Amalek

When we are doubtful. When we do not heed and adhere to our Heritage. The Judaic
principals both written and oral which guide us to sustenance and cohesion to our Creator;
Then we as The Nation of Priests, as The Light upon the Nations, will be delivered unto the
hands of our enemies.

16. But then you turned and profaned My Name,

and you took back, each man his manservant and
each man his maidservant, whom you had let free
to themselves, and forced them to be manservants
and maidservants to you.

17. Therefore, so says the Lord: You have not

hearkened to Me to proclaim freedom, everyone to
his brother and every one to his neighbor; behold I
proclaim freedom to you, says the Lord, to the
sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I
will make you an object of horror to all the
kingdoms of the earth.

:






) (

:

18. And I will deliver the men who have

transgressed My covenant, who have not kept the
words of the covenant which they made before Me
when they cut the calf in two and passed between
its parts.

19. The princes of Judah and the princes of

Jerusalem, the officers and the priests, and all the
people of the land who passed between the parts of
the calf.

:



:

20. I will deliver them into the hand[s] of their

enemies and into the hand[s] of those who seek
their lives, and their dead bodies shall become food
for the birds of the heavens and for the beasts of
the earth.

:


:

21. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his princes I

will deliver into the hand[s] of their enemies and
into the hand[s] of those who seek their lives, and
into the hand[s] of the army of the king of Babylon
who have gone up away from you.

Amalek Enters
All of the events surrounding the previous Blood Moons, and the current events around the
World, are all attributable to Amalek. Amalek creates or extenuates the doubt within
ourselves. Thereby diminishing our internal and subsequent external resolve towards the
continuation of our Principals, until they are finally extinguished. The Blood Moons are
warnings to us that Amaleks programs against our Beliefs are in full force, and that we are
in danger of losing ourselves for principals that are not our own. For our principals are
divinely provided, whereas those of Amalek are principals derived by The Few. Individuals
who believe in themselves as originators and pro-generators of ideals which support their

current beliefs, as they themselves determine for themselves and in order to gain
acceptance of their beliefs and lifestyles are pushing upon others.
Shemot / Exodus 17.7-16








| 7. He named the place Massah [testing] and Meribah






[quarreling] because of the quarrel of the children of




:
Israel and because of their testing the Lord, saying, Is
?the Lord in our midst or not






:

8. Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

9. So Moses said to Joshua, Pick men for us, and go

out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand
on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand

10. Joshua did as Moses had told him, to fight against

Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur ascended to the
top of the hill.

11. It came to pass that when Moses would raise his

hand, Israel would prevail, and when he would lay
down his hand, Amalek would prevail.

12. Now Moses hands were heavy; so they took a

stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron
and Hur supported his hands, one from this [side],
and one from that [side]; so he was with his hands in
faith until sunset.

13. Joshua weakened Amalek and his people with the

edge of the sword.

14. The Lord said to Moses, Inscribe this [as] a

memorial in the book, and recite it into Joshua's ears,
that I will surely obliterate the remembrance of
Amalek from beneath the heavens

|




:

15. Then Moses built an altar, and he named it The

Lord is my miracle

16. And he said, For there is a hand on the throne of

the Eternal, [that there shall be] a war for the Lord
against Amalek from generation to generation.
Devarim / Deuteronomy 17-19

17. You shall remember what Amalek did to you on

the way, when you went out of Egypt,

18, 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.
19. [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!
It was in these Plains of Rephidim. The Children of Israel had just recently embarked upon
their Exodus from the State of Limitations, Egypt. Through the Ten supernatural plagues
which had compelled the mightiest nation on earth to free them from their servitude. The
sea had split before them, and manna had rained from the heavens to nourish them. Israel
was a Nation guarded by G-D and All Nations were acutely aware of this, and retained their
distance. All of the Nations now acknowledged that G-D is Omnipresent and deserving of
the highest Respect and Honor, and His protge Israel through Him. No nation dared
attack the Jewish people after their triumphant liberation from Egypt All except for one.
The nation of Amalek.
or was there another. After having experienced some of the greatest manifestations of
divine power in history, could there be any doubt that G-D was amongst them, The Children
of Israel? What would make a nation, a group of people forcefully attack the Israelite
Nation when it was so pronouncedly being protected by The Almighty Creator? What was
triggering this seemingly irrational behavior of Amalek? Was it the guiding principles
underlying the Amalek Nation, their laws and precepts and belief system? And if so, were
they acting of their own volition or was there a factor external to themselves that was
providing them with an inlet. In other-words, did Amalek attack have a pointed strategy
against a perceived weakness of the Israelite Nation?
Caution is based upon a rational assessment of factual occurrences placed within
objective timeframes. Doubt is based in irrational logic. Logic based upon subjective
motives and idyllic perceptions and desires; and in some cases irrational logic is
based upon unfounded fears and obstinacy. These footprints of irrational logic
without objective reasoning feed the uncertainty creating a foundation of doubt. A
doubt which neutralizes factually convincing arguments, common sense and daily
events from the mundane to the inspirational to nothing more than happenstance
and cynicism.
This is the level of doubt which left the Jewish people susceptible to attack from
Amalek. Amalek, as defined below is a baseless and irrational position that creates
indifference to logic and common sense. According to the Midrash: To what is the
incident (of Amalek) comparable? To a boiling tub of water which no creature was
able to enter. Along came one evildoer and jumped into it. Although he was burned,
he cooled it for the others.
So, too, when Israel came out of Egypt, and G-d split the sea before them and
drowned the Egyptians within it, the fear of them fell upon all the nations. But when
Amalek came and challenged them, although he received his due from them, he
cooled1 the awe of the nations of the world for them.2
Amalek is a tool. A tool wielded by individuals, whose lifestyles and beliefs are contrary to
those of G-D. Like the builders of the Tower of Babel, whom being aware of G-D still had
the audacity to test and confront Him, Amalek and their modern day successors, test G-D
through His supporters. Testing and casting doubt upon their fortitude in order to diminish
their impact and thereby strengthen their own. The classic bully syndrome whereas to
augment their own stature, act and strive to diminish those of others typically attack those
whom seem weak and unsure of themselves. In such manner did Amalek attack the
Israelite Nation. Not through a frontal attack to the strength of Israel but to a small

number of doubters at the rear did they attack. They attacked those whom were weak due
to a lack of conviction as to the precepts and miracles conducted on their behalf. Amalek
targeted a small number of Jews who were "weak, at the rear."[2] These were Jews who,
due to their sins, were denied the protection of the clouds of glory.[3]
The numerical value of the Hebrew word Amalek is the same as the Hebrew word "safek," doubt.[6] Amalek does not have the power to defeat us militarily. However, by dealing
harsh blows to our psyche, Amalek creates enough confusion and mayhem to cause us to
lose sight of our goals and faith in our endeavors. The Jewish people were on their way to
Mount Sinai. The blow struck by Amalek was intended to cast a pall over the people and
cool their ardor for the imminent acceptance of the Torah at Mount Sinai. We see an impact
of this creation of doubt during the incident of the Golden Calf. Yes, the Israelite men
created to worship this intermediary deity, but they did so stemming from their doubt that
Moses would return from the Mountain. For Moses had been upon the mountain receiving
the first set of Tablets of the Ten Commandments. But in their anxiety over the timespan of
this duration, the Israelite men, out of doubt of the return of Moses, needed an
intermediary to reassure them that all would be well.
Amalek represents the psychological state of confusion or doubt that afflicts us when
confronting a challenge or conflict. When we lack clarity regarding our values and goals,
we are weakened in our response to intimidation whether of physical, verbal, intellectual,
emotional or psychological of nature. Terrorists are successful only as much as we allow
ourselves to be terrorized and succumb to their demands and threats. But terrorism can be
physical in nature as with the current Islamic Jihadist attacks, but it can also be
psychological in nature as with the current progressive and liberal agendas which
intimidate and ostracize in order to create doubt and further their agendas. Such can be
seen in the BDS Movement, Israel-Apartheid Week Movement, Feminist and LGBT
Movement, and the latest arm of the Refugee Migration.
In order to fight back effectively, we must first ensure that we truly believe in our goals and
aspirations, and that we are prepared and determined to fight for them. It requires
confidence and strength to make such an unequivocal statement. In fighting the battle with
Amalek, we must set aside our customary aversion to black and white judgments, adopting
a firm and uncompromising stance.
There are times when doubt and hesitancy to pass judgment are both appropriate and
necessary. It is important to exercise due caution in interpreting events in order to reach
proper decisions. However, when lives are at stake, when the evil grows bolder and more
audacious each day, there is no room for vacillation or timidity. Each instance of
equivocation only emboldens the terrorists and leads to more acts of destruction (may G-d
protect us). We can fight against evil only when we have supreme confidence that our
purpose and intentions are indisputable, and we have the courage to pursue them without
doubt or compromise. We must have certainty that we are fighting to uphold the sanctity of
life that G-d has given us.
Amalek targeted those Jews who found themselves on the outskirts of the camp, denied the
protection of the clouds of glory. The first to succumb to Amalek are those who have
difficulty in remaining true to their convictions, lacking the protection afforded by a total
commitment to absolute values and morality. It was on behalf of these individuals that the
very first war of Amalek was fought. But those who find themselves "within the clouds",
serene and confident in the righteousness of their cause, must not grow complacent while
their brethren are threatened. We all have the responsibility to reach out to those who feel
less secure, to offer encouragement and hope, and to fortify them from falling prey to the
dejection that Amalek seeks to instill. Each individual must be involved in this effort in
person; it is not sufficient to delegate the task to others. We are our Brothers Keeper, and if
we are not for others then whom will be for us when we are in need and desperation.

However, the battle of Amalek was far from over. In fact, it was only just beginning. Had
Amalek been a mere physical enemy, it would have been relatively simple to vanquish them
completely. But the power of Amalek does not lie in numbers, or in physical might. Amalek
represents a force far more insidious than any military entity and is thus both elusive and
difficult to combat. Indeed, the command to do battle and eradicate the memory of Amalek
is a constant one, given to each Jew in every generation.[5] Terrorists do not aim to achieve
a military victory on the battlefield. For
there they know that they will be defeated. Their goal is to sow fear and panic and shatter
morale. They strike at the most defenseless and vulnerable targets. Their attacks are often
audacious and flamboyant, calculated to wreak the maximum physical damage. More
importantly, they seek to inflict psychological torment. Through these tactics, terrorists
hope to destroy their enemy from within, leaving them paralyzed emotionally and unable to
mount a successful counter-attack.
Definition of Amalek
The war against Amalek is a spiritual one. Victory over the spiritual forces of Amalek is a
critical step in restoring G-d's throne to its original dominance, as the verse states: "There
is a hand against the throne of G-d; G-d maintains a war against Amalek, from generation
to generation.[11] On this verse, the sages say: "G-d's name is incomplete until the name
of Amalek is eradicated.[12] In the Hebrew verse, G-d is referred to by the name "Kah,"
the first two letters of the Tetragrammaton, yud and hey. The final two letters vav and hey
- are missing, challenged by Amalek's ascent. The physical battle against the actual nation
of Amalek cannot be fought in our time. Yet, the spiritual battle is fought day after day,
generation after generation, each time in a different form. The boldness and audacity of
Amalek stems from the fact that its spiritual source is in Keter of klippah, the crown of all
impurities.[13] The source of all impurities is a rejection of the belief in the unity of G-d.
Any doubt or lack of firmness in this area causes an overall weakening in our attachment
and commitment to G-d.
Amaleks primary opposition is not to the letters "yud" and "hey" of G-d's name. These
letters represent the powers of intellect and understanding. [14] The letters he challenges
are the final two - vav and hey. The vav represents the emotional powers, and the final hey
represents thought, speech, and action.[15] When we engage in intellectual cognition of Gdliness without this knowledge affecting our emotions and our thought, speech and action,
Amalek is not so perturbed. However, Amalek is very much challenged when we channel
that understanding into our emotions, especially when they, in turn, are then put into
constructive action. Study and theoretical discussion alone will do nothing to deter or
eradicate Amalek. The Amalekites attacked the Jews on their way to Sinai to receive the
Torah, an event that introduced an entirely new paradigm into the universe, by giving us
the tools to transform the physical world into a place
of G-dliness. This can only be done only by means of physical action. Amalek represents the
final obstacle to making the physical universe into a true home for G-d. We need to fortify
ourselves with the strength of Moshe, with his unwavering and absolute faith in G-d and
His Torah. We must engage in energetic and dedicated action to put the Torah's principles
into effect in our campaign against Amalek. Faith and action are the two key ingredients in
the war against all forms of Amalek in our lives. Through battling the Amalek within
ourselves, we will strengthen the forces
fighting evil and terrorism from without. This concerted effort will surely bring its intended
result, the re-unification of G-d's name and the restoration of His throne. G-d's anointed
king, Moshiach, will then be able to finally erase the true Amalek permanently, so that we
may never have to fight this battle again.
This is why Amalek, and what he represents, constitutes the archenemy of the Jewish
people and their mission in life. As Moses proclaimed following the war with Amalek, G-d

has sworn by His throne; G-d is at war with Amalek for all generations. 3 Truth can refute
the logical arguments offered against it. Truth can prevail even over mans selfish drives
and desires, for intrinsic to the nature of man is the axiom that the mind rules over the
heartthat it is within a persons capacity to so thoroughly appreciate a truth that it is
ingrained in his character and implemented in his behavior. But mans rational faculties are
powerless against the challenge of an Amalek who leaps into the boiling tub, who brazenly
mocks the truth and cools mans most inspired moments with nothing more than a
dismissive So what?
The Bottleneck
Amalek attacked Israel on the road, on [the] way out of Egypt, as they were headed
toward Mount Sinai to receive G-ds Torah and their mandate as His people. Here, too,
history mirrors the inner workings of the soul: the timing of the historical Amaleks attack
describes the internal circumstances under which the pestilence of baseless doubt rears its
head.
In the Passover Haggadah we say: In every generation one must see himself as if he
personally came out of Mitzrayim. Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for Egypt, means narrow
straits; on the personal level, this refers to what Chassidic teaching calls the narrowness
of the neck which interposes between the mind and the heart.
Just as physically the head and the heart are joined by a narrow passageway, the neck, so it
is in the spiritual-psychological sense. For while the mind possesses an innate superiority
over the heart, it is a most difficult and challenging task for a person to exercise this
superiorityto direct and mold his feelings and desires to conform with what he knows to
be right.
This is the Exodus from Mitzrayim that is incumbent on each and
every generation: the individual challenge to negotiate the narrow
straits of ones internal neck, to overcome the material
enticements, the emotional subjectivity, the ego and self-interest
which undermine the minds authority over the heart and impede its
influence on the persons character and behavior.
As long as a person is still imprisoned in his personal mitzrayim, he faces many challenges
to his integrity. As long as he has not succeeded in establishing his mind as the axis on
which all else revolves, his base instincts and traitssuch as greed, anger, the quest for
power and instant gratificationmay get the better of him. But once he achieves his
personal Exodus from the narrow straits of his psyche, once he establishes his knowledge
and understanding of the truth as the determining force in his life, the battle is all but won.
He may be confronted with negative ideas and rationalizations, but free of the distortions
of self-interest, the truth will triumph. He may be tempted by negative drives and desires,
but if in his life the mind rules the heart, it will curb and ultimately transform them.
But there remains one enemy which threatens also the post-Exodus individual: Amalek.
Amalek knows his Master and consciously rebels against Him. Amalek does not challenge
the truth with arguments, or even with selfish motivations; he just disregards it. To the
axiom, Do truth because it is true, Amalek says, So what? Armed with nothing but
his chutzpah, Amalek jumps into the boiling tub, contests the incontestable. And in doing
so, he cools its impact. And this is the enemy of today.
Beyond Reason
How is one to respond to Amalek? How is one to deal with the apathy, the cynicism, the
senseless doubt within? The formula that the Torah proposes is encapsulated in a single
word: ZachorRemember.

In his Tanya,4 Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi discusses the faith in G-d that is integral to
the Jewish soul. Faith is not something that must be attained; it need only be revealed, for
it is woven into the very fabric of the souls essence. Faith transcends reason. Through
faith one relates to the infinite truth of G-d in its totality, unlike the perception achieved by
reason, which is defined and limited by the finite nature of the human mind.
Amalek is irrational and totally unresponsive to reason; the answer to Amalek is likewise
supra-rational. The Jews response to Amalek is to remember: to call forth his souls
reserves of supra-rational faith, a faith which may lie buried and forgotten under a mass of
mundane involvements and entanglements. A faith which, when remembered, can meet his
every moral challenge, rational or not.
Footnotes
1 The Hebrew word karcha, he encountered you, employed by the verse to describe
. Amaleks attack on Israel, also translates as he cooled you.
2 Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 9.
.
3 Exodus 17:16.
.
4 Chapters 1819.
.
Remembrance remembered
Remembering that G-D took us out of the bondages of Egypt is for the most part, quite easy
to do. Yes, I remember and recall this event every year during Passover, weekly during
Shabbat services and daily for those whom recite the daily prayers. But remembering a
past event can lose its impact if it is not recalled and connected in some way to our innerbeing, our faith.
The Haftorah for Ki Tissa (I Kings 18, 1-39) which records the famous confrontation
between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, provide us with an explanation of this missing
connection. This vacillation between emotional belief and intellectual truth.
This confrontation however, though between Elijah and the prophets of Baal on a physical
level is inherently between or directed to the Jewish People for their indecisiveness
between the two parties. But Elijahs accusation lay more heavily against the Jewish people
for its indecisiveness, than against the prophets for their idolatry. The challenge with
which he faced them lay in his question, How long will you vacillate between two
opinions? Why, though, did he direct himself against men of divided loyalties more than
against those who were positively antagonistic to Judaism? The Rebbe examines the two
sins of vacillation and idolatry, and shows the extent to which vacillation involves betrayal
of religious values, and the forms which it takes in modern societies.
The Challenge
The Haftorah to this Ki Tissa contains an account of the prophet Elijahs response to a
troubled period in Jewish history, a situation engendered as always by mental confusion
and ideological vagueness. His action was to gather together the prophets of Baal, and the
Jewish people, and to ask them, How long will you vacillate between two opinions? 1
Why, though, did he put this challenge to them? He should, on the face of it, have said,
How long will you worship Baal? The time has come to stop and say, The L-rd, He
is G-d.2 To understand Elijahs intention, we must begin by seeing the difference between
idolatry and vacillation.

The Roots of Idolatry

Rambam3 attributes the origin of idolatry to the fact that the creative energy by which G-d
sustains the universe is channeled through natural forcesthe stars and the planets.
Idolatry begins when these intermediaries are worshipped in themselves, as the rulers of
human destiny; whereas in actuality they are only the instruments of G-d, of no power in
themselves. They are like an ax in the hand of the hewer.
Idolatry, then, is mistaking the intermediary for the source. The impulse towards idolatry is
that, according to this mistaken conception, one receives material benefits through these
natural forces. A means to an end. This is why a person can be led astray towards the
formant of idealizing a tool such as an ax in place of idealizing the result and subsequently
utilizing the appropriate tool for the endeavor.
Idolatry always has ulterior motives. And this is why a person can be led to it. He is not
committed to idolatry as such. He is using the act associated with idolatry as a tool or as a
means to his own ends. Whereas when he serves G-d he is doing so not on condition of
receiving a reward6 but for His own sake and with an undivided heart.
The desire for material reward lay at the heart of Baal-worship, as we find the idolaters
saying to Jeremiah: Since we stopped burning incense (to idols) we have lacked all
things and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine. 7. Today we can see
people embracing ideologies of equality for all persons, a noble endeavor to say the least if
that were the end result. But when it is a means, a tool to achieving equality, one must
qualify the connection between the emotional basis of their heart and the intellectual basis
of their mind. Is this ideology and direction set to achieve the desired ends . %*&%&&)
The Nature of Vacillation
Despite this general characterization of idolatry as the attempt to influence nature by
worshipping natural forces or by placing undue respect and attention to forces outside of
G-D, there is a difference between idolatry proper and vacillating between two opinions.
Idolatry involves the genuine belief that the objects of worship, are the sources of material
welfare or ideological fortitude. But the person who vacillates is a person in doubt. They at
times believe that these outside forces and ideological beliefs are ends which bring about
the means (?); and they at times believe that G-D and His path is the true means to the end.
A person who vacillates cannot only not differentiate between an emotional and an
intellectual truth, but in so doing doubts their inherent faith
Levels of Betrayal
In a number of ways, vacillation is even worse than real idolatry. In general terms, idolatry
is the graver act. It involves the absolute denial of G-d, the complete opposition to Judaism.
But it is harder for the vacillating mind ever to return to Judaism or make his turning
sincere and complete.
There are two reasons.
Firstly, when the genuine believer in idolatry comes to see that the L-rd, He is G-d, he
realizes the extent to which his previous life had been constructed on error. He feels the
full measure of his sin. His repentance is profound. He returns and he is healed.
But the vacillator cannot see it so. He justifies himself. He says: I did not deny, I only
doubted. And my doubt was only superficial. In reality I was, like all Jews, a believer. His
excuses protect him from remorse, and his return to faith is incomplete. 9
Secondly, although the believing idolater is guilty of a massive error of judgment in
substituting Baal for G-d, and thus severing his relation with G-d, he is nonetheless open to
a form of spirituality. But the person who hovers between two opinions has removed
himself from the spiritual altogether. Although he knows that the L-rd, He is G-d, he is

willing to forsake Him for the sake of material reward. He is ready to trade the fountain of
living waters for broken cisterns that can hold no water. 10
Thus, when they realize their mistake, their response will be different. The idolater, still
capable of spirituality, will make his return a spiritual act. But the man of vacillation will
return for the wrong reason. He wanted material benefit. He miscalculated in thinking that
the natural forces could, of themselves, provide it. So he does turn to G-d, but still seeking
only the material reward.
The Self and Others
So far, we have spoken only about the individual. In another respect, vacillation is worse
than idolatryin its effect on others. The complete idolater will not influence the believing
Jew, because his antagonism to true faith is obvious, and isolates him. But the person who
hovers between two opinions is, in part, still a believer. He is capable of leading others
astray, and the act of causing the many to sin is the worst sin of all.
As such, a secularist or a believer in another force, has fortitude in their faith. Their
arguments and positions are their own and are easily refuted by those whom have faith in
other influences. But when an individual vacillates between an emotional truth and an
intellectual truth, then their arguments and positions entail both the emotional and
intellectual factors, which if not separately identified can create doubt in others as it does
within themselves.
Divided Loyalties and the Present
The Talmud11 says that the impetus of the Evil Inclination towards idolatry has been
removed. But the tendency towards vacillation, whether in overt or subtle forms, is today
stronger than idolatry. There are those who temporarily detach themselves from Torah and
the commandments for the sake of material, social, emotional and intellectual reward. They
set aside G-d and His precepts to be more in-tune with todays times and mores, and to not
be thought of as out-of-touch with reality and todays world. They follow the contemporary
maxim of the Western world, that rules are to be stretched, traditions forsaken, for the sake
of the elusive spirit of the age.
This vacillation, this double-mindedness, is worse than idolatry for it is harder to turn from
when one can rationalize their position. They can convince themselves that they are
undertaking the correct course of action or thought because it is in alignment with their
religious belief. He harms himself. But he also harms others because his opposition to G-D
is concealed behind a mask of loyalty. He even cites Torah in his defense. He infiltrates the
community and leads others astray. This as we see is the result of Reform Judaism and
Liberalism.
This is the clear implication for today. The need is to return, and to reach back to the
heights of the spirit.
All Jews are interlinked.13 And the light of those who return will reach those whom they
brought to sin. They will be answered by a Divine response of compassion and mercy. And
the leaders and the led will be caught up together in a collective movement of return, in a
unified voice which proclaims: The L-rd, He is G-d. The L-rd, He is G-d.
But we are speaking of today. Today is not a hypothetical period in time, but as placed
within context of the Blood Moons and Josephs Pyramid, an immediate timeframe. But
these events which outline this immediate timeframe are but the means towards an end.
The end being the end goal of our purpose which is to bring On Earth as it is in Heaven.
To Honor and Recognize G-D as our Creator and His ways as our life-force. Of the lifesource of everything around us, and of Amalek as the refutation and destruction of G-Ds
Creation. This refutation and destruction is an ongoing battle for all our days. Its
manifestations take on many facets, some subtle and some overt. But in the Haftorah of Ki-

Tissa, which is more insidious the overt Idol-Worship or the subtle forces promulgating the
vacillation between G-Ds truth and the fiction of Idolatry. Islamic Jihadism and Secularism
do not create doubts within the fortitude of our faith. But the subtle tugs of emotionalism
and their gained footholds within the matrix of our society; Footholds to change the
intellectual basis and convictions of our faith well that is insidious and very prevalent
as alluded to below.