Restoring Clarity Before Purim

                                                                                                         

                                          

 

Restoring Clarity
Before Purim

 

 

of Ulpan-Or, the International Center
for Hebrew and Israeli Culture Studies.

 

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While we were in California for the UED Conference, Orly and I had the privilege of sitting around tables — not just to present, but to listen.

 

To principals who carry vision. To Hebrew coordinators who carry responsibility. To educators who carry hope.

 

What moved us most was not only the curiosity about Ulpan-Or, but the hunger for something structured, joyful, and transformative in Hebrew education.

 

We are deeply grateful that a considerable number of schools chose to begin pilot programs with our iHebrew™ spiral curriculum — from kindergarten all the way through 12th grade — each at their own level, each with their own goals, but all with one shared commitment: to elevate Hebrew learning this year.

 

In the spirit of partnership, and because momentum matters, we are extending this pilot opportunity — at a significantly reduced investment — to all schools who have not yet joined, through the end of this academic year.

 

Our goal is simple: help more schools achieve measurable progress now, not someday. When vision meets method, real growth begins.

 

This week is never just another Shabbat.

 

It is Parashat Tetzaveh, yet it is also Shabbat Zachor – the Shabbat before Purim, when we read:

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Remember.

 

2. Do not forget.

Why the double emphasis?

Because Amalek is not just a historical enemy.

Amalek is a spiritual force.

 

And unless we understand that force, Purim becomes a costume party instead of a revelation.

 

Amalek: The Grandson of Esau, The Heir of Hatred

To understand Amalek, we must go back to Esau.

 

After Jacob receives the blessings, the Torah tells us:

 

 

 

The Midrash famously says:

 

 

From Esau comes Eliphaz, and from Eliphaz comes Amalek.

 

Among all of Esau’s descendants, Amalek becomes the concentrated embodiment of that hatred.

 

The First Attack: Rephidim – Before Sinai

 

• Ten plagues.
• The splitting of the sea.
• Pharaoh’s army destroyed.

The Torah says the nations trembled:

 

 

Forty years later, Rahab still testifies:

“We heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea…” (Josh. 2:10)

The entire world knew.

 

And then:

 

 

Why there?

 

Rephidim is the last stop before Sinai.

 

He does not want revelation.

“Asher Karcha BaDerech” – The Word That Explains Everything

 

 

Rashi gives two interpretations:

Lashon mikreh – by chance. Lashon kor – to cool you down.

 

These are not two explanations. They are one strategy.

 

Amalek’s weapon is not the sword.

It is the word “coincidence.”

He cools inspiration by calling it accidental.

 

• The splitting of the sea? Coincidence.
• Ten plagues? Natural phenomena.
• Providence? Statistical anomaly.

Sound familiar?

 

Amalek = Safek

 

Let us move into the inner dimension.

The numerical value (gematria) of עמלק (Amalek) is 240.

The numerical value of ספק (safek, doubt) is also 240.

 

Amalek is doubt.

 

Not intellectual inquiry for the sake of truth.

But doubt for the sake of erosion.

 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks often warned that the most dangerous assault on faith in modernity is not atheism but relativism—the idea that there is no objective truth, only perspectives.

 

Amalek says:

 

That is safek. That is Amalek.

 

Modern Thinkers and the Culture of Doubt

 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote that the Holocaust and totalitarian ideologies taught us what happens when evil becomes systematic. But he also warned about another danger: moral relativism.

When everything is equal, nothing is sacred.

When all narratives are equal, truth dissolves.

 

 

C.S. Lewis called it “men without chests”—intellect without moral spine.

 

Amalek smiles.

 

Saul, Agag, and the Missed Opportunity

 

Fast forward 500 years. God commands King Saul:

 

 

Saul defeats Amalek—but spares Agag, the king.

That hesitation becomes history’s pivot.

 

Centuries later, in Persia:

 

 

Agagite. Descendant of Agag.

The doubt Saul failed to eliminate returns as Haman.

 

Haman: Amalek in a Suit

Haman is not merely a villain. He is Amalek refined.

 

What enrages him?

 

 

Why does Mordechai refuse?

Because Amalek demands ideological surrender.

To bow is to validate his worldview.

 

 

• There is One
• Not chance
• Not coincidence
• Not pluralistic chaos
• One

 

 

In everyday Hebrew, this root appears everywhere.

But in Parashat Zachor, it becomes a philosophy.

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🗣 Everyday Expressions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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📖 Words from the Same Root

 

 

Contemporary Echoes

We live in a world flooded with information.

 

• Artificial intelligence.
• Digital revolutions.
• Scientific brilliance.

Yet simultaneously, truth feels fragile.

The louder the noise, the harder it is to hear clarity.

 

 

• Technology advanced.
• Moral clarity did not.
• Amalek is not primitive.
• Amalek is sophisticated doubt.

 

The Inner Amalek

The Torah commands:

תִּמְחֶה… לֹא תִשְׁכָּח

 

Who erases?

God says:

מָחֹה אֶמְחֶה – “I will surely erase.” (Ex. 17:14)

 

We are told:

תִּמְחֶה – “You shall erase.” (Deut. 25:19)

 

Both are true.

 

Where is Amalek today?

In that voice that says:

 

 

But it is safek – Doubt.

(Based on the lesson by R. Kalazan) 

 

🌿 A Chassidic Story – The Doubt That Knocked

 

There is a story told about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev.

One Purim night, after the Megillah was read and the town was filled with song and wine, a young scholar approached the Rebbe with troubled eyes.

 

“Rebbe,” he said, “I learn. I pray. I believe. But sometimes, suddenly, a thought enters my mind — maybe it’s all coincidence. Maybe history just unfolds. Maybe miracles are just events. And then I feel ashamed of myself for even thinking such things.”

 

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak looked at him warmly and said:

“My dear child, do you know who just knocked on your door?”

 

The student looked confused.

 

“That,” said the Rebbe, “was Amalek.”

He continued:

“Amalek does not enter with a sword anymore. He enters with a question. Not a question that seeks truth — but a question that seeks to cool your fire.

 

The moment you feel warmth in your faith, clarity in your direction, conviction in your soul — Amalek whispers: ‘Are you sure? Maybe it’s just a coincidence.’”

 

The young man asked, “So what should I do when that voice comes?”

 

The Rebbe smiled.

“Do not panic. Do not fight the thought with fear. Simply answer it with light. Learn a little more. Do one mitzvah with joy. Say ‘Shema Yisrael’ with deeper intention. Amalek cannot survive warmth. He lives only in coldness.”

 

Then Rabbi Levi Yitzchak added something unforgettable:

“Do you know why on Purim we make noise when Haman’s name is read? It is not because we are angry. It is because we are drowning out the voice of doubt. Joy is louder than Amalek.”

 

 

 

 

The Joy of Purim: When Doubt Falls

The gallows built for Mordechai become Haman’s end.

The verse in Proverbs says:

 

 

The commentators add:

There is no joy like the resolution of doubt.

 

That is Purim.

Not escapism.

Clarity.

The hidden becomes visible.

Coincidence reveals choreography.

 

Rabbi Sacks and the Courage of Conviction

 

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote that faith is not certainty without questions, but the courage to live with commitment despite questions.

 

Amalek weaponizes questions to dissolve commitment.

Torah sanctifies questions to deepen commitment.

That is the difference.

 

Final Reflection: Our Generation’s Zachor

On Shabbat Zachor we stand before a text that is only three verses long.

Yet it contains the map of history.

Amalek attacked “on the way.”

The Jewish people are always on the way.

 

The question is not whether Amalek exists.

The question is whether we recognize him when he whispers.

 

This Purim, as we hear the Megillah, as we blot out Haman’s name, as children shake their graggers—

We are not merely remembering an ancient enemy.

We are declaring:

 

We walk the derech Hashem.

And we will not get off the way.

 

Purim Sameach.