VAB: R’ Jack Riemer on Amalek
“Conservative Rabbi Compares Islamic Fundamentalists to Amalek” is my latest for the Forward, working off of Rabbi Jack Riemer’s sermon of some weeks ago.
Value-Added Blogging:
- R’ Jack Riemer Calls Islamic Fundamentalists “Amalek”
- R’ Bradley Artson on Riemer’s Use of “Amalek”
- R’ Jack Riemer Explains His “Amalek” Sermon
- Poll of the Day: Invoking Amalek
- Invoking “Amalek” Throughout History
As an added note, you’ll see that the story quotes Riemer saying his comparison “was probably an overreaction.” As it happens, when I sent the quotes to Riemer, he responded:
was probably an overreaction????I am not sure that I should say that, perhaps it was written in the context of riots and pillaging all over the muslim world in which lives were lost and all of us were shocked would be a better way of putting it.
If you read through my interview with him, you’ll see that he would hedge a bit from time to time, but then recant on that hedging. This is consistent with that.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:05 am
Riemer tells us nothing new. Aggadic texts & old seforim point to the Amalek-Yishmael nexus and prophesize that the Arabs will behave like Amalek before the final redemption. Rav Goldberg from Telz published a sefer after Sept 11th that expounds on this concept.