section_path: Religious perspectives/Judaism
section_name: Judaism
paragraph_text: Judaism
  
  In Judaism, anger is a negative trait. In the Book of Genesis, Jacob condemned the anger that had arisen in his sons Simon and Levi: "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel."
  
  Restraining oneself from anger is seen as noble and desirable, as Ethics of the Fathers states:
  
  Ben Zoma said:
  
  Who is strong? He who subdues his evil inclination, as it is stated,
  
  "He who is slow to anger is better than a strong man, and he who masters his passions is better than one who conquers a city" (Proverbs 16:32).
  
  Maimonides rules that one who becomes angry is as though that person had worshipped idols. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi explains that the parallel between anger and idol worship is that by becoming angry, one shows a disregard of Divine Providence – whatever had caused the anger was ultimately ordained from Above – and that through coming to anger one thereby denies the hand of God in one's life.
  
  In its section dealing with ethical traits a person should adopt, the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch states: "Anger is also a very evil trait and it should be avoided at all costs. You should train yourself not to become angry even if you have a good reason to be angry."
  
  In modern writings, Rabbi Harold Kushner finds no grounds for anger toward God because "our misfortunes are none of His doing". In contrast to Kushner's reading of the Bible, David Blumenthal finds an "abusing God" whose "sometimes evil" actions evoke vigorous protest, but without severing the protester's relationship with God.