Parshat Zachor

Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; he met you by the way and smote the hindmost of you, all that were enfeebled in your rear, when you were faint and weary; and (he) did not fear God. Therefore, it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to possess, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget.

Deut: 25:17 – 19

(After the Exodus), mankind as a whole might have taken one great step further and acknowledged the sovereignty of the God of justice and truth, but then along came Amalek and unrestrained by the dread and awe that kept all the nations of the world in check…showed the way for the others. What was there to fear? That a people had gone forth from the land of Egypt…Now they were wandering in the wilderness, weary and struggling. Why should they not be attacked? This was the way of the world…The world returned to its former rut…

Nechama Leibovitz (20^th Century)

The correct interpretation appears to me that the verse states that you are not to forget what Amalek did to us until we blot out his remembrance from under the heavens, and that we are to relate it to our children…”

Ramban (13^th Century)

Do not forget this if you should ever wish to forget your calling and your mission as Israel among mankind; if ever you should envy the laurel wreaths woven by a besotted world to the memory of successful wreckers of human happiness…Do not forget this when you yourself will have to suffer from the brutality and violence of Amalek. Remain firm. Persevere in the humanity and justice that your God has taught you

Samson Raphael Hirsch (19^th Century)

A different reading of the text…”you were faint and weary and did not fear God,” raises a more disturbing possibility; it was the Jewish people who were not only faint and weary, but also the ones who were lacking in the fear of God…In what way were the Jewish people not fearing God-fearing?...it was the manner in which the people of Israel allowed their own enfeebled to be so vulnerable, so unprotected, left to fend for themselves as they straggled behind, fully open to Amalek’s vicious attack. Why did they not ensure that these defenseless people were well protected, safe within their ranks, not all the way back?

Saul Berman (Contemporary)

I find intriguing the juxtaposition of two actions. We are commanded not to kill the Amalekites, but to blot our their memory…We are also commanded to remember Amalek, not privately, but in the public reading…Thus we face the paradox of publicly remembering Amalek whose memory we are to blot out. How can the memory be blotted out if we yearly recall it?...Further, The name Amalek is not mentioned (in the ancient world) outside the Bible. Were we Jews not to recall Amalek, who else would?...Are we creating and recreating the image that we wish to erase?...letting go of memories may open us up to a more radical danger of losing all capacity for collective memory…To remember Amalek is to preserve a Jewish memory which the rest of the ancient world never noted or decided to forget…

Joseph Reimer (Contemporary)

Remember the Shabbat to keep it holy (Exodus 20:8)

Remember this day on which you went free from Egypt (Exodus 13:3)

Remember what God did to Miriam (Deut. 24:9)