B'Shalach: Do You Have an Amalek Problem?

02/05/25 • 10 min

When we think about Amalek, what generally comes to mind is the mitzvah to obliterate their name. After all, by being the first nation to blatantly defy Hashem, they opened the door to the long and bloody history of Hashem's people's unspeakable pain, torture, and indignities at the hands of the nations of the world. And what about the unimaginable Chillul Hashem as a result?

But to destroy Amalek we first need to understand the core problem that brought about Amalek in the first place. It is only then that we can finally rid ourselves and the entire world of the problem once and for all. When we look deeply into this, we find something that is not only surprising but is as relevant today as it was over 3000 years ago!

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If you seek the Torah’s timeless wisdom to assist in navigating your life's challenges, check out other helpful episodes on this podcast.

Please share your comments and insights

If you seek the Torah’s timeless wisdom to assist in navigating your life's challenges, check out other helpful episodes on this podcast.

Previous Episode

Bo: What You Need to Know About Jewish Moonlighting

The Ramban explains that Yitzias Mitzraim, not Brias HaOlam, is the foundation of our Emunah. Why? Because at the core of our Emunah is absorbing the experience of Hashem's Nisim and His unbridled love for us.
This is why failing to bring the Korban Pesach carries such a stringent punishment. Even generations later, Jews must continue to disconnect from the experience of living in Mitzraim and the impact that it imprinted on our souls.
It is for this reason that Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the calculation as to when to bring the Korban Pesach and Yom Tov, is so essential. There is even a presumption that the Torah should have begun with this mitzvah!
However, when we think deeper into it, the aforementioned reason no longer seems sufficient. There are so many other mitzvahs such as Shabbos, Limud haTorah, Ahavas Hashem, and the list goes on, that would seem to merit the unique distinction of beginning the Torah instead of the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh.
To answer this question, perhaps we need to find out what Rosh Chodesh is really about. And when we do that, we may be surprised to discover a completely different way to understand this mitzvah, and a fundamental truth that is at the center of every Jew's life!

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If you seek the Torah’s timeless wisdom to assist in navigating your life's challenges, check out other helpful episodes on this podcast.

Next Episode

Yisro: Does Bad Actually Exist?

We are accustomed to labeling events or occurrences in our lives as either good or bad. Depending on our experience or perception, whether we had pain or pleasure, gain or loss, these are clearcut categories that we use to describe what happened to us.

But from Chazal we see that this is not only superficial but incorrect. Understandably we absorb what happens in our lives through personal experience. How could we do it any differently? But, perhaps it's time to lift ourselves above our individual experiences and see things for what they are.

And on this journey, Yisro, Moshe Rabbeinu's father-in-law can be our rebbe!

Please share your comments and insights

If you seek the Torah’s timeless wisdom to assist in navigating your life's challenges, check out other helpful episodes on this podcast.