Not that we need science to agree with Torah, but it's striking how medical research keeps catching up to what our sages have known all along.
Here's what doctors are finding about anger: When we get angry, our blood vessels actually become impaired and can't dilate properly for up to 40 minutes afterward.
Over time, this causes chronic injuries to our blood vessels.
Studies show that the angriest people are three times more likely to develop heart disease than those who are more at peace. Chronic anger also weakens our immune system, making us more susceptible to infections.
But it goes deeper. Research shows that chronic stress and holding onto emotional pain can actually promote the big "C" development by activating inflammatory responses and suppressing immune function. People exposed to long-term stress have been found to be 2.4 times more likely to die from the big "C" than those with low stress levels
And here's the beautiful part - when we let go, the body heals. Studies have found that forgiveness can lower the risk of heart attack, improve cholesterol levels and sleep, and reduce pain, blood pressure, and levels of anxiety, depression, and stress. When people practiced forgiveness in studies, their blood pressure and heart rate decreased. Patients who received forgiveness therapy showed marked improvement in blood flow to the heart.
The Yanuka expanded on a tefillah of mechilah and suggests we say it four times a day. (I say it after Shemoneh Esrei and before Shema al hamita). In it, we express complete forgiveness to everyone – and we ask that all those alive and no longer with us forgive us as well.
The Yanuka teaches that saying this tefillah four times daily is a protection against disease.
When we release others from our anger and free ourselves from holding grudges, we're not just doing a mitzvah – we're literally healing our hearts, our blood vessels, our immune systems, our very lives.
Mechilah isn't just beautiful middot. It's pikuach nefesh.
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