{"id":52723,"date":"2019-03-31T22:24:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T19:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52723"},"modified":"2019-03-31T22:24:52","modified_gmt":"2019-03-31T19:24:52","slug":"remember-amalek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/remember-amalek\/","title":{"rendered":"Remember Amalek"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"52723","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33990,"related_cahpter":"2005","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Deuteronomy 25:18 - \u201cHow undeterred by the fear of God, he (Amalek) surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.\u201d\r\n\r\n","content":"

As the Israelites prepare to enter the land of Israel, they are instructed to remember Amalek. \u201cHow undeterred by the fear of God, he (Amalek) surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.\u201d (Deuteronomy 25:18) According to the NJPS translation, it appears that Amalek attacks a weary and tired nation. Yet, upon further reflection, we realize that the nation that Amalek attacked had just crossed the Sea and was about to receive the Ten Commandments. They were filled not with weariness but with confidence and invincibility. How could they be defeated by an enemy – God will definitely protect them?<\/span><\/p>\n

I would like to suggest that the nation of Israel as they journeyed from their Sea to Mt. Sinai was not actually \u201cfamished and weary\u201d. In truth, they were filled with a sense of invincibility that caused them to become overconfident. They travelled through the desert not with the necessary caution but with an arrogance that must have felt like a challenge to a nation such as Amalek. Amalek saw this overconfident people behaving as if they were \u201cfamished and weary\u201d oblivious to the potential of attack. What an easy target for Amalek to attack. In the end, God comes to the rescue and miraculously the Israelites are victorious. Yet, the obligation is not to remember the victory, it is not remember the attack and the circumstances that led to this attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

The commandment to remember Amalek is a reminder to protect ourselves from the dangers of overconfidence and arrogance. At the very moment that we feel the most invincible, we are often the most vulnerable to attacks from others. And, ironically, at the moment we feel the most vulnerable we are more likely to take the necessary precautions and protect ourselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lesson of Amalek can be extended beyond the battlefield. How often do we allow a sense of complacency to become one of overconfidence? How often is our feeling of nonchalant transformed into a sense of arrogance? We all need to have the courage to allow ourselves to appear and feel vulnerable. That vulnerability permits us to view the vulnerability of others without becoming judgmental. It allows us to protect our own well-being without appearing as if we are superior or uncaring. <\/span><\/p>\n

The nation of Amalek may no longer exist. Yet we forget them and their lesson at our peril.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Jews\/Verses\/Tanakh","main_caption":"Remember Amalek","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"Deuteronomy 25:18 - \u201cHow undeterred by the fear of God, he (Amalek) surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.\u201d","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52723"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52723"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52724,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52723\/revisions\/52724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}