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Beit Midrash
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The Torah bids us to destroy Amalek. Though Amalek is no longer identified as a particular tribe or nation or ethnic group, thus obviating the literal necessity of destroying anyone, nevertheless the overriding lesson of combating the forces of evil in any and all ways that are available to us remains as true today as it did in the time of Moshe. We are not allowed to be passive in the face of Amalek. This is the message that Mordecai conveyed to Esther when confronting, Haman, the Amalek of his time: "If you are silent now, salvation will nevertheless come to the Jewish people, but you and your family (and its memory) are doomed to destruction!" Esther’s passivity in the face of Haman and the king will only lead to her own later downfall. Being currently politically correct and fawning will win one some temporary praise but eventual revulsion will surely follow. Amalek is to be opposed, not coddled and accepted. That is why the Torah commands us to remember Amalek, remember that it as eternal and uncompromising foe that we face. Evil never gives in. So we also must be unbending in our opposition to evil. The Lord bids us to remember this lesson always. Forgetting it or worse ignoring it can prove disastrous and fatal. Mordecai’s greatness lay in the fact that he spotted Haman for what he was from the beginning. While others bowed and scraped to Haman, hoping to mollify him and his malevolence, Mordecai would not bow or kneel to him. Haman was Amalek and Amalek is not to be shown any quarter.
We cannot wish Amalek away. Amalek is a constant reminder of how precarious life and freedom is in this world. The Torah instructs us to remember that Amalek is only weakened - that is the verb that the Torah uses to describe Yehoshua’s triumph over Amalek in the desert of Sinai - and yet always resurrects itself in different guises and times. Many Jews thought that the Holocaust and its gruesome searing lesson would finally destroy European anti-Semitism once and for all time. How naïve that belief was is so evident in our current generation and situation. Amalek is Durban I and II, it is the pious posturing of the NGO’s who call self-defense war crimes, it is the biased media coverage of events concerning Israel and Jews, and it is Iran and its proxies bent only on the destruction of Israel, the state and the people. So the Torah warns us not to be fooled or lulled into a false and unwarranted complacency. Remember Amalek! Although we would wish it to be otherwise, Amalek is not going to disappear in the foreseeable future. Eventually Amalek will not only be weakened but destroyed as well. But until that day comes Shabat Zachor - the Sabbath of remembrance of Amalek - will always be part of the Jewish calendar and life experience.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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The Land of Israel LGBT'S IN ISRAEL
The question was asked, how can one make Aliyah with the LGBT parades?
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 7 - Five Accumulative Proofs of G-d
As a preparation for the Kuzari's classic proof of G-d from the mass-revelation at Sinai, we start here with 5 other directions to strengthen our belief which also contribute to what the Kuzari will present as well.
Ein Aya Muscle & Meaning: The Dual Nature of Gevurah (Physical Strength)
Is physical strength and fitness a necessity or an ideal? Although it if often totally overlooked among topics of Judaism, Rav Kook writes that it clearly is also a necessity to deter the many enemies of Israel, but even in Y'mot HaMashiach, in the Messianic era, to a certain extent, it's ideal continues even after our enemies will have been finished off.
Chukat "HOW ENTEBBE STOLE THE BICENTENNIAL
The Difference Between Historic & Eternal"
As we approach America's 250th birthday, it's worth remembering her 200th Bicentennial birthday, on Jul. 4th 1976, when Israel "stole the show" by shocking the world & miraculously saving 101 hostages in a foreign continent. As Pres. As Pres. Trump decides which countries get priority in his new Middle-East, it's worth reminding him of the difference between historic events and eternally historic ones. This obviously connects with this week's parsha, as well!
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 6 - The Parable of the King of India
The advantages of testimony over circumstantial evidence or philosophical speculation.
Kuzari -Rabbi Ari Shvat Kuzari class 5- "Proofs of G-d"
This may be the most important class of the entire book, where we finally get to the Jewish proof of the existence of G-d and truth of the Torah. We should follow His own direction where He tells us how to get to Him: through the Nation of Israel: Jewish history, Jewish prophets (and today, prophecies fulfilled), and national reward & punishment towards Am Yisrael.
Ein Aya One Humanity, One Creator, One Jerusalem
Rav Kook innovatively and beautifully explains this aggadeta where our sages say that after Jerusalem was destroyed her cinnamon fragrance is only found locked in a particular kingdom's treasury.
