{"id":47022,"date":"2019-03-17T19:51:14","date_gmt":"2019-03-17T19:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?p=47022"},"modified":"2019-03-18T12:18:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-18T12:18:55","slug":"eradicating-the-amalek-within","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/","title":{"rendered":"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are 2 mitzvot connected to Amalek &#8211; remembering what they did and eliminating them.<\/p>\n<p>We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Thus, even if we can&#8217;t eradicate Amalek externally, we can eradicate those aspects of our personalities. The two traits of Amalek can be seen from the two times Amalek attacked Bnei Yisrael in the desert and why they were vulnerable at those times &#8211; in Refidim because they were unenthusiastic in Bein Adam LaMakom and after Aharon died because of their deficiency in Bein Adam LeChavero.<\/p>\n<p>The meaning of &#8220;\u05d0\u05e9\u05e8 \u05e7\u05e8\u05da \u05d1\u05d3\u05e8\u05da&#8221; &#8211; Rashi, Rav Tzadok HaKohen.<\/p>\n<p>Amalek can only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel (Yehoshua led the war under Moshe, Shaul, Mordechai and Esther, and Moshiach ben Yosef). Why?<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Delivered at the\u00a0OU Israel Center, March 17, 2019 (10 Adar II 5779)<br \/>\n<\/em><em>This shiur is sponsored by Mel David<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are 2 mitzvot connected to Amalek &#8211; remembering what they did and eliminating them. We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Thus, even if we can&#8217;t eradicate Amalek externally, we can eradicate those aspects of our personalities. The two traits of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":890,"featured_media":47024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[367,348],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-four-shabbatot","category-purim","post_format-post-format-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Holidays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-17T19:51:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-18T12:18:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1122\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"748\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/\",\"name\":\"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-17T19:51:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-18T12:18:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/8f7f599286b2ac096223359f15c17a75\"},\"description\":\"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg\",\"width\":1122,\"height\":748},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Holidays\",\"description\":\"Learn about Jewish holidays\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/8f7f599286b2ac096223359f15c17a75\",\"name\":\"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Yitzchak-Breitowitz_avatar_1526222302-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Yitzchak-Breitowitz_avatar_1526222302-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz\"},\"description\":\"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz's scope of knowledge, brilliance, as well as a unique ability to grasp complicated material and communicate it clearly to others is legendary. Rabbi Breitowitz received his bachelor of arts from Johns Hopkins University and obtained semicha from Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and shortly thereafter became the Rav of the Silver Spring Woodside Shul in Silver Spring Maryland while maintaining status as a tenured professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Rabbi Breitowitz teaches at Or Sameach as well as the OU Israel center and he has published widely on Jewish law and ethics.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/rabbi_yitzchak_breitowitzou-org\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim","description":"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim","og_description":"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Holidays","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OrthodoxUnion","article_published_time":"2019-03-17T19:51:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-18T12:18:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1122,"height":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/","name":"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg","datePublished":"2019-03-17T19:51:14+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-18T12:18:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/8f7f599286b2ac096223359f15c17a75"},"description":"We are never vulnerable to the external Amalek unless there is a part of Amalek that is in our character. Why can Amalek only be defeated by a descendant of Rachel?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/obliterate.jpg","width":1122,"height":748},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/eradicating-the-amalek-within\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Eradicating the Amalek Within: Reflections on Parshat Zachor and Purim"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/","name":"Jewish Holidays","description":"Learn about Jewish holidays","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/8f7f599286b2ac096223359f15c17a75","name":"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Yitzchak-Breitowitz_avatar_1526222302-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/files\/Rabbi-Yitzchak-Breitowitz_avatar_1526222302-96x96.jpg","caption":"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz"},"description":"Rabbi Dr. Yitzchak Breitowitz's scope of knowledge, brilliance, as well as a unique ability to grasp complicated material and communicate it clearly to others is legendary. Rabbi Breitowitz received his bachelor of arts from Johns Hopkins University and obtained semicha from Ner Israel Rabbinical College. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and shortly thereafter became the Rav of the Silver Spring Woodside Shul in Silver Spring Maryland while maintaining status as a tenured professor at the University of Maryland School of Law. Rabbi Breitowitz teaches at Or Sameach as well as the OU Israel center and he has published widely on Jewish law and ethics.","url":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/author\/rabbi_yitzchak_breitowitzou-org\/"}]}},"acf":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/890"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47022"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47027,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47022\/revisions\/47027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}