When bad things happen to evil people: first we weep, then we breathe, but do we learn?
We have looked at this before — but it is good, especially on this coming “Shabbat of Remembering,” to remember . . . yet again.
I wasn’t sure which ‘Amalek’ in particular to choose — but seeing as this was Stalin’s 1893 religious school class picture (the Gori Religious Seminary School) I thought it might be fitting to remember him in this way . . . especially as he had such a religious zeal about him. While his name should be erased, along with several other rather monstrous individuals, this would be a particularly good time (this Shabbat) to remember not only what he did — but what he was yet capable of doing, should he have lived longer. One could say, and the Tradition suggests, that we really haven’t seen the last of him, in our own times — especially as the presence of Amalek, Agag, and Hamen rarely die forever . . .
Evil and us as the Coal Miner’s Canary
The Shabbat of Remembering carries a message — a warning of what happens when we forget the lurking presence of evil in the world, an evil that all too often visits the Jewish people . . . but while it often visits us first, it rarely stops there.
Thus, a ‘Shabbat of Remembering’ this Shabbat — the readings command us ‘not to forget’ — (see the Maftir (final Torah Aliyah reading immediately below):
Deuteronomy 25:17-19
זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם׃
Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt—
אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כׇּל־הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים׃
how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march, when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.
וְהָיָ֡ה בְּהָנִ֣יחַ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֣יךָ ׀ לְ֠ךָ֠ מִכׇּל־אֹ֨יְבֶ֜יךָ מִסָּבִ֗יב בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יְהֹוָה־אֱ֠לֹהֶ֠יךָ נֹתֵ֨ן לְךָ֤ נַחֲלָה֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ תִּמְחֶה֙ אֶת־זֵ֣כֶר עֲמָלֵ֔ק מִתַּ֖חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לֹ֖א תִּשְׁכָּֽח׃ {פ}
Therefore, when your God יהוה grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the land that your God יהוה is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!
___________
And lest we forget, or overlook, we can see this in the Haftara (the prophetic reading from 1st Samuel 15 — read on this very Shabbat, as well):
“Thus said the LORD of Hosts: I am exacting the penalty for what Amalek did to Israel, for the assault he made upon them on the road, on their way up from Egypt.
עַתָּה֩ לֵ֨ךְ וְהִכִּיתָ֜ה אֶת־עֲמָלֵ֗ק וְהַֽחֲרַמְתֶּם֙ אֶת כּל־אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ל עָלָ֑יו וְהֵמַתָּ֞ה מֵאִ֣ישׁ עַד־אִשָּׁ֗ה מֵֽעֹלֵל֙ וְעַד־יוֹנֵ֔ק מִשּׁ֣וֹר וְעַד־שֶׂ֔ה מִגָּמָ֖ל וְעַד־חֲמֽוֹר׃ {ס}
Now go, attack Amalek, and proscribe all that belongs to him.
But does Saul, the Benjaminite king do what he is commanded?
For the record, Saul is not forgetful of the command, instead he is forgetful of who he is — he sees the crown as his own and with it he chooses to identify with an evil king — a fellow sovereign.
Forgetting who you are is never a good idea — especially as identity weakens and one becomes vulnerable — as the Torah suggests, you may very well become the sacrifice . . . ”
____
Purim and Haman — memory comes and goes, but apparently Agag and Amalek never leave us — so it would be wise for us now, just before Purim returns — to remember ‘what and who’ manages to surface in every generation.
Do not forget . . .
