Anger Wrath
When tragedy strikes, when people suffer and die, whether in what is considered as natural catastrophic events or man-caused events, Judaism tells us that we must say a blessing. We bless Hashem for being a true judge. We affirm, the perfect justice of Hashem, no matter what. We affirm it whether we understand why or whether it is impossible for us to understand why. We affirm Hashem even if we are at our breaking point.
The Torah teaches that when tradegy strikes, when evil befalls us, Hashem wants us not only to do what we can, but to pray and beseech Him, asking Him to show his compassionate side, asking for Him to save us from our terrible situation.
Do not shut Your ear from my prayer for my relief when I cry out. Lamentations 3:56
Sometimes Hashem wants us to understand our suffering as Hashem's call for us to review our own lives and see in what way we may have strayed from living in accordance with the principles of Torah. For if we have strayed, we have moved ourselves away from Hashem. Measure for measure, Hashem moves away from us -- not necessarily immediately, but in suitable time, when we have used up our merits.
Of course Hashem does not change. We say Hashem moves away from us, but in fact what happens is that our consciousness perceives that Hashem has moved away. The change is in our consciousness not in Hashem.
It is not surprising therefore, that in tables having key words associated with a tragedy and evil that has befallen God's children, we find an ELS phrase for Anger and Wrath, sometimes singly, sometimes together. Anger and wrath means that our consciousness perceives the action of Hashem as if it were an action of anger and wrath.
There are a few different expressions in Torah and in Tanach associated with anger and wrath. Here we explore only a few:
| Anger and Fury | אף וחמה |
| The Anger, The Fury | האף, החמה |
| In his Anger and in his Wrath | באפו, ובחמתו |
| Wrath of Anger | חמת אף |
A discussion of some of the verses in Tanach that use some of these expressions can be found here.
We find one or more of these ELS phrases in tables associated with