Fighting Amalek

I'm going to start posting some random Torah ideas I've had over the last few months - along with the occasional critique/tweak from my long-time friend Rabbi Sol Goldman. By the way "Rebbe z"l" is Rav Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld, my Rabbi who introduced me to Breslov and who I will hopefully talk more about in future posts. He passed away over 30 years ago

1. "צא הלחם בעמלק"

Yehoshua davka was the one designated to fight Amalek, but only thru the power of his Rebbe Moshe Rabenu.

צא is 91 - Yud-keh-vav-keh + Shem Adnei = 26+65 = 91 = סוכה = has aspects of both Shemesh (Torah/Moshe) + Yareach (Shade/Emunah/Yehoshua), but must be mostly the latter. Who is most suited to combat Amalek (doubts in faith)? The צ"א = צדיק אמת just "coincidentally" Rebbe z"l was named צבי אריה

Another use of צא: Chazal said " עשה כל מה שבעל הבית אומר לך חוץ מ-צא" - About the yetzer hara it says that he starts out only asking to hang a nail in your house (meaning do one small sin), but little by little he takes over, until he's the master of the house (בעל הבית) . So even if you give in to every other temptation he throws at you, do not listen to him if it means "coming out" against the Tzadik Emet (צא)

Rabbi Goldman:

See the Imrei Noam - Purim - Paragraph 34
Nice touch about Rebbe Z'L.
The way you interpret the Gemara in Pesachim 86B - "chutz mi'tzeh" it means to imply that the Y"H is the Baa' Habayis. He isn't - he wants to be.

Of Tightropes and Tight Ropes

It's been like forever since I last wrote here. I hope to get back with it more often. This was something I came up with last year

A brief thought that came to me while Superbusing it home to Hashmonaim on Highway 443.

Being the word junkie that I am, it occurred to me that in his shiurim on Shvachei HaRan, Rebbe (Rav Rosenfeld) z"l had used two similar words in describing a Jew's plight and hope; especially if that Jew was a Breslover.

Faced with the ever-increasing & ever-dangerous distractions and temptations of this world (and everyone knows what there own personal demons are), a Jew is constantly walking a tightrope, where even a momentary lapse in concentration can have serious or even fatal consequences. Given that we are all (too-frail) humans, how are expected not to fall at times?

The answer is, we are not.

But we ARE expected to get back up.

How?

Through that tight rope that eternally binds us to Rabbenu z"l, who stressed again and again to his talmidim, that no matter what transpires in a person's life, regardless of how many times or to what depths one may fall, as long as we remain loyal followers and consider ourselves attached to the tzaddik, he will always be there for us, holding tightly the other end of that rope, helping us to climb back.

Ashreinu