Moshe Dayan 1956: "It is the fate of our generation that our life requires that we be always prepared and armed, strong and determined, for if the sword be struck from our grasp we shall die."

G-d is limitless in his compassion, even if man can not understand it at all times. Avrum Burg is limitless in his arrogance. As the sages note that a doctor may harm to heal so here to as a surgeon removes cancer we are commanded to remove Amalek. By rejecting the concept of a divne creation Burg does more damage than he will ever have the ability to understand.

Excellent, I think ,with all respect that the light of Prof.Leibovich is in good hands with you.Never come back to the dirty world of politics.

Why don't they get someone who knows something about Torah instead?

avram burg for prime minister!!

Who the hell does he think he is. The mitzvah of killing amalek is a Mitzvah of self defence. This just proves how the left wing in this country would like us to commit self genocide by not fighting anyone that wishes to annihilate us and rather help them!! Take off your Kippah Mr Burg and put on a Keffiyeh you are a Hilul hashem.

Come on Avrum, put another cheek, convert yourself to Xstianity. I didn't think one's megalomania can lead one to consider himself allmighty to suggest editting the holy scriptures. As a matter of fact I am not religious but would never dream to erase a dot in the Torah. PS. You probably didn't really mean to erase something from the Torah ( I will give you a benifit of the doubt) but you must be careful what you write.

The disrespect Avraham Burg is showing to his late father, by his idea of having a seuda on Tish B'Av & to want to change G-D's commandments in our Torah is disgraceful. He is an disgrace to Am Yisroel. Shame on you Avraham!

to decide that a mitzva must be erased from the Holy Tora? That some mitzvas are not relevant? This kind of statements are the typical way how Amalek's forces overwhelm jewish souls. The" Midrash says" : Of Amalek it is said, "He did not fear God" (...)by brazenly desecrating G-d¨s name, he inspired the other nations to follow is exemple. His eventual destruction will reinstate the glory of the Almighty¨s Name, which he despised. R. Elchanan Wassermann: "Negligence in Torah study invites Amalek, the gentiles , to attack us. We combat the forces of Amalek by only one means - intensifying our torah study". What Burg does is using the Thora to strengthen Amalek. Burg's way is the most vicious face of apicorsut.

people like this should be banned from journalism

I may not be the most religous guy in the world but I don't think we should be f---king with God. And that's what this would be.

If you or I were G-d, then we would have a right to say 'I think that the world should have been created as such and such.' But since we are in fact *creations* of G-d- albeit G-dly beings, but nonetheless not gods- we must then turn to the One Creator for understanding. In this case, G-d is declaring a reality: if you do not wipe out this nation, not only will they cause problems for you in the long run, but there will be many millions more of their descendants who will have to be killed, because of the trouble that they will get into. It is both for your sake and for theirs that they be eliminated completely. It may sound harsh and cruel, but it is G-d's world and as long as the argument isnt 'G-d shouldnt have created a world', then one should logically try and understand and follow the way that he *did* create it. He gave man free choice, and he puts man in situations which can sometimes be very trying- but He gives a person the full strength to overcome this. One may ask: why do this? Why not make it simple and easy? But to understand this one must study Torah. Regardless of the study, though, the reality is what G-d wants of us. In other words, questioning one part of this creation and declaring it as illogical, is in effect questioning *all* of creation. And if one is sincere about this question- ie. what are we doing here, and what can I do to reach a higher purpose- then one must contemplate and study Torah for what it is. Only Torah study that is genuinely within the realms of the tradition which was passed down since Moses, only this could answer such fundamental questions. Why did G-d create carnivurous (sp?) animals? How could a young child suffer? How could He allow major tragedies and disastors? Etc. Etc... These are all real questions, but the answer exists, in the question itself. But in no way should *any* of these questions have an effect on ones fundamental view of the world and G-d. If the Torah is from G-d, then it is up to the *person* to try and figure it out. If it is not understood, then it may demand a change in behaviour and action in order to reach a level of better understanding. On a deeper level, it is explained in Kaballah and the Chassidic teachings how Amalek is a spiritual force which one must destroy outright- and not get caught in a conversation with it at all. It is a force of 'coldness'. It is a force which, at each point, explains how one must relax and not get excited. Yes, G-d may be great, yes the Torah may be the source of life, and yes, Ahavat Yisrael is important, but... lets just leave it at that. Why get excited over any of it? Why be lively in these things? Etc. Amalek is the foundation of what brings life and humanity to the ground. It is a voice which casts eternal doubt- with a definite goal of dragging the subject as low as possible. (Questions and skepticism in and of themselves are not bad. But if they are being used for a purpose which has a definite end-result, then they are very harmful. They are productive only if they are sincere.) May we truly eradicate Amalek and all its embodiments, and through this we will merit to see the end of war, and the end of strife and suffering. It is only through labeling the enemy that one can win, and in the ultimate battle of creation, it is all the more so important. Amalek can also be found in physical beings- if a person or group of people embody the ideals of Amalek. And in that case- if they are unchangeable- then it is vital that they be pursued and neutralized with the best of efforts. It is both for their good and for your own. May we hear good news, and may we try and lift ourselves to the Torah, and not the other way around. Lenny

I think you should go back to politics. you are no good in religion.

This guy Burg is clearly not a rabbinical authority and regularly suggests changing or ignoring biblical/rabbinical laws. Someone asked how does ynet allow such an ignoramus to have a column. The answer is because people like us read this drivel and feel the need to respond because it's controversial, thereby creating a readership for this sheigitz. Why don't we just not read his column anymore, and maybe they'll stop printing it when their numbers go down? Besides, why read this junk when we could go out and learn some actual Torah?

Erase some Pesoukim just because you could find exceptions in extremist people's behaviour ? I react espeacially for this: "If we were only speaking about theory, I wouldn't worry. But I know just how practical this command is for many people. They see Amalek as every enemy, especially the Arab-Palestinian one. " Just to illustrate my reaction: Criminals are using guns and any other weapon to rob, steal and rape innocents. If we followed you, we should forbid any weapon in the world. Then, how could the police, the army complete their job? And have the power to make the Law beeing respected? There would be no rule except anarchy. You cannot use the Torah as if you were in a Supermarket taking what is advantageous for you and throwing what you don't like. In Parashat Shoftim (last week), it is said not to listen to Meonenim and Kosmim. Maybe you should be included, because it's the same reason why we didn't listen to Jesus. Your message has to be delivered according to the Holly Torah's Spirit, and NOT by rewriting it according to your spirit. If we respected this order in the past, we maybe wouldn't have so many ennemies nowadays...

Why is this idiot who was responsible for the Oslo war and 1,500 murdered Israelis still a Yediot Contributor? He should apologise for Oslo and hang his head in shame.

Your father, Harav Yosef Burg, of blessed memory fought through the heavy influence of the Reform movement to become a Ben Torah and Eved Hashem. You are ruining his stay in Gad Eden with your call to eat on Tisha'a Be'Av (previous article) and now to erase the Torah. The Chareidim, by the way, are delighted by your articles as it proves that they are right when they claim that the Mizrachi movement and pretty much anything not Chareidi is a slippery slope to Ke'Firah. Maybe it would have been more appropriate had you spoken about: יח כִּי-יִהְיֶה לְאִישׁ, בֵּן סוֹרֵר וּמוֹרֶה--אֵינֶנּוּ שֹׁמֵעַ, בְּקוֹל אָבִיו וּבְקוֹל אִמּוֹ; וְיִסְּרוּ אֹתוֹ, וְלֹא יִשְׁמַע אֲלֵיהֶם. יט וְתָפְשׂוּ בוֹ, אָבִיו וְאִמּוֹ; וְהוֹצִיאוּ אֹתוֹ אֶל-זִקְנֵי עִירוֹ, וְאֶל-שַׁעַר מְקֹמוֹ. כ וְאָמְרוּ אֶל-זִקְנֵי עִירוֹ, בְּנֵנוּ זֶה סוֹרֵר וּמֹרֶה--אֵינֶנּוּ שֹׁמֵעַ, בְּקֹלֵנוּ; זוֹלֵל, וְסֹבֵא. כא וּרְגָמֻהוּ כָּל-אַנְשֵׁי עִירוֹ בָאֲבָנִים, וָמֵת, וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע, מִקִּרְבֶּךָ; וְכָל-יִשְׂרָאֵל, יִשְׁמְעוּ וְיִרָאוּ.

There is no need to suggest that Jews are or could be ready to commit some form of genecide as a result of the Mitzva to "erase" Amalek. We all know that today we cannot identify Amalek and therefor we no longer have the requirement to physically destroy Amalek. We do know however that there is a time and place for "chesed" and a time and place for "gevurah". Just as a bird cannot fly on one wing so our ideologies cannot be limited to "left" of "right". Every situation has to be based on the merit of its case and mediated by "tiferet", by a leader with "beauty", ie. knowledge, wisdom and courage

idiot

Hilul Hashem

Has about as much significance

This Rabbi, ha ha is a fool. No one should give him an inch of respect, as he is in the Bible, the verse about false holy men. You know what has to be done with them? He is to be shunned, excision to the Jewish People. He is dangerous and must not be allowed to continue his voice. How true the Torah is, B'H, B'H. H-shem has warned us of everything in advance. It is for us to recognize these people, and cut them off. Jacqueline

As I have always seen it, the spirit of Amalke exists in each of us, and we are commmanded to wipe it out--the spirt of cruelty and irreverance--of which the Biblical Amalek tribe was guilty of--- As for the Canaanites, modern arhceologist and biblical historians tend to believe that the Israelites originated as Canaanites--thus,in other words, we are also commanded to wipe out the Canaanite within ourselves. In any event, the Palestinian Arabs cannot be Amalek, since many, if not most of them, are descended from Jews who converted to Christianity and to Islam in late antiquity and in the Middle Ages--Some day the Palestinians will "see the light" and return to Judaism--

But apart from that yeah I agree some Rabbanim have taken this one too far. It doenst matter what you want to call your ememies: if they attack you, or if an attack is imminent, you have the right to defend yourself,including preemptive strikes in the latter case. Its just a label. Dont abuse it. Use your brain and act like a rational, logical human being.