From an email that is circulating...
Shallooom sweeetest friends!!!!!!
First and foremost a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my father. I am not at liberty to tell you his age but since I am 43 that means that he is at least 57 [assuming he got married after his bar mitzva]. May he enjoy many more years of good health, happiness and nachas from his children. To my mind - he is the GREATEST! I owe him everything. The only person on par with him is my beloved mother to whom I similarly owe EVERYTHING. May Hashem grant my parents many years of good health and peace of mind. May they dance at all of their grandchildrens' weddings. AMEN!!
A huuuuuuge mazel tov to my beloved friend R' Ephraim Gervis and his holy wife on the birth of Yehudit Chana. May she be a Light unto the world and follow in the path of her illustrious parents and forebearers.
A huuuuuge mazel tov to my beloved friend HaRav Ha-chossid R' Dovid'l Weinberg on the birth of his son. May he and his rebbetzin derive much nachas and simcha from their future great Chassidic Rebbe.
A huuuuuge mazel tov to my beloved friend Rabbi Baruch Freedman on his engagement to Linda Rosenfeld. May the two of them build a holy home filled with simcha and kedusha. It was quite a wait but, ultimately, well worth it.
A huuuge mazel tov to R' and Mrs. Mordechai Shapiro on the birth of their son. May he grow up to beautifully sing the praises of Hashem like his father and give his parents much joy always!
A huuuuge mazel tov to my most beloved friend Jeremy Wernick on his engagement to Amanda Goldman. May they be zocheh to build a home filled with love and chesed. I am sure they will [if you know them you know what I mean].....
This dvar Torah is dedicated to the zchus of Shaindy Chana bas Malka. May Hashem bestow upon her holy soul much blessing. May she receive EVERYTHING she desires li-tova ulivracha very soon.
Also in the zchus of my beloved friend R' Chaim Schreck Shlita. He is the truest ben torah in every sense of the word. May Hashem bless him and his family with limitless shefa bracha.
And last but not least - my beloved friend Moshe Yehuda ben Pesha Dina for ONLY GOOD THINGS. I love him so much and hope that all of his hearts desires are speedily fulfilled li-tova.
I thank those blessed souls who are helping me devote myself to learning and teaching Torah to the world. Their kindness is heart warming and literally life-giving.
This week we read parshas Zachor and the mitzva to remember Amalek. We are a people whose job is to CONSTANTLY remember. Zachor means [gramatically] - always remember [הווה מתמשך]. Amalek is the epitome of evil. Amalek is the "final solution" of Haman [a descendent of Amalek] and also that of the Nazis ימח שמם וזכרם. As they say in the playgrounds "Dat's baaaaaad, maaan!" Where did Amalek begin? What is the ROOT CAUSE of Amalek?
The gemara in Sanhedrin [99b] tells us: There was a lady named Timna. She was a gentile princess who yearned to join the Jewish people but was rejected by both Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov as being an unworthy convert. She was not flustered and chose to became a concubine to Eliphaz the son of Eisav. She somehow wanted to connect to the Jewish people, if not as a convert then at least as a concubine to someone with Jewish roots.
Nu - from that union came someone named Amalek. The worst possible "klippah" [impure spiritual husk] imaginable. The gemara says [see the commentary of the Yad Ramah there] that from here we learn a valuable lesson - DON'T TURN PEOPLE AWAY. While the Avos had ample reason to reject her [see the Maharal and others] but still - the results were catastrophic. The ROOT CAUSE of Amalek [and later Nazis etc.] is REJECTING ANOTHER PERSON.
That may explain the gemara [gittin 57b] that the great grandchildren of Haman learned Torah in Bnei Brak [I actually think they had a little too much influence, based on what happened there recently - השם ירחם]. Everyone wonders: The law is that we may not accept converts from Amalek, so how did they convert? The commentaries sweat quite a bit to find a heter for them. Maybe the Rabbis felt that the tikkun for the rejection of Timna was accepting the descendants of Haman so they found a heter and converted them. Find every way to accept and welcome another person who wants to come close.
This may also explain the Pasuk in the megilla ורבים מעמי הארץ מתיהדים - Many of the goyim converted and they were accepted, even though their motivations may not have been the purest, as it says כי נפל פחד יהודים עליהם - they were flat out scared. Still - try never to reject anybody.
If one shouldn't reject a Timna, who was found unworthy by Avraham who was mekarev tens of thousands [Rambam Avoda Zara 1/3] - then what about a Jew?! How important is it to be mekarev Jews, no matter who they are. We can start with our children, showing much love and showering them with positive attention and branch out to other relatives, co-workers etc. That is fixing the blemish of Amalek at the source.
[Based on Seuda Shlishit Tetzave 5770 - Mori Vi-rabbi the Tolna Rebbe Shlita]
A beautiful shabbos filled with a lot of kiruv to all Jews with אהבה אחווה שלום ורעות.
Bi-ahava rabba
,
Me
PS - Check out the exciting news - http://yeshivaskype.blogspot.
PPS - This is mekarev me - http://viewpure.com/
