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Parshas Zachor- Leaders and Pioneers
For this year’s Parsha Lesson I will be focusing on a chinuch (parenting/ educational) lesson that can be derived from the Dvar Torah.
Background
This Shabbos is known as the Shabbos of ‘Parshas Zachor’. What this refers to is the positive commandment in the Torah, which we read in shul at the end of the Torah reading, to remember and never forget that which Amalek did to our people in the desert.
Shortly after the Jewish nation had left Mitzrayim (Egypt) they were chased by the army of Pharoah, who sought to recapture them and bring them back to Mitzrayim. This set up the historic splitting of the sea and the subsequent drowning of Pharoah’s army. This was the final blow which officially destroyed the great world super-power that had been the nation of Mitzrayim.
This event was particularly well-publicized and made shock waves around the world. In fact, the Torah tells us that a dread and terror of the Jewish people took hold of the other nations of the world. If the great super-power, Egypt, could so utterly be destroyed and decimated in such fabulously miraculous fashion, then of what hope could there be to any other nation which would face the Jewish people?
Shortly after this happened, the Jewish people were attacked by the nation of Amalek. True to form, the Jewish people thoroughly routed this fearsome nation of warriors and won a completely unnatural victory and sent a few survivors back home- maimed and beaten, in order to bear testimony to the tremendous victory of the Jews. However, Hashem commanded the Jewish people to never forget the tremendous treachery that the Amalekites did to our people and to commit to wipe them out wherever they may be found.
What was so bad about what the Amalekites did? They did attack the Jews, but they suffered such a severe defeat! What could possibly have been so problematic- more than all of the other nations of the world?
Rashi explains, quoting a Midrash, that the Jewish people were such a feared force and there was such a terror and dread of them that no other nation would even THINK to raise their hand against the Jewish nation. Until Amalek attacked and did just that. Once they attempted that which was unthinkable, this now ‘normalized’ attacking the Jewish people and perhaps someone else would do it better and more successfully.
Question
Once this ‘evil’ had been done, what was the purpose of killing out Amalek? Perhaps the ones who actually fought against the Jewish nation, and the rest of the nation which supported and encouraged the attack, should be punished for their evil deed. But why should we still be on the warpath against the Amalek nation even today- so many thousands of years later? What did these Amalek people do?
We know of G-d’s rule of justice that- no child shall die for the sins of their fathers (Devarim 24:16), so why then is there a current commandment for us to destroy the people of Amalek, what did they do?
Answer
By attacking the Jewish nation as they did, the people of Amalek were both acting based on their character- to break new ground, to be pioneers, of evil-doing and to combat goodness and G-dliness wherever it might be- as well as inculcating into their DNA, and therefore their descendents for all time, this same, particularly problematic, form of evil.
What do the Amalekites of future generations do which makes them deserving of this fate? The answer is- that same character trait which was exhibited by their ancestors many generations ago. They are inextricably aligned against G-d, and by extension his people, the Jewish nation, and look to ‘break new ground’ on evil wherever they can. In the Purim story, Haman was the one who conceived the plot to destroy the Jewish nation. Despite Achashveirosh being at least his equal in their hatred of the Jews, Haman was the one who led the way to genocide of the Jews.
Similarly, Hashem is telling us with this commandment, that the Amalek people for all time will be the leaders of evil and and aligned against G-dliness wherever they will be found.
Chinuch Lesson
When reflecting on how bad it is for someone to break new ground of evil and to incorporate the previously unthinkable into people’s concept of possibility, one cannot help but be impressed by how valuable and important it must be for someone to ‘break new ground’, to be a leader, a pioneer, when it comes to goodness!
As we know, Hashem values that which is good 500 times (!) more than that which is evil. This is taught to us by Rashi in Shemos 34:7 based on a Tosefta (teaching of the Tannaim). Therefore, when one appreciates the tremendous evil and how problematic it was what Amalek did, despite the insignificance per se of their act, but because they ‘broke new ground’ on evil, one is immediately struck by how valuable and important it is to be a ‘pioneer’ for that which is good. To be a leader for goodness must be so valuable and cherished in the ‘eyes’ of Hashem, and in the fate of the world.
If we can encourage our children, our students and even ourselves, to be pioneers for that which is proper and upright, to encourage them to be the ones to take the lead in establishing good relationships, to be the ones to stand up and do that which is right when others aren’t, that will be a tremendous accomplishment and serve to develop one’s character in a very significant way. Far beyond the exact consequences of what the individual action that was done, the fact that goodness was introduced and that there was a ‘breaking of new ground’ on proper, G-dlike, behavior, makes the act itself so much more significant and causes the person to be uplifted in a more significant way at the same time.
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Shabbos!
Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer
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