In the weeks before Passover, the holiday of Divine Salvation, Jews the world over read four special Torah portions. (These readings are in addition to the regular weekly Torah reading cycle, in which we read the entire Five Books of Moses cover-to-cover over the course of the year.)
Right before the Purim holiday, we read the second of the four, Parashat Zachor. The text is as follows:
Remember (Zachor) what the Amalekites did on your way out of Egypt; that they happened upon you on the way and attacked the stragglers and all the weak ones in the rear when you were the most tired and exhausted, and did not fear G-d. Thus it shall be that when the Lcrd your Gcd establishes and makes you secure from your enemies around, in the Land that He will give you as an inheritance to possess it, erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens - never forget. (Deuteronomy 25:17-19)
Amalek is archetypal evil. Amalek tells the world that there is no G-d, no order in the universe, and therefore, no notion of good and bad. Amalek encourages war and chaos and destruction, because in that milieu he thrives - free to oppress the weak, to murder, to rape, pillage, and plunder. Amalek is Haman. Amalek is Hitler. Amalek is Stalin. Amalek is Hamas and Hezbollah & Khamenei and Sinwar.
Amalek is every godless, Jew-hating despot who has trampled through the garden of human history.
Amalek viciously opposes both aspects of the Jewish national destiny - to be a Kingdom of Priests, i.e., to minister to G-d on behalf of all the peoples of the earth, and to be a Holy Nation, distinct and set apart from the rest, focusing on our own spiritual development and maintaining our special relationship with G-d.
Therefore, Amalek seeks to destroy the Jew, the conscience of the world. And it is against Amalek that the Jewish People must take a stand. That is the meaning and import of these verses. That is what the IDF is engaged in doing with our prayers for success.
But the commandment to “Remember/Never Forget” implies something more. It also means to see the bigger picture, the broad trajectory of human history - and G-d’s guiding hand in that trajectory.
Zachor means to remember that it was the nations of the world – including the Unites States – who yawned while the Nazis and their death factories turned the Jews of Europe into smoke.
Zachor means to remember that it was the nations of the world – including the Unites States – that placed an arms embargo on the nascent Jewish State in 1948. All the while, the British were arming and training the Arab Legion to finish the job Hitler started.
Zachor means to remember that it was the nations of the world – including the United States – that sanctimoniously chose to remain neutral in June of 1967 while Nasser and his bloodthirsty hordes, this time with Russian patrons and Nazi engineered military technology, salivated to again finish the job Hitler had started.
Zachor means to remember that it was the nations of the world – especially the United States – that prevented us from defending ourselves when Iraqi Scud missiles started falling on Tel Aviv in 1991.
Zachor means not to be surprised as the nations of the world – including the Unites States – once again abandon us in this just war against archetypal evil. And when they expect us to live up to standards they do not set for themselves. And when they let college student demonstrators threaten and call to kill Jews.
Why are we even surprised?
Zachor reminds us that the same G-d that has guided the arc of human history and shielded us against those who conspired to do us harm in the past continues to protect and shield us today. Just as G-d was there for Devorah and Gidon and Esther; just as G-d was there for us 1948, 1967, 1973 & 1991 and since, G-d’s benevolent protection surrounds the Jewish People and her supporters today, in 2024.
So be strong and take heart! Don’t despair that the world is turning their backs on us; rejoice in it – the familiar pattern of salvation repeats itself.
We will yet witness the salvation of the G-d of Israel with our own eyes.
Rabbi Mizrachi is the author of Holistic Judaism: A Radical Rethinking of Our Service to Gcd and our Fellow Man in the Messianic Age. Available on Amazon.com and Kindle. He can be reached at [email protected].