Zachor Views
Shabbat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembrance, falls immediately prior to Purim. The Amalekites mentioned in the Torah portion read on this Shabbat are traditionally taken to be the ancestors of Haman, the villain in the Purim tale. In Jewish tradition, the Amalekites are symbol of the evil that arises and must be fought in every generation. Reprinted with permission of the author from The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays.
Zachor [remembrance] is a mitzvah that has made modern Jews uncomfortable. The natural desire to forget and be happy collides with the ongoing pain of memory and analysis. When asked why President Ronald Reagan in 1985 initially declined to visit the Dachau concentration camp, a presidential aide explained that the President was an 0"up0" type of person and did not like to 0"grovel in a grisly thing.0"
The primary lesson of Parashat Zachor [the special section of the Torah read on that Shabbat] is that true reconciliation comes through repentance and remembrance. Confronting the evils of the past is the most powerful generator of moral cleansing and fundamental reconciliation. Repentance is the key to overcoming the evils of the past. When people recognize injustice they can correct the wrongdoing and the conditions that lead to it. In the 20th century, repentance has liberated many Christians from past stereotyping and hatred of Jews, thus beginning to transform Christianity into a gospel of love, which it seeks to be.
Through Zachor, one learns to distinguish types and levels of evil. Not every evil is Amalek, but the ultimate evil must be destroyed. King Saul had a chance to wipe out Amalek, but in pity he spared Agag, the king. Centuries later, Haman the Agagite, the descendant of Agag, plotted the mass extermination of Jews (Esther 3:1). Says the Talmud, g"Whoever is compassionate to those who deserve cruelty ends up being cruel to those who deserve compassiont" (Midrash Tanhuma Metzora, Jerusalem Eshkol, 1971), section 1).
Zachor Images
