Why anger still has a purpose in this world
Noach sought to eliminate anger entirely from the world, but the Holy One, blessed be He, demonstrated through the raven (hinting at anger) that this trait still serves a purpose: anger can sometimes protect a person from succumbing to an evil desire, since water in this account represents lust. Only once lust is fully eradicated will anger become unnecessary, a future reality hinted at by the ama caleh oreiv (a sharpened plate on the Temple roof that kept ravens away).AI summary · anthropic/claude-sonnet-5
“And he sent out the raven, which went back and forth ….” (Bereshit, 8:7) The raven hints at anger. Noach wanted to rid the world of the attribute of anger, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, showed him that there was still a need for the attribute of anger in the world, for sometimes when an evil desire comes to man he may save himself by entering into a state of anger. This is the meaning of the verse, “the raven went back and forth until the waters dried from the land,” in other words, when evil lusts are eradicated there will be no need for anger, for water represents lust. Therefore in the Holy Temple there was a small hint of this, for there was an “ama caleh oreiv” (Mishna Middot, 4:6), a sharpened plate on the roof one cubit high that prevented ravens from roosting there (representing the eventual eradication of anger).
וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת הָעוֹרֵב וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב וְכוּ'. עוֹרֵב רוֹמֵז עַל כַּעַס וְנֹחַ רָצָה שֶׁלֹּא יִמָּצֵא מִדּוֹת הַכַּעַס בָּעוֹלָם וְהֶרְאָה לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כִּי לְעֵת עַתָּה עוֹד מֵהַצּוֹרֶךְ בְּמִדָּה זֹאת בָּעוֹלָם, כִּי לִפְעָמִים נֶגֶד תַּאֲוָה שֶׁיָּבוֹא לְאָדָם אֵיזֶה תַּאֲוָה רָעָה, יוּכַל לְהִנָּצֵל עַצְמוֹ עַל יְדֵי שֶׁיַּכְנִיס עַצְמוֹ בְּכַעַס, וְזֶה פֵּי׳ "וַיֵּצֵא יָצוֹא וָשׁוֹב עַד יְבׁשֶׁת הַמַּיִם" הַיְנוּ עַד שֶׁיִּכְלוּ חֶמְדּוֹת רָעוֹת מֵהָעוֹלָם אָז יִבָּטֵל גַּם כַּעַס כִּי מַיִם הַיְנוּ חֶמְדָּה, וְלָכֵן בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ הִתְחִיל מְעַט רֶמֶז עַל זֶה שֶׁהָיָה שָׁם אַמָּה כַּלְיָה עוֹרֵב כִּדְאִיתָא בְּמַסֶּ' מִדּוֹת פ״ד [מ״ו].
Translation: Living waters, the Mei HaShiloach. Trans. and edited by Betsalel Philip Edwards, Jerusalem, J. Aronson 2001 [Revised digital edition, 2021]