Anger Beyond Reason, Chukot Of The Canaanites

ג' באייר תשס"ז

We are taught in parashat Achrei Mot not to follow the "social customs" of the Canaanites. Examining this command in Vayikra 18:3 more closely, the Torah phrase used, practically translated as (not to follow) "in their social customs" (or statutes), is the Hebrew word ובחקתיהם from the shoresh חקק meaning "circumscribe to protect a basic value" [1].

Significantly, the word ובחקתיהם contains the feminine construct chukot as opposed to the masculine construct chukim. So, what are the chukot of the Canaanites?

First, the Canaanites are descendents of Noah's son Ham (חם). Ham's name is derived from the shoresh חמה from which the word chemah is derived. Chemah pertains to hidden destructive anger and is the name of one of the angels Moshe had to battle. The other angel was named Af (revealed destructive anger). Both of these angels refer to the emotive quality of destructive fury, one hidden and one actively revealed. The connection of forbidden Canaanite practices to destructive fury is further supported by the fact that the eponym Ham means "hot" in Hebrew and Canaanite. These points taken together suggest that the Canaanite practices forbidden by Torah in Achrei Mot are those which support and feed unconfronted uncontrolled destructive anger.

Second, the feminine construct חקת is employed over the masculine construct חקם. Chukot refer to a situation where Adonai (Malchut) is the principle essence with El Chai (Yesod) included in it. Chukim refer to a situation where El Chai (Yesod) is the principle essence with Adonai (Malchut) included in it [2]. Consequently, with the choice of words, Torah is distinguishing between feeling angry emotions (principally Yesodic) and acting with anger to destroy (principally Malchutic), recognizing that feeling anger is an unavoidable part of the human condition. Where we must distinguish ourselves from the Canaanites is in how we confront and express the anger we feel.

Tying it all together, we can see that the chukot of the Canaanites which are forbidden to us are actions of destruction born of uncontrolled seething anger and rage. We are not allowed to seethe. We are not allowed to deny our anger or to cover it up with "nice" social customs. We are commanded to wisely confront [3] and deal with our anger, which will limit the impact hidden rage may have on our own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others. In this way we protect fundamental values - the sanctity of human life and understanding between human beings.

Footnotes:

[1] Etymological Dictionary Of Biblical Hebrew, R' Matityahu Clark
[2] Sha'are Orah, R' Yosef Gikatilla
[3] In a dangerously physically abusive situation, wise confrontation most likely will not include the abuser inclined toward violent action.

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