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TORAT MIZRACHI

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its name implies: to terrorize anywhere The Leaders’ Crucial Role great advantage of open, pluralistic and
and everywhere. The acceptable inter- Therefore, it is incumbent on statesmen democratic “live and let live” society
national norm in military interaction and leaders to comprehend the chal- must not become our greatest weak-
is that one army confronts another, lenge of dealing with Amalek. 3 ness. The forces of good cannot prevail
and only combatants in uniform fight if we are not armed with robust moral
against their counterparts. Civilians It was Mordechai who had this clarity of clarity.
are beyond the pale of ideological and moral vision and courageous temerity Parashat Zachor is the perennial
military conflict. An Amalek mindset to stand up to Haman. It was his and reminder of this need. Purim is the
operates differently. It is specifically the Esther’s heroic leadership, with assis- primer of how to contend with this
civilians, the non-combatants, who are tance from Above, that prevented the evil and how each player has their
the aim of their terror. total annihilation of the Jewish people. part to play. The Hamans of the world
What would have happened to Europe, will always attempt to win over the
Hamas and Hezbollah have terrorized and beyond, if not for the heroic leader- Achashveroshes – to isolate, delegit-
Israeli civilians just trying to get on ship of Winston Churchill in the 1940s? imize, punish and persecute the Jews
with their lives. Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Charles Krauthammer, America’s sorely and the Jewish State. The Mordechais
the like have done the same in cities missed preeminent columnist, argued and Esthers must display clarity and
around the world. Iran today, ancient that Churchill’s role in confronting courageousness in confronting this
Persia of yesteryear, is the greatest sup- Nazism was so indispensable that it evil in the face of fierce opposition and
porter of international terror and has its made him the most important person impossible odds. And the ultimate role
own diabolical aspirations for nuclear of the 20th century. What enabled is played by the Almighty, behind the
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hegemony. Churchill to be the right statesman at scenes, masking the indispensable face
the right time was his absolute clarity of Providence in the drama of human
9/11 showed us just what warped minds of vision of what Nazism stood for and and Jewish destiny.
of terror could conjure up. There seems aspired to achieve and what the right
to be no limit to the immoral perversion response was to that evil.
and distortion of heart and mind. 1 The Netziv (HaEmek Davar, Exodus 17:14),
From countless articles in the 30s, it is distinguishes between the nation of Amalek
Terrorism, as fitting for an Amalek-type evident that he, more than anyone else, which no longer exists and the ideology of
ideology, exists outside the moral con- understood and articulated the looming Amalek which persists to this day.
sensus and international convention of threat. In 1935, many branded him as 2 Regarding Israel: “Israel is holy to G-d, the
normative political, military and soci- an extremist sowing panic and viewing first of His grain…” (Yirmiyahu 2:3). Regard-
ing Amalek, in Bilaam’s prophecy: “When he
etal living. the world in simplistic, black-and-white saw Amalek, he took up his parable and said,
terms. By 1940, none of his critics could “Amalek was the first of the nations, and his
Yet if one thing is clear, understandable doubt him. In our nuclear age, Chur- fate shall be everlasting destruction” (Bamidbar
and proven about Amalekite antisemi- chill’s brand of leadership, courage and 24:20).
tism it is this – it begins with the Jews clarity of vision is more critical than 3 Rambam (Laws of Kings and Their Wars
but never ends with them. ever. 1,1). Based on the Talmud (Sanhedrin 20b),
the mitzvah of remembering and confront-
ing Amalek is a mitzvah on לארשי ללכ – the
One can be sure it will spill over to Yes, life is very nuanced and complex Jewish people as a collective – and is to be
all fair-minded, good people around and must be viewed with great sophis- implemented by the king.
the world. Buildings and planes in tication. And yes, this Amalek-type 4 Charles Krauthammer, Things That Matter:
New York, trains in Madrid, buses in hatred is rooted in a small minority with Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Pol-
London, night clubs in Bali, schools the majority being good, peace-loving itics (2018), p. 22.
in Toulouse, stores in Paris and coffee people. Nevertheless, we have to be
shops in Sydney are all fair game. Rad- very mindful that our own nuanced
ical Islamic terror is the latest incarna- sophistication does not cloud our vision Rabbi Doron Perez is Executive Chairman
tion of Amalek’s global mission. in dealing with this scourge of evil. The of the Mizrachi World Movement.

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