Adar 5766

Pearls from the Wellspring is a monthly email contribution of the students, staff and supporters of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin. We encourage you to send your comments and questions to Rebbetzin Chana Bracha at berot@netvision.net.il

In this month's issue:

Wipe Out Amalek!
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, B'erot Director

Featured Artwork
B'erot Students

Staff Profile
Rabbi Yosef Benarroch, B'erot Teacher

Pre-Pesach "Freedom & Cleansing" Seminar & Other Upcoming Events

Engagements, Building Plans & Other Announcements

Supporting B'erot

Tu B'Shevat "Returning to Your Roots" Seminar participant Marina plants a tree

WIPE OUT AMALEK!
Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum, B'erot Director

The mitzvah of Wiping out Amalek as a People or in our Heart?

Could it be true that the Torah, the word of the compassionate G-d, promotes genocide by commanding us to "blot out the memory of Amalek"? (Devarim 25:19) How can the Torah command us to wipe out an entire people? Why would the children of Amalek be held responsible for the sins of their fathers?

Rebbetzin Chana Bracha Siegelbaum

Perhaps the mitzvah to wipe out Amalek is not to be taken literally but intended to blot out the evil spirit of Amalek from our own hearts.

When Rambam enumerates "wiping out the seed of Amalek" as one of the obligations of the king, (Introduction to the laws of kings and their wars) he clearly is not referring to the Amalek in our heart. Likewise, Ramban, Shemot 17:14 takes the mitzvah literally when he states: "After inheriting the land, they must wipe him [Amalek] out…this was not completed during Yehoshua's reign and the time for enacting this mitzvah did not take place until the reign of King Saul."

King Saul, however, never completed the mission of wiping out Amalek and on account of this failure he lost the kingdom. From Shaul we learn that whoever is merciful to the cruel will in the end become cruel to the merciful. Since Shaul had mercy on Agag the king of Amalek, (1. Shmuel 15:9) he later with great cruelty wiped out the entire city of innocent Kohanim (Ibid 22:19) (Midrash Tanchuma, Metzora 1) The mitzvah, then of wiping out Amalek, actually stems from the value of compassion and kindness-compassion on all those whom Amalek threatens to exterminate. This mitzvah is ongoing and valid even today. The cursed Nazis were the spiritual heirs of Amalek.

Nevertheless, we are not only commanded to wipe out the people who is the seed of Amalek, in addition every Jew needs to wipe out the bad part buried in the heart of all mankind called Amalek. Whenever the seed of Amalek exists in the world, the power of Amalek arousing us to sin exists in our hearts as well. (Rav Tzaddok, Ohev Yisrael, Parshat Ki Tetze) The fact that the root of Amalek is in the heart can be learned from the commandment to remember what Amalek did to us. If the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek were solely to wage physical war with his people, why would the Torah emphasize the mitzvah to remember and not forget the evil of Amalek? In Machshavot Charutz 5, Rav Tzadok explains that every mitzvah connected with remembering pertains to the heart as regarding the mitzvah of Tzizit, "and you must see them and remember…don't go after your hearts" (Bamidbar 15:39)

From Rav Tzaddok's statement that the root of Amalek is in our heart we can conclude that our ability to finish off the physical Amalek depends on our ridding ourselves of the spiritual Amalek in the heart. A further allusion to this concept can be found in the Torah-text itself: "Remember what Amalek did to you…. and smote the hindmost of you, all that were feeble in your rear, when you were faint and weary, and did not fear G-d." The Torah text does not state who it was that did not fear G-d, and it is usually translated to refer to Amalek: "and he did not fear G-d." Yet, according to the rule of language a verb without a specified noun refers back to the last noun mentioned. Thus Amalek attacked when Israel did not fear G-d.

In Hashem's promise to wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heaven" (Shemot 17:14) the word to wipe out is repeated "Macho, emche" From this Rabeinu Bachaya learns out: Macho, first in heaven and afterwards emche, on earth. This process is according to the principle that no people are extinguished before their spiritual force is uprooted. We may therefore conclude that that the mitzvah to wipe out the people of Amalek is dependent on our ability to uproot the evil of Amalek in our heart, first.

Perhaps there may even be a possibility that this may take place without physical war. A careful reading of the Halachot regarding Amalek reveals that an Amalekian person has an option to take himself out of the category of Amalek, by either accepting the seven Noachide laws (Rambam Laws of Kings 6:4) or converting to Judaism. (Kesef Mishna on Rambam, Mishna Torah Issurei Biah 12:17). By choosing the path of the righteous gentile or full-fledged conversion Amelekian children have the option not to be held responsible for the sins of their fathers.

On the other side of the coin according to Rav Chayim Soleveitchik someone not born from Amalek blood can achieve the status of Amalek through his behavior. Rav Chaim's grandson, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, applied this teaching to the Nazis who adopted an Amalakian worldview, unfortunately with more success than the historical Amalekites. Thus, the mitzvah to wipe out Amalek is a conceptual category, which in reality, is far from being racist.

With Blessings of Torah and the Land,
Chana Bracha

FEATURED STUDENT ARTWORK

Ayin

Hands

Eye on the Wall

Woman in the Desert

STAFF PROFILE: RABBI YOSEF BENARROCH

Rabbi Yosef Benarroch is the Rav of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin's Conversion Program, as well as a teacher of Parashat HaShavua, Pirkei Avot, various topics in halacha.

Born in Tangiers, Morocco, Rabbi Benarroch moved along with his family to Winnipeg, Canada at a young age. He graduated from the Jewish high school there and went on to the University of Manitoba where he received a BA in Physical Education and a degree in education.

Rabbi Yosef Benarroch

UPCOMING EVENTS

Pre-Pesach Seminar: Freedom & Cleansing
Apr. 2-8 / 4-10 Nissan
Experience spiritual renewal as we prepare in mind, body and soul for the coming of Pesach! Torah, Chassidut and Hilchot Pesach, plus Motzei Shabbat concert!

Summer Session: Reconnecting with Jewish Femininity
Jun. 25-Jul. 21 / 29 Sivan-25 Tammuz
Connect with your Jewish essence in mind, body and soul! Tanach, meditation, dance, Chassidut, drama, prayer, art, music, Halachah, agriculture, herbology, Jewish thought & mysticism, hikes in the Land of Israel and more!

ONGOING EVENTS

Torah Thursdays at the Hineni Center in Jerusalem: Innovative Torah Study for Busy Women
Feb. 16th-Mar. 30 (no class Mar. 16)
Torah Thursdays are designed to give busy women an opportunity to learn part-time in an intensive, creative Torah learning environment.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
From our students, staff, alumnae and supporters.

From B'erot Staff:

Baruch HaShem, we are starting to work on plans for our permanent campus! Donations large and small are very appreciated and needed at this time - please see below for information on donating to B'erot.

Mazal Tov to B'erot Student Erin Maidan on her engagement to Bat Ayin Yeshiva Student Yedidya Greenberg!

Mazal Tov to B'erot Alumna Rachel Lewis on her engagement!

Mazal Tov to B'erot Alumna Ariella Nachmani on the birth of her daughter Naomi!

Bat Ayin residents reviewing the building plans for Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin's permanent campus

SUPPORTING B'EROT
Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin appreciates your continued support. Please contact us to learn about sponsorship opportunities to honor the memory of loved ones or to celebrate a family simcha.

Donations of $100 or more are tax-deductible in the United States and Canada

Please note! The address for American Friends of Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin (MBBA) has
changed! Please send you tax-deductible donations to:
American Friends of MBBA
c/o Leah Gelber
622 Sweetgum Lane
Charlotte, NC 28211
Please make checks payable to: American Friends of MBBA
Tax id: EIN 20-1923745

For a tax deductible donation in Canada, please make checks payable to: Tzaddik Foundation, and mail your contribution to:
Tzaddik Foundation
c/o Miriam Kreisman
6592 C. Kildare
Montreal Quebec H4W 2Z4
Canada

For those who don't need a tax-deductible receipt, please make checks payable to Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin, and mail your contribution to:
Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin
Yishuv Bat Ayin
Gush Etzion 90913
Israel

Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin
Village of Bat Ayin
Gush Etzion, 90913
ISRAEL

Phone: (02) 993-4945
Fax: (02) 993-1215
Email: berot2@yahoo.com

Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin is an innovative women's seminary designed as a micro-community of women who engage in intense Torah learning as part of an integrated, participatory approach to Torah living.