From Everest to Marianas
The title of this lead tidbit could have been From the Heights to the Depths, but the way it is now might help you in your next game of Trivial Pursuits. Mount Everest's summit is the highest point on Earth, and the Marianas Trench (or Trough) in the Pacific Ocean is the lowest point on the surface of the Earth.

Second introductory paragraph: On Shabbat Zachor we can read T'tzaveh (58.8% of the time), Vayikra (30.2%), Tzav (6.7%), or T'rumah (4.3%). We have been periodically reporting the unusual features of this year's year-type. Fast on a Friday. Purim M'shulash. Motza"Sh Seder. Only kind of year with no Shabbat Chol HaMoed at all. And the rarest of the Sedra-Parsha combinations, T'RUMAH - ZACHOR. Last time Zachor was read with T'ruma was 24 years ago. Next time (scheduled) is 20 years from now. Rare as it is, let's take a message from the combination.

Build a Mikdash, says the sedra. Remember Amalek and its ongoing battle against G-d and His People, says the Maftir. Kind of opposites, if you think about it. The holy endeavor of building the Beit HaMikdash brings to mind the highest level of Jewish existence for Klal Yisrael. Widespread Torah learning and observance. Return to Eretz Yisrael. Peace and Prosperity. A great relationship with G-d. Torah. Eretz Yisrael. Mikdash. That's why we came out of Egypt. That's why we exist as a nation.

We become the prey of Amalek when we are weak, spiritually more so than physically, when we have strayed from the proper path, when we have distanced ourselves from G-d. 

As happy as the results of Purim are, we must always ask why we were subjected to the threat of annihilation at the hands of Haman. And why so many Jews were killed during the Crusades. And by Chmelnicki's cossacks. And by the Nazis. These and others are our darkest periods in our history. 

What a contrast! How high we sometimes rise. And how low we often sink. 
In the repetition of the Yom Kippur Musaf, this study of extremes is presented in drastic form. Picture our greatest moments, with the Kohen Gadol performing his holiest tasks, with the People hearing the Divine Name and reaching the greatest heights of T'shuva and spirituality. Follow the description of the Kohen Gadol as he successfully emerges from the Holy of Holies. And right after the soul-rousing and uplifting song of Mar'ei Kohein, plunge into the story of the Ten Martyrs. If the stories alone do not tear your heart, then the contrast to the previous section of the davening will.
Mikdash and Amalek. They don't come further apart. Yom Kippur reminds us that our challenge in life is SUR MEI-RA, VA'ASEI TOV. Become the kind of Jews that will merit the building of the Mikdash and G-d's Presence among us, and the end to the continual suffering from Amalek.