By Rabbi Shlomo Ezagui, RabbiShlomoEzagui.com  

Israel is back at war, a war they should have and could have finished months ago.

I can be enraged at Hamas for being obstinate; I can be angry at the ICC for being anti-semitic; I can be fuming at the UN for having two standards when it comes to Israel; I can be exasperated at the elements in Israel who are fighting and weakening us internally and continue to give the impression to our enemies we can be defeated. I am shaken when I see the rise of antisemitism on college campuses and in general all over the world, and very few confront this abhorrent behavior as it continues to spread like a nasty infectious disease.

I can be bewildered at the fact that the world seems to blame the victim when Jews finally get up and defend themselves and simply don’t care and certainly come nowhere close to condemning when Arabs slaughter their own.

The other day, a Chabad Rabbi was sharing with an officer in the IDF what the Rebbe advised Israel to do in our current dilemma, and the officer retorted, “And do you do all that the Rebbe instructed”?

The Rebbe lamented many times that so many of us often study and study and study, and when we are faced with challenging times, we become blinded and freeze. We seem to forget what we learned and preached to others and how we should respond. Many of us forget our faith and see ourselves all alone as if “it’s (all) my strength that brings (or doesn’t bring) all my success.”

“…It is well known that everything in this physical world evolves from how things are spiritually, as we see according to the explanation of our sages; “Amalek came to wage war with Israel in Refidim” (the Torah tells us the name of the place, Refidim to indicate) they were weak (rafu yedaihem) and slack in the matters of Torah. This means this (spiritual weakness) was the energy and impetus that there should be the physical, “And Amalek came (to attack the Israelites).”

“This is the Law of “measure for measure”. Since we allow and host the (spiritual enemy) Amalek to approach (and enter our lives and hearts) the strange evil force within, there evolves in this physical world that literally in the physical counterpart (the evil) Amalek comes and attacks. The same is concerning the wars of the other nations….”  (Purim 5730)

In the above quote, the Rebbe makes it straightforward for a believing person. What happens physically is a direct result of how one conducts oneself spiritually. Underlying the physical, the energy for the physical, results from its inner spiritual characteristics, virtue, or lack thereof. What we experience physically is the mirror of our spiritual conduct.

I wish all were well and there were no fights, wars, casualties, etc. to write about.  We all lived happily and in peace, “each one of us under our vine trees”. Unfortunately, according to the quote above from the Rebbe’s discourse, the reason we are still battling Amalek, i.e., Hamas, Houthis, Hezbollah, etc., is that we seem not to be addressing this evil force within ourselves, within our communities.

I see all the frustrations and anger I mentioned above regarding our current terrible physical situation on Chassidic/Frum WhatsApp groups and social media. I see so many articles and videos about our current problematic and troublesome situation. If anyone is truly bothered and would like to make a positive impact, passing around these distressful news updates is not where our energy should be focused. Regular people not in politics will accomplish practically nothing since they have no influence there. So posting and discussing these matters can only make us anxious and stressed and not be of much good.

The only way you and I can help alleviate the pain and hardships all of Israel is going through is, according to the Rebbe and classical Jewish sources, by eliminating the negative energy within. If anyone is genuinely interested in improving where we’re at, it would behoove them to see the Amalek within our communities and not play blind but address these issues. There has to be an Amalek within if there is such a persistent one in the world. Amalek needs to be totally eradicated within for that to happen in the world.

Eighteen months have gone by since October 7^th and this persistent problem in the world does not seem to be getting any better.

When the Head Shliach of Florida ignores the Psak Din of a Bais Din, and no one stands up to challenge this behavior, open and blatant disregard for the rules of our holy Torah and the request of the Rebbe to follow the rulings of a Bais Din, this is reflected in the world where world leaders do unjust things. Where is the protest in the world for the victims of this tragic attack?

This same Head Shliach had the temerity to threaten the Bais Din he would take them to Bais Din and boldly said he would not accept their ruling!!

When the family of this Head Shliach lies on his behalf to protect this unlawful behavior, creates false narratives to protect his father and his reputation, and tries to organize others to operate with him in this crusade, according to the Rebbe, this behavior creates the possibility that so many other world leaders vote for and defend the crazy, hypocritical, and unjustified position promoted on the world stage. This behavior becomes the energy for the phenomenon of so many fabricated lies against our people.

The above is just one example in our communities of our inner Amalek that I am most familiar with, and there are many other similar Amaleks within that are crying out for their attention and elimination.

It should be a personal feeling for all conscionable Chassidim who want to emulate the Rebbe and follow his teachings that when not such good things are happening in the world, we take it seriously with introspection personally and communally.

Today’s incredible chutzpa audacity of our enemies must end quickly. We cannot allow our current situation to fester for much longer. With the help of G-d Almighty, this will all “fly away from us like a dream”. Getting rid of Amalek inside each of us and in our communities is the first step to ushering in the times of Moshiach. If we are here today, G-d knows we can overcome these bitter struggles.

Let us hope that venahpoch hu soon everything will turn around for good, and we will go from the miracle of Purim to our redemption speedily now.