By Rabbi Nissan Telushkin for COLlive and Hasidic Archives
It is told of Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Tzemach Tzedek, that when he felt he was getting angry, he would rush to his library. There, he would research whether he was allowed to get angry under those circumstances.
He would say that when the issue is regarding whether an action is permissible or not, even if the ruling is clear to him, he does not answer before conferring his scholarly volumes.
He explained that if he would respond from memory, without consulting the written word, it is as if he gave a ruling in the presence of a teacher from whom he studied, which is forbidden by Torah law.
“By the time I interpret the ruling,” he continued, “my anger has already dissipated.”
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What is the source for this story?
The Tzemach Tzedek was the third Chabad Rebbe