Amalek vs. ChaMetz (TeShuva For Your Past Life In 5 Minutes)

0:10The big mitzvah we have on Purim is to get rid of Amalek. How are we going to get rid of Amalek? First of all, if we can't even hear, we have to address it because the kids are screaming. So, let's say we solve that problem next year. How do we get rid of Amalek? We don't know who he is; still, how do we get rid of Amalek? The reality is, Rabotai, we talked about this in a lecture last week. Amalek is inside us. It's the Amalek that's inside us that we have to get rid of. Amalek has the same gematria, same numerical value as safek. Safek means doubt. You have to remove all the doubts that you have. Any doubt you have about the Torah. You have questions, get answers. Rabbi doesn't know, find another rabbi. It doesn't mean that your rabbi is not good just because he doesn't know every single answer in the world. He's not Moshe Rabbeinu. Just find a rabbi that knows and has sources.

1:35Sinning every single day is only because we have a safek. It's only because we still have doubt about whether God is real, whether He really said it, whether He really meant it when He said it, whether the chachamim translated it the right way, or maybe it's something else. We have a lot of safek; we have a lot of doubts. Amalek is doubt. Your responsibility on Purim is to remove your doubts and... The other Amalek is not just the current doubts. It's the doubts you used to have, meaning your previous life before you did teshuva. Some people convert or they do teshuva, which in my eyes is the same thing. To convert and do teshuva, you still have to do the same thing: you have to become a Jew. And still want to hold on to their previous life. They still want to hold on to their previous friends, their previous customs, their previous likes. They used to like playing basketball every day, so they want to play basketball every day. Just with a keep on. Used to like to have a couple of beers with the guys. So they still want to have a couple of beers with the guys, as long as the beer is kosher. Due to... Still want to hold on to their previous life. Still want to hold on to their previous friends, their previous customs, their previous likes. They used to like playing basketball every day, so they want to play basketball every day, just with a kippah on. Used to like to have a couple of beers with the guys, so they still want to have a couple of beers with the guys, as long as the beer is kosher. Due to...

3:00Types of things they like, so once they start doing them, they want to continue. Some people like to celebrate certain holidays. Okay, so I'm not going to have this Christmas tree in my house—I'll have it in my friend's house. It's just a tree, what's the big deal? All of these things are called Amalek, and the mitzvah of mechiyat Amalek is to eradicate that Amalek. All of those negative things you did in your past before you realized how harmful they are—it's time to stop. Obviously, it's time to stop them every day. That's teshuva. But there's a special merit if you do this on Purim or at this time of the year now for anyone who didn't know until you heard it right now in this shiur. Good, why is it good? Pesach has the same mitzvah. It's called chametz. Chametz is not just the bread that's in your house. Chametz is the chametz inside you. It's the stuff that's no good, it's no longer welcome. And it's a mitzvah to get rid of all those things and start doing teshuva. Because no one knows how long they're going to be here. No one knows if they're going to be here to see Mashiach or they're going to see Hashem first because they're called upstairs early. No one knows. Point is, you have to do teshuva before you die. So Chazal asks, when is that day? No one knows. So when should we do teshuva? Every day. Every day do teshuva.

4:30So, getting rid of Amalek and getting rid of chametz is essentially the same concept. It's the time of year for us to focus on removing these impurities and taking care of these aspects in our spiritual lives.