing a sin directly against G-d which was the case on the occasions listed in the Midrash.

[15] See Exodus 16:20 - 23.

[16] See Exodus 5:20 and Nedarim 63b.

[17] Ibid. 2:10.

[18] Yavetz on ibid, quoted in Midrash Shmuel.

[19] Levit. 10:12 - 20.

[20] I Samuel 16:6.

[21] Ibid. verse 7.

[22] I Samuel 17:28.

[23] Ein Eliyahu.

[24] In Yismach Lev, Tractate Brachot, printed in the back of Me’or Einayim.

[25] Kiddushin 41a.

[26] Vol. 2, Parshat Tetzaveh 182b

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a Chodesh Tov!