Why Are They Angry?
When it comes to reckoning with other people’s opinions of us, we must ask ourselves whether it makes any sense that this person disap- proves of us. Is there any substance to the fact that this person is upset with us? Sometimes, we will look deeper and discover that this person is angry at us—and at his wife, his children, and a host of other people! If so, it is not worthwhile to try to please such a person. Of course, we must work to ensure that our behavior doesn’t offend others and re- spects and values other people.
The great “Chassid” Rabbi Yosef Yaavetz teaches that sometimes, when Hashem wants a tzaddik to move to another place, He implants hatred toward him in the hearts of the people around him to impel him to uproot himself. If so, this hatred does not reflect his behavior and attitude at all.
The important thing to know is that when a person conducts himself properly toward Hashem, the Ribbono shel Olam will be pleased with him—and the המקום רוח, the spirit of Hashem, enters the hearts of the people. And it is only due to this that the people are gladdened by him. But if a person makes overtures—through his dress, his money, or any other way—to flatter other people, he will accomplish nothing. It is wrong from both emunah and bitachon perspectives, and it is certainly not what the Tanna has in mind when he teaches that הימנו נוחה הבריות רוח.
