Musar su Proverbi 16:32

Those who subdue their souls' anger and prevail upon their nature to restrain it, have been described as noble and characterized as exalted. Thus the sage said (Prov. xvi. 32), "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty." This is one of the thirteen attributes ascribed to God, exalted is He, in the passage (Ex. xxxiv. 6), "And the Lord passed by before him," etc. It is said that as scab is a disease of the body, so is wrath a disease of the soul. The moral man must not become wrathful often, because, by reason of his wrath, he is compelled to bear burdens. Thus saith the sage (Prov. xix. 19), "A man of great wrath shall bear punishment."

The second quality which interferes with the true worship of God is anger. It is one of the evil qualities which can destroy the worship of God. For the worship of God cannot dwell in the heart of one who is wrathful. At the time of his anger he pays no attention to anything he does, but instead he multiplies oaths, profanes the name of Heaven, kills his friend, and harms his companion. It is possible that as his wrath grows fierce, he will go and worship idols or commit suicide. Therefore, a man ought not to trust his worship of God if he cannot subdue his wrath. The healing of wrath is this: We should know the forces that stir up wrath and we should reverse them. And we say that the causes of wrath are too little reflection, the folly of the one who is angry, the lack of companionship of the wise and the intelligent, who could teach him to subdue his anger, and the companionship of fools and wicked men. He does not recognize what an ugly quality anger is. Nor does he recognize how many good qualities there are in forbearance and patience. For no one who is patient will ever regret it, nor will he need to do anything for which everyone who hears of it will reproach him and shame him, but let all of his deeds be in quietness and gentleness, just as it is said (Proverbs 16:32), “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit better than he that taketh a city.”

A man who has the quality of anger, but controls that anger and wrathful manner as though he were not at all subject to temper, concerning such a one it is said : "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty ; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city" (Prov. 16:32). And you must remember that slowness to anger, is one of the Thirteen Attributes which are ascribed to the Creator, may He be Blessed.

The whole purpose of man²Compare Ecclesiastes 12:13. is to control his spirit,³Compare Proverbs 16:32, Avot 4:1. to divert it by his will⁴Meaning: to turn it towards his desired outcome in accordance with the Torah’s prescribed good behavior—as against where uncontrolled desire or instinct could lead him. to whatever his situation demands. [In this case, someone has died, so there is a choice] whether to direct the spirit toward sadness, to be embittered by [the dead man’s loss of] His service, blessed be His name, for it has passed⁵I.e., premature death cut off a person’s service of God before its time. -- because “the dead are free” [of the Torah and commandments]⁶b. Shabbat 30a: “Rabbi Yoḥanan says: ‘the dead are free’ (Psalms 88:6)—when a person dies, he becomes free of the Torah and the commandments.” — or to direct one’s spirit toward calming and relaxing the soul, [by regarding this death as a case of] a good man who is on his way to his eternal rest, which is the aspiration of every human being on the face of the earth. This eternal bliss is the fruit of his purpose; “sweet is the sleep of the toiler…”⁷Compare Ecclesiastes 5:11. R. Salanter’s application is that the person is enjoying the fruits of his labor, i.e. his good deeds, in the next world as he sleeps in death.