Anger: The Inner Teacher

by Zelig Pliskin

Overcoming negative character traits is the essence and purpose of life” (Vilna Gaon). Anger is one of the most destructive traits. It can harm us and others spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially. Anger, powerful and negative though it is, can also serve as our teacher (see Eruvin 65b). It shows us who we are, what is important to us, our level of self-mastery, and how we cope with adversity and frustration. We must learn from anger and, in the process, master not only it, but ourselves -- because we can. We are not doomed to repeat our tantrums and indignation, constantly and endlessly. We can change. But how? In The Inner Teacher, Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, a noted author and insightful counselor, presents a nine-step program to help us purge anger from ourselves. The author draws on Torah literature and his extensive counseling experience to build a comprehensive approach for coping with anger. This book is a practical guide offering underlying concepts and practical hands-on tools for decreasing and preventing anger. This step-by-step program is for anyone wishing to gain greater mastery over his other emotions. It also provides a useful model for those in the helping professions. As long as we are alive we can choose to correct the way we live. Anger is a natural human emotion. Refining and transcending it provides us with the opportunity to become the type of human being we wish tobe. Rabbi Pliskin has gained an international following as someone who sets his sights high but keeps his approach down-to-earth. Inspirational but practical, this book -- like its author -- is a realistic guide to a better, more fulfilling life.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish

376 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin is a noted psychologist and prolific author of 24 books, including Guard Your Tongue, Gateway to Happiness, Gateway to Self Knowledge, Love Your Neighbor, Growth Through Torah, The Power of Words, Consulting the Wise, and the recent Life is Now. Rabbi Pliskin lives in Jerusalem, and is the director of Aish HaTorah's Counseling Center and a senior lecturer at Aish's Essentials program and the Executive Learning Center. He was ordained at the Telshe Yeshiva in Ohio and holds a degree in Counseling Psychology.

Reviews

[Edy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal book by my favorite Jewish Rabbi who deals with very relevant and practical modern day concerns. Anger leads to a lot of chronic health conditions. Instead of suppressing one’s anger with pharmaceuticals or pills, Pliskin provides an instructional guide on how to take the edge off our most overwhelming emotion. My only complaint is that he rarely uses the pronoun “she.” Like many books by Orthodox authors, the female experience sometimes gets a little lost (not always, but just sometimes). That being said though, I think this book is a must read.

“I used to complain a lot about things not being the way I wanted them. Then I heard about a person who went through great deprivation in childhood. This person told me that as long as she has food, clothing, and a pleasant place to live, she feels like a queen in a palace. I’ve decided to adopt this attitude and make it mine.”

“A person with ideal inner strength and emotional independence will be able to ignore the negative remarks of anyone who spitefully wants to cause distress. This is the goal to strive for.”

[Michael Riversong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish this book were better known. It comes back around because a friend who i've been spending a lot of time around lately has been demonstrating anger at times. In fact, i see myself, 6 years ago. In 1973 it came to my attention that i had an "anger problem" but no amount of effort seemed to make any significant difference. There were some victories, and some progress at times, but the fundamental problem remained, and people kept getting driven away. The list of tragedies produced by my anger simply grew longer -- sometimes at a slower rate, but never really getting much better. This book provided some solid religiously based programs in a coherent order. Each step turned out to be doable. Now, i rarely get angry at all, and when it happens, the time spent in that state is extremely short. This makes life generally much better, even during the extremely hard times we go through these days.