?G-d shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.?
Not only ?in the days of Mordechai and Esther in Shushan did wicked Haman rise up to destroy, slay and wipe out all the Jews, young and old, men, women and children? (Al HaNissim prayer), but in every generation do ?Hamans? rise up to destroy us. Only one generation ago, the worst oppressor of all time, may his name be blotted out, rose up and implemented his Amalekite plans, bringing about the terrible Holocaust in which a third of our people met cruel, savage deaths.
In our own times as well, our enemies are attacking us from every direction, making plans and arming themselves with weapons of mass destruction, nuclear bombs, chemical and biological weapons, with the aim of annihilating us - it will never be! Even Europe, which actively or passively participated in the Holocaust, has learned no lesson and continues to provide open or clandestine support for Israel?s enemies, for those who wish to destroy us.
Today, not only the enemies surrounding us possess that Amalekite longing and carry on Haman?s thoughts, plans and deeds. Rather, even those enemies within the land of our life?s blood share the goal of destroying us. They only put forth the false claim that all they wish to do is to have a state, as though the whole ?feud? between Israel and the Arabs is over land. Yet, they are not the first. The Canaanites preceded them.
?When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were traveling along the Atarim Highway, he attacked them.? (Numbers 21:1) Rashi explains that they were Amalekites disguised as Canaanites and speaking the Canaanite tongue. Their patently false claim was, ?We are Canaanites and the Land is ours.? Their true wish was Amalekite in nature - to destroy the whole Jewish People without connection to lands - just as the Amalekites attacked us at the start of our desert sojourn.
In our own day, some of our leadership unfortunately have not opened their eyes to understand that the ?feud? and the war between us and the Arabs is not just over land, but also over our right to live. Yet, we know that at the end of this war, the Jewish People, with G-d?s help, will emerge victorious.
The Torah states, ?The hand is on G-d?s throne. The L-rd shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.? (Exodus 17:16) As Rashi explains, G-d is swearing that His name will not be complete, nor His throne, until Amalek?s memory is obliterated.
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Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
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Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.
Not only ?in the days of Mordechai and Esther in Shushan did wicked Haman rise up to destroy, slay and wipe out all the Jews, young and old, men, women and children? (Al HaNissim prayer), but in every generation do ?Hamans? rise up to destroy us. Only one generation ago, the worst oppressor of all time, may his name be blotted out, rose up and implemented his Amalekite plans, bringing about the terrible Holocaust in which a third of our people met cruel, savage deaths.
In our own times as well, our enemies are attacking us from every direction, making plans and arming themselves with weapons of mass destruction, nuclear bombs, chemical and biological weapons, with the aim of annihilating us - it will never be! Even Europe, which actively or passively participated in the Holocaust, has learned no lesson and continues to provide open or clandestine support for Israel?s enemies, for those who wish to destroy us.
Today, not only the enemies surrounding us possess that Amalekite longing and carry on Haman?s thoughts, plans and deeds. Rather, even those enemies within the land of our life?s blood share the goal of destroying us. They only put forth the false claim that all they wish to do is to have a state, as though the whole ?feud? between Israel and the Arabs is over land. Yet, they are not the first. The Canaanites preceded them.
?When the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev, heard that the Israelites were traveling along the Atarim Highway, he attacked them.? (Numbers 21:1) Rashi explains that they were Amalekites disguised as Canaanites and speaking the Canaanite tongue. Their patently false claim was, ?We are Canaanites and the Land is ours.? Their true wish was Amalekite in nature - to destroy the whole Jewish People without connection to lands - just as the Amalekites attacked us at the start of our desert sojourn.
In our own day, some of our leadership unfortunately have not opened their eyes to understand that the ?feud? and the war between us and the Arabs is not just over land, but also over our right to live. Yet, we know that at the end of this war, the Jewish People, with G-d?s help, will emerge victorious.
The Torah states, ?The hand is on G-d?s throne. The L-rd shall be at war with Amalek for all generations.? (Exodus 17:16) As Rashi explains, G-d is swearing that His name will not be complete, nor His throne, until Amalek?s memory is obliterated.
--------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Dov Begon is founder and head of Machon Meir institutions.
Machon Meir is an Israeli educational institution and Hesder yeshiva dedicated to Jewish learning BeAhava UbeEmunah (with Love and in Faith), in the spirit of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the late Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel. Students at Machon Meir, Israelis and new immigrants, come from religious and non-religious backgrounds, and learn in Hebrew, English or Russian. The Machon can be contacted through its website, http://www.machonmeir.org.il/.
************
Spend Passover with Arutz Sheva at a resort in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or Kfar Pines (near Hadera). Click here for info.