Parshat Tazri'a Lev. 12:13-59, Ex. 12:1-20

The Talmud teaches, "When a person becomes enraged, even if he is wise, his wisdom deserts him." The rabbis felt that when a person becomes enraged he distances himself from his own mind, from his emotions, and even from Gd.

According to the Rabbis, the Torah portion, Tazria, talks about the power of words, particularly those used in anger. When we are angry there is a good chance that we will lose control and say things we don't mean and likely want to take back later. In fact, it was in a fit of anger that Moshe forfeited his chance to enter into the Promised Land, paying dearly for his loss of self-control.

To this day, being a Jew means being able to control one's anger.

Not too very long ago, the Israeli Supreme Court denied an appeal by a man convicted of a crime when his anger got the best of him. The crime? At a soccer game the man cried out, "Mavet L'Aravim" - Death to Arabs! The judge was not convinced that being in a state of war with several Arab states, having a Hamas government next door and living with daily threats of terrorism warranted such an angry outburst. In handing down the decision the judge said, "Such anger and hatred must be condemned and uprooted from Israel."

But Gd created us with the ability to become angry. Can it be, then, that anger is such a truly horrible emotion that we should, as Philo said in the second century, "completely extirpate and eradicate anger from the soul?" I don't think so.

Recently, 1100 sex offenders were reportedly arrested in a nationwide sweep. Many of them had been released early and committed the same crime again. When a child is molested and murdered by a sex offender that makes me angry. And I saw the look on the faces of the officers who were putting their lives on the line to make those arrests. They, too, looked angry, as well they might.

When innocent yeshiva students are gunned down in cold blood by a homicidal gunman who thinks he's making a political statement, I get angry. And when Hamas government officials call it "the normal response to the occupation,", that makes me angry too. When I think of all the men women and children killed for the sin of being Jewish in the Holocaust, that makes me angry. When I think that America could have done more to stop it, that makes me angry, too.

How can we say that the world has no room for justifiable anger? When hundreds of thousands are dying in Darfur, why shouldn't we be angry with the perpetrators? Anger that motivates individuals to stand up for what is right, that pushes us to try to make a difference, that flies in the face of indifference, is valuable and righteous. That's why the Torah describes even Gd Almighty as showing anger. When the Creator sees that His creation is ruining the world he gave us as a gift; when we are ungrateful, mistreat others, worship false Gds of hedonism; when we use our Gd given talents for evil, Gd Himself is outraged! And all of this is to teach us that there are times when anger is indeed an appropriate response.

What Judaism ultimately teaches is that anger must be seen and felt in a context. Gd's goal for us is to live in this world with simcha, with joy, with peace in our hearts. Our simcha is a statement of faith that Gd is good and that the world He has given us is good as well. And when we can help to bring goodness and joy and simcha into another person's life we should pursue that path passionately.

Still, if, in the defense of others, anger pushes us further and faster along that path, if indignation shakes us from apathy, so be it. But ours must always be anger for a productive purpose- service of Gd and the betterment of our fellow human beings.

Self-serving anger will lead to regret. But a visceral response to the suffering of others, not only draws us closer to one another but pushes us to be the people our Gd wants us to be. From compassion can often come anger and from anger can often come peace. Let us channel our righteous anger so as to fulfill the vision of our great prophets and teachers and give all Gd's creatures the opportunity to live in peace. .