Key passages:
Abraham, macho man that he was, raised his knife to kill Isaac without so much as batting an eyelash. But at that moment, that instant when the knife was about to come down, he channeled his inner Sarah, and the result was a watershed moment in regard to our human ability to transcend gender-based proclivities.
At that moment, when his son Isaac lay before him, something new was seen in human behavior for the first time.
Restraint.
No one before him had shown it. No one. Not, Adam, Eve, Cain, Noah, Lot's wife - up until that moment, Genesis had been a veritable Sodom and Gomorrah of impulsive behavior.
What makes us human, what makes us holy, the Torah teaches, is self-control. And for Abraham, that restraint led to compassion.
At that moment, when Abraham did not lay a hand on his son Isaac, by transcending his DNA, by overcoming habit, by not succumbing to conventional wisdom, stock responses and the command of what might have been an imagined, vengeful God – in that moment, all of history changed.
…Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev wrote:
Not only are Jews commanded to wipe out Amalek, who is the descendant of Esau, but each Jew has to wipe out that negative part that is called Amalek hidden in his or her heart. When the power of evil in each of us arises, Amalek is present in the world.
…By not killing Isaac, Abraham killed the baby Hitler – in himself.
In traditional Jewish terms, Abraham slew his inner Amalek.
…..What is our inner Amalek?
It is that part us that succumbs to the impulse to take advantage of people’s weaknesses, that is cruel and hateful and angry and derisive and out of control; that force within us that sees every encounter as a means to an end, that objectifies other human beings as if they were pieces on a game board, instead of fellow living, breathing souls created in God’s image.
We’ve got to wipe out THAT Amalek, while it is still playing in the sandbox, before it gets so strong that it takes control of our souls, before we fall victim to our lack of restraint and lower that knife on Isaac.
We need set the bar very high. Not being a racist is fairly easy - for most people, at least. Rooting out all anger from our souls, or the impulse to ridicule others, or the temptation to press send when you should think about it first, that’s hard.
So this year, let’s subdue our inner Amalek by vanquishing our vitriol and scuttling our scorn. And as with Abraham, that begins with restraint.
"Conquering the Amalek Within"