header
header

Purim 5785: Understanding Amalek

What does the Torah actually mean by ‘wiping out Amalek’?

In this episode, Zvi Hirschfield and Rabbi Dr. Elisha Anscelovits explore the Torah’s commandment to wipe out Amalek, examining its historical, practical, and ethical dimensions. As Purim approaches, they discuss how these themes shape our understanding of justice, deterrence, and moral responsibility today.

Featuring:
Rabbi Dr. Elisha Anscelovits – Pardes Faculty
Zvi Hirschfield – Pardes Faculty and Host of Pardes from Jerusalem

Elisha S. Ancselovits

Rabbi Dr. Elisha S. Ancselovits teaches Halakha as Practical Philosophy at Pardes and at Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, and has taught at a range of Orthodox, secular, Israeli and European institutions. He holds rabbinic and judicial ordination (Yoreh Yoreh and Yadin Yadin), a Ph.D. in the history of Jewish law, and an M.A. in Modern Jewish Studies, in addition to graduate studies in Medieval Jewish History.

Elisha has served as a researcher and lecturer in Jewish studies and legal theory at universities across several continents, and is currently a fellow at Emory University’s Center for the Study of Law and Religion. His teaching spans halakha, Biblical and Second Temple law, critical Talmud, critical Zohar, and modern philosophy. Elisha founded Bet Midrash Hukkim Hakhamim, a kollel program mentoring women and men who are emerging rabbis and dayanim.