Comic Reproof

This re-posted from the Dalai Lama by a friend of mine via social media with the title: "Listen to the guy... Extend your life":

"Like anyone else, I too have the potential for violence; I too have evil in me. However, I try to recall that anger is a destructive emotion. I remind myself that scientists now say that anger is bad for our health; it eats into our immune system. So, anger destroys our piece of mind and our physical health. We shouldn't welcome it or think of it as natural or as a friend."

I posted the following comment that I thought was worth sharing here as well:

"We didn't need the Dalai Lama (or scientists) for that -- we have the wisdom of King Solomon! Ecclesiastes (Koheleth) 11:10: 'Remove anger from your heart and cause evil to pass away from your flesh.' (You see here that Solomon knew that anger was BODILY unhealthy.)

An ironic story I must share: I was staffing a trip to New York for Jewish collegiates and one of our events was a night at a comedy club. Of course, realizing that there was a Jewish audience in the house, they provided plenty of 'Jewish' jokes. One joke involved a play on a Biblical event. At this joke there was no response from the audience. The comedian was so insulted that a Jewish audience didn't get a Bible joke, that, realizing (correctly) that it could only be due to a lack of knowledge of a basic Bible story, the comedian broke character, turned to the audience and declared, 'Jews! It's your Torah! Read it!' Wow, getting mussar (rebuke) from the guy on stage at a Manhattan comedy club. Surreal."

[Posted by Rafi Mollot. Read more by Rafi Mollot at http://rafimollot.wordpress.com]