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Zachor – The Greatest Trick the Devil ever Pulled WASN’T Convincing the World he Didn’t Exist.
Remember what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt. That he encountered you on the way and cut off those lagging to your rear, when you were tired and exhausted; he did not fear G‑d. And it shall come to pass, when Hashem your G‑d has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which Hashem your G‑d is giving you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget. (Devarim 25:17-19)
Amalek is not literally the Satan, but the nation that attacked the Jewish people just after their exodus from Egypt is actually considered worse than the Satan. The Satan is a messenger of God, Amalek is a rebel who mocks everything God, and the Jewish people aim to accomplish. So please pardon me for attributing the famous Usual Suspects quote in my title to Amalek, but by the end of this writing you’ll see why it is actually much more appropriate for them than the proverbial prince of darkness.
This Shabbos, known as Parshas Zachor, is where we read a section of the Torah that details Amalek’s attack. By doing so, we fulfill a biblical mitzvah to remember Amalek. But as the verse above notes, in addition to remembering, we also have to obliterate the memory of Amalek. Sounds like a Catch-22 right? In order to answer that contradiction, we should consider deeply what it means to “obliterate the memory” of Amalek as well as what they did to deserve God’s wrath.
The verse describes the meeting as “he encountered you.” The Hebrew word קָֽרְךָ֜, karach literally means, “a chance meeting,” but karach can also be translated as, “he chilled you.” After the miracles in Egypt, the Jewish people were clearly God’s chosen people and what person in their right mind would even think about touching them? Well, Amalek. Not for money or power, but simply to tarnish the belief in the Jew’s exalted stature and to sow seeds of doubt in God. The Midrash (Tanchuma, Dev, Ki Teitzei 9) gives a parable. “There was a pool of water so hot, not a single person dared set foot in it. Along came one reckless lout and jumped in. Now even though the man was burned, those watching jumped in, no longer believing the water so hot.”
Amalek’s attack was not only bold, it was brutal. They attacked, “those lagging in the rear,” which can also be translated as, “all the enfeebled from behind” so essentially the weakest Jews and stabbed them in the back. The phrase “and cut off those” is also translated as, “they struck down your appendage” which Rashi says means, “they severed the place of circumcision and flung it heavenward” taunting God, as if to say, ‘Here is the commandment you gave to the Jews. Did it save them?’
It is this sentiment of flagrant derision that made Amalek the arch enemy of the Jewish people. Because they did the worst possible thing imaginable then claimed, “Where is God?” How could God allow such inhumanity to exist? The essence of Amalek is to sew doubt, particularly, doubt in Hashem.
Another translation for “those lagging in the rear” is “those who had fallen into despair.” This implies that it wasn’t Amalek that caused the doubt, but the doubt was already present and it allowed Amalek to attack. From that, Amalek seized the opportunity to make doubt in Hashem widespread and seemingly permanent. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled wasn’t convincing the world he didn’t exist. It was convincing the world God might not exist. That our prayers may not have an effect. That there may not be a Mashiach or a World To Come. That the Torah wasn’t given by a loving, involved, all powerful, God. Does the devil exist, asks, Is what I’m doing is really wrong? Does God exist, asks, Is there even a point in asking whether something is wrong to begin with?
Rashi comments on the Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Teitzei 11 saying “The name of God is not whole, and the throne of God is not whole, until the seed of Amalek is exterminated.” The Piaseczno Rebbe (who died in the Holocaust) asked, “Why does the Midrash stress the seed of Amalek?” Meditating on the realities of the Nazi oppression, he said the following…
Who knows how long the Sabbath, that today so many Jews, constrained by Amalek’s torments, are forced to desecrate, God have mercy, will remain so desecrated? After this war is over, people will not be as afraid of doing work on the Sabbath as they once were. The precaution against eating forbidden foods will for many of them never again be as strictly observed as it was before Amalek forced the consumption of non kosher foods upon them. Those young people who are forced to abandon the Torah now, who are enduring so much pain and suffering they do not even know if they are alive: Will they put their whole heads and bodies back into the study of Torah, after the destruction of Amalek? (From his sermon on Parshas Zachor, February 28, 1942)
The Piaseczno Rebbe’s fear that the seed of Amalek has become sown so deeply he almost despairs that the Jewish people will never recover. How does someone come back from such suffering to serve God with a whole heart? How could anyone eradicate their doubt in God when such heartbreak has taken place and the pain is still so present?
Parsha Zachor is taken from the book of Devarim, which is a retelling of the event of Amalek’s attack. There, the language says, “When God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land that Hashem your God is giving you… you shall obliterate the memory of Amalek.” But in parsha Beshallach, when the event actually occurs, the text says, “for I will totally obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the stars.” (Shemos: 17:14) I believe this means that when a person has gone through the suffering themselves, it is not their mitzvah to remove the doubt Amalek has sown in them. With time and healing, God will obliterate Amalek for them. But when we are safe and in a time of peace, pointing to history and far off injustices that we are either not involved in or don’t care enough to battle, letting those evils sew doubt in us is against the Torah. It is at that point, we must focus on the blessings we have, the miracles in our lives, and obliterate the seed of Amalek’s doubt before it festers into apathy or worse.
Doubt is the most difficult test. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do some children get cancer? How could the Holocaust have happened? These are not easy questions to answer. But we do know this. When doubt festers and becomes hopelessness, then depression, it is a sad and scary thing. Despair leads to spiritual and eventually physical death. Giving up is not the answer. God did open miracles for us in Egypt. So why not against Amalek? Because at a certain point, God wants us to do the miracle ourselves. Which is one of the many reasons we read Zachor before Purim, a holiday all about God being hidden while He rescues us because of our choice to have faith in him. Despite the most damning of odds. Eradicating evil from the world is part of our mission. That’s what we must never forget. Doubt that God isn’t present, involved, or guiding history for our ultimate victory? That’s just some silly trick the devil is trying to pull.
This dvar comes from my weekly Torah blog.
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