This Shabbat we’re starting the third book of the Torah, Vayikra, that contains 40% of the 613 Jewish commandments. But the real importance of this Shabbat is the second Sefer Torah that we go to read, (our Sephardic Temple has a new Sefer!!) Parsha Zachor.
What is Shabbat Zachor and why is it the most important Torah reading along the year?
The power of a democracy is that people with highly polarized and entirely differing world views can (theoretically) live side by side without injuring each other physically, legally, or indeed, emotionally.
It has brought us many wonderful things, the experience of this plurality has allowed us to taste foods from around the globe (even when including our dietary restrictions) as well as art, literature, music and other important forms of cultural expression. With such a plethora of cultures, identities, religions and worldviews must come great tolerance and mutual respect for our shared humanity.
The problem, of course, is that not everyone shares this ideal, and some religions and cultures feel exactly the opposite: that they alone must dominate, convert and control everything under the banner of a single flag or perspective. They are prepared to kill, deceive and perform unspeakable horrors to achieve their goals of domination.
As Jews our collective history speaks of terrible interaction with a variety of different dominating groups from religious, political and nationalistic viewpoints that also sought to subjugate, control and destroy those who did not adhere to their version of truth. We are tremendously tempted in our current society to deny this, in our world where we play “let’s get along” we demonstrate great patience to allow a great wealth of views, many of which we may dislike or disagree with.
On Parsha Zachor, we remember Amalek a nation drawn from the grandson of Esau who struck the Children of Israel as they were recovering from the experience of leaving Egypt. When Israel came out of Egypt, and God split the sea before them and drowned the Egyptians within it, the fear of them fell upon all the nations. But when Amalek came and challenged them, although he received his payment from them, he cooled the awe of the nations of the world for them.
When the Jews left Egypt, Amalek was the first nation to attack them. As a result of this the Jews were commanded “When G‑d will relieve you of all your enemies… blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
The Torah understands that the mechanism that leads to the ability to “blot out the memory” of Amalek is to actively remember them: We cannot forget the past, we can however learn from it.
In much the same way that we strive to educate others about the horrors and inhumanity of the Holocaust, because of its all too human cost and, because people are quick to purposely “forget” that which is uncomfortable: We would much rather speak of nice things, the weather and various “how do you do’s?” We would prefer to live in a world where our conversion of Evil is reduced to art: to horror movies and literature rather than the brutal reality that occurs in multiple countries including on our very doorstep.
Since the attacks of October 7th it has returned in the mind of every Jew that evil truly exists, that brutal attack on kibbutzim, small villages and military outposts reminded us that there are those who hate because of who we are and what we believe, those prepared to commit the worst atrocities imaginable. OUR BIG PROBLEM is that many jews don’t come to hear Parashat Zachor and many of them already are forgetting the cruelty and savagery we have experienced on October 7th and those who have suffered during October 7th events.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen