Zachor - Remember!

This week, in addition to the regular Torah Portion (Tetzaveh), we will also read in synagogues three verses from the Book of Deuteronomy, verses known as the ZACHOR portion (zachor = "remember!"). First, let's read the verses 

"Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!" (Deuteronomy 25:17-19). 

We are asked by the G-d to remember the evil that Amalek did to us. Isn't it strange? Aren't we supposed to be loving, forgiving people? Why dwell on the bad that other people did to us? 

The reason is simple, if you look around at the Post-Modern culture, in which the border between good and bad does not exist, you can understand why it is so important to remember that there is evil in the world. Many post-modern people say that there is no good and bad in the world, that there is no absolute truth, that everybody is good and everybody has their own narratives. An Arab terrorist killed an innocent civilian? "Oh, he is not a bad person, he is just frustrated and the real blame is on the victim". I think of all the frustrations that the Jewish nation endured during its long years in exile. A Jewish man never went after a German, Polish, Russian or Ukrainian innocent civilian and murdered them because he didn't like what their government did. Frustration is not an excuse for anything. But for those post-modernists, it is - there is no real evil in the world, everybody is good, you just have to listen to their "narrative", the terrorist for them is a good person, you just have to listen to his side of the story. 

The Torah asks us to remember that THERE IS evil in the world. And, actually, history helps us remember that - just think of what happened 70 years ago in Europe. There are bad people in the world, people who put their own needs (money, honor, living space, whatever it is) above the needs of others, even if it means killing the others to get what they want. If we forget that, if we forget that there is absolute truth in the world, if we forget that there is good and bad, and instead, adopt the post-modern view that everything is relative, we might confuse right and wrong, good and bad, and make bad choices ourselves. We might even support bad people, bad causes, thinking that they are actually good and right (see the BDS movement and its like, for example).

One interesting thing that I heard this week about this portion, from a famous Israeli news personality, is that Amalek, the symbol of pure evil, came to Israel only after Israel started losing faith in G-d. When Israel's faith became weak, when they were complaining in the desert instead of remembering the miracles that G-d had done with them a short time before that. If you remember, Israel complained to Moses and to G-d in the desert that they do not have water (read Exodus 17: 1-8). They were trying G-d, to see if He can help them or not. Right after this episode of weak faith -  Amalek came to fight them! "Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim."

By the way, the name of the place, Rephidim, sounds in Hebrew like "weak of hands" (repheh yadayim). When the "hands" of Israel became weak, when their faith in G-d became weak, then came Amalek, an evil enemy, to attack them for no reason! They were not walking through Amalek's land, they were not asking them for water or for food or for anything else. They were just walking in the desert, but Amalek came and attacked them - right after they lost faith in G-d. To win against Amalek, Moses had to lift his hands up (to G-d) - as long as his hands were lifted up, Israel prevailed, but when his hands were weak and dropped down, Amalek prevailed. So the lesson for each of us is: we must stay with strong faith in G-d, we must be grateful to Him for all the miracles He has done in our lives and not to become ungrateful people. Otherwise, some kind of trouble would attack us, some kind of Amalek would attack us. Cynicism, lack of faith in G-d and in the goodness and order of the world, sadness, hopelessness - all of these invite Amalek to attack us in our lives. 

The holiday of Purim will take place this coming week. Why do we read this portion now, right before the Holiday of Purim? In Purim we read in the synagogues the Story of Esther. In the story of Esther we see the embodiment of pure evil: Haman. He was the "Hitler" of ancient times and wanted to annihilate the Jewish nation. Haman is of the seed of the Amalekite nation. When we read the story of Esther in the synagogue, every time the name Haman is read, all the congregation makes noise with ratchets, to erase the name of Haman, to obliterate Amalek, to delete pure evil and the worldview characterized by lack of faith and joy from the world. We do not have to wait for Purim to do that. We must fight this inner fight within our souls every day of our lives.

Shabbat Shalom!