(יז) זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃ (יח) אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כָּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחַרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים׃
(17) Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; (18) how he met you by the way, and smote the hindmost of you, all that were enfeebled in you, when you were faint and weary; and he {Amalek} feared not God.
(א) אשר קרך בדרך... דבר אחר לשון קור וחום, צננך והפשירך מרתיחתך, שהיו כל האמות יראים להלחם בכם ובא זה והתחיל והראה מקום לאחרים. משל לאמבטי רותחת שאין כל בריה יכולה לירד בתוכה, בא בן בליעל אחד קפץ וירד לתוכה. אף על פי שנכוה, הקרה אותה בפני אחרים:
(1) ...An additional possibility: This is the language of cool{kor|קור}and heat, cooled you and stopped you from boiling. All the nations of the world were afraid to fight you [Israel] and this one came and started and showed the way to others. It is likened to a legend of a boiling bath that no creature could enter. A scoundrel came and jumped in. Even though he was scalded, he cooled it down for others.
ר׳ שמואל בורנשטיין (1856-1926)
"שקליפת עמלק הייתה מטילה ספק ופגם אף במקום שנראית התגלות אלוקית" (שם משמואל פרשת זכור, שנת תרע"ט).
Rabbi Shmuel Bornsztain (1856–1926) 2nd Sochatchover Rebbe
"The husk of Amalek implants doubt and blemishes even in places where G-dliness has been revealed" (Shem Mi'Shmuel, Parshat Zachor, 5679)
Where is Haman indicated in the Torah? In the verse: Is it [hamin] from the tree?
Doubts demand from us a real skillfulness in dealing with them, and I notice how few people have any idea how to pursue doubts or to use them. It seems ironic that in a civilization that so worships the power of deflation and doubt, hardly anyone has the courage to deflate the claims of doubt itself—to do as one Hindu master said: turn the dogs of doubt on doubt itself, to unmask cynicism, and to uncover what fear, despair, hopelessness, and tired conditioning it springs from. Then doubt would no longer be an obstacle, but a door to realization, and whenever doubt appeared in the mind, a seeker would welcome it as a means of going deeper into the truth.
Doubt is not a disease but merely a symptom of a lack of what we in our tradition call the View... But until we reach enlightenment there will inevitably be doubts, because doubt is a fundamental activity of the unenlightened mind, and the only way to deal with doubts is neither to suppress nor indulge them.
Whenever doubt arises, see it simply as an obstacle, recognize it as an understanding that is calling out to be clarified or unblocked, and know that it is not a fundamental problem but simply a stage in the process of purification and learning. Allow the process to continue and complete itself, and never lose your trust or resolve. This is the way followed by all the great practitioners of the past, who used to say: “There is no armor like perseverance.”
Whenever doubt arises, see it simply as an obstacle, recognize it as an understanding that is calling out to be clarified or unblocked, and know that it is not a fundamental problem but simply a stage in the process of purification and learning. Allow the process to continue and complete itself, and never lose your trust or resolve. This is the way followed by all the great practitioners of the past, who used to say: “There is no armor like perseverance.
~This excerpt is from Glimpse of the Day by Sogyal Rinpoche who is a Tibetan Dzogchen lama of the Nyingma tradition. He has been teaching for over 30 years and continues to travel widely in Europe, America, Australia and Asia.