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Self-Doubt on the Road to Sinai - כי תצא

Friday, 13 September, 2024 - 1:44 pm

Self-Doubt on the Road to Sinai 


"You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt." 


Remembering Amalek is the final commandment in this week's portion, and is one of the "six remembrances", the daily recitation of six events in our history which we are commanded to remember.


What is the purpose of remembering Amalek? The Torah reminds us of what Amalek did, and tells us about the obligation to battle Amalek: 


How he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God.

[Therefore,] it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget!


Why do we recite these verses every day if this commandment cannot be fulfilled in the practical sense? Battling Amalek cannot be done today since (a) the commandment is upon the Jewish monarch, which does not exist today, and (b) we currently cannot identify the lineage of Amalek. 


Chasidisim teaches that Amalek represents doubt. The Numerical value of the Hebrew letters that create Amalek is the same as the word for doubt, "Safek". Every morning, we awake with the goal of leaving the limitations and constraints of the metaphorical Egypt and moving closer to "Mount Sinai", the place where we connect to G-d and embrace our spiritual mission and inner purpose. And then, precisely when we begin our journey, Amalek strikes. The verse states, "How he happened upon you." The Hebrew word for "happened", Karcha, is the same word as "kor", coldness. Amalek steps in and drains us of passion and excitement with thoughts of self-doubt: perhaps my efforts won't bear fruit, perhaps I will not succeed, perhaps the people I love will not appreciate my efforts and commitment. Perhaps all this is meaningless. 


While a dose of doubt is beneficial to ensure that we are reaching the truth, not making mistakes or being taken advantage of, doubt "on the road", while we are beginning to work to achieve our goal, is always a terrible thing and must always be battled immediately and fiercely. For no endeavor will succeed without passion and excitement, no endeavor will succeed if one believes that he is in a situation by chance (as Amalek is described as "happened upon you"); to live a life of meaning and purpose, a person must believe that his endeavor is significant and precisely what he needs to engage in so that he proceeds to Sinai.   


Every morning, our tools to battle the coldness and self-doubt of Amalek are our enthusiastic passion in prayer and Torah study, and by remembering that we are critical partners in G-d's purpose for creation. 


Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Likkutei Sichos vol. 2 Ki Teize 


 

 

 

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