Anger in Jewish Mythology

9 myths

Each story names the sources it was written from.

Myth 5 min

Moses Broke the Tablets and Carried the Pieces

Moses shattered the first tablets at the Golden Calf, but the broken stone was not thrown away. The fragments traveled with Israel.

MosesTabletsGolden CalfArkTabernacleAnger
Parshat Vayishlach 5 min

Simeon and Levi Avenged Their Sister and Were Never Forgiven for It

Simeon and Levi avenged Dinah at Shechem. Jacob cursed their anger at his deathbed, forty years after the swords were put away.

SimeonLeviDinahHoly LandWomenMidrash AggadahTribesShechemAngerViolenceJacobJoseph
Myth 5 min

Moses Struck the Rock in Fury Before the King's Troops

God told him to speak to the stone. The staff came down twice anyway. Water ran over his feet while the camp still watched his face.

MosesRockAngerDivine JusticeLeadershipMidrash AggadahMekhilta
Parshat Vayechi 6 min

Dan Confessed That the Spirit of Anger Was in Him Since Eden

On his deathbed, Dan told his children where the spirit that nearly made him a murderer had come from. It was older than any of them knew.

DanAngerEdenAdamCreationJosephBeliar
Myth 5 min

David Refused Anger on the Road to the Throne

Doeg uses his tongue to destroy a city of priests, but David, trained as a shepherd, guards Torah and refuses to act in anger.

Midrash TehillimDavidSolomonSoulTorahAngerKingship
Myth 5 min

A Fool's Many Words Bred Nightmares and Flood

Dreams came thick after too much talk. Anger sat in the chest like a kettle. Two sages argued heaven's seats while the living spilled careless speech.

KoheletDreamsAngerFloodBabelSodomAfterlifeSpeech
Myth 6 min

The Old Man in Tatters Found His Grandson

A father cast his own father into rags. In a loft a boy cut a mantle in half, and the house learned what honor costs.

HonorFatherSonHillelAcademyAngerInheritanceExempla
Myth 5 min

Anger Leaves a Door Open Over Ruined Zion

Smoke still climbs from the Temple stones while Reish Lakish refuses to let Lamentations end in final contempt.

LamentationsJerusalemTempleReish LakishAngerCovenantZionDestruction
Parshat Vayigash 6 min

Hanina Called the Lion a Weak King Then Ran to Apologize

Rabbi Hanina shouted a lion off the road and then chased it down to take the insult back, and the same roar rose in Judah before Egypt.

JudahJosephHanina Ben DosaLionsAngerMidrash TanchumaVayigash