Remember... and Apply

It is often said in Torah Tidbits that this or that is not just a once-upon-a-time-a-long-time-ago story, but it is something that relevant to today, and we must relate to it as such. How very much this applies to the mitzva we fulfill this Shabbat - to remember what Amalek did to Bnei Yisra'el on our way out of Egypt. The command to remember is strengthened by the warning and prohibition never to forget. Part of remembering and never forgetting is learning certain lessons of the past and applying them to the present.

It is often said that the definition of Amalek is not specifically a genealogical issue as much as it is a behavioral issue. Haman might have been a descendant of Amalek, but what classifies him as Amalek (in the spirit of the mitzva, and in the ongoing message for us that the mitzva carries) is his intention to destroy every man, woman, and child, the nation of Mordechai. Some speculate that Hitler was an actual descendant of Amalek. More to the point was his desire and enthusiasm for the Solution to the Jewish Problem.

The Torah tells us that the battle against Amalek is a perennial one, from generation to generation. 

Sometimes, the battle is with "actual" Amalek. Sometimes it is with the spiritual heirs of Amalek, those who fight against us with a passionate hatred that goes beyond reason and logic. 

Amalek wanted us out of Eretz Yisrael. Perhaps this is why one of the first tasks of the people of Israel upon entering the Land was to destroy Amalek. (The other two tasks were to appoint a king and to build the Beit HaMikdash.)

Does a person who will blow himself up at a shopping mall in order to kill and maim as many Jews as possible qualify as an Amalekite? Do people who attempt to drive Jews out of parts or all of Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem qualify as Amalek? You draw your own conclusions and ask your own sh'eilot. It is not for us to make definitive statements on this issue (although we might have our own strong feelings and opinions).

The point of this Shabbat, and the choice of our Sages in juxtaposing Parshat Zachor to Purim, is that we must remember what happened, we must never forget, and we must learn from our history how to be aware and how to handle "new" old situations that arise in our own time.

G-d's promise, which we mention at the Seder table, is to save us (and help us save ourselves) from those who arise in every generation to vanquish us. May it be so in our time... very soon.