CHOCHMAS NASHIM: ZACHOR: WHO CAN FORGET?
By: Suri Davis
It is not difficult for us to remember Amalek, we are experiencing it this very moment in the Gazan war.
I saw two shows this year on Broadway, one was Leopoldstat and the other Lehman Brother Trilogy. The basis of the Leopoldstat was a Jewish family in pre WWII Europe who were wealthy and they all intermarried into high society, changing their names, the names of their children and having them baptized, to erase the Jewish identity forever. The Nazis didn’t care, and reminded them they were Jewish.
In the beginning of the Lehman brother trilogy, when the first brother died, the other brothers closed their business and sat shiva and said kaddish for their brother. By the time the last brother died, the survivors had a moment of silence and went about their day and lives.
At the beginning of the Hamas/Israel war, everyone was sending huge thanks to Mr. Biden for his help. Excuse me if I tell you that I was not impressed in that there were American hostages held captive too, and we are approaching election season. It’s not to say that we shouldn’t acknowledge Biden and the U.S. help, but to ignore the motives, and Jewish history is to put your eggs in the wrong basket, as we see now that Biden has strong words for Netanyahu (understood) and Israel’s continued war in Israel.
In ancient Jewish history, we have made allies of Ashur and Egypt, expecting that when we allied with them, they would come to our aid when/if necessary. That didn’t happen. Above is a list of countries to whom Israel has given aid in their time of need, not one has reciprocated, nor voiced support for Israe in its time of need.
I cringed every time Netanyahu felt the need to prove and to justify its action to the United States and the world platform every step of its military plan, as if we were children on probation. He finally understood that there is nothing that Israel can do to justify its existence to a world who wants it dead and weak. It is truly appalling how Israel was a victim of horrific and continued terror, and the world judges it, as its hostages are still held daily victim to the Arabs.
So this Shabbos, in our Maftir, we discuss the war of Amalek against helpless Jews, to hearken back to a period thousands of years old, why? Because Amalek still lives, and we can identify its characteristics in Hamas, Arabs and the nations of the world. “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 yourrear, when you were tired and exhausted; he did not fear G-d.” Deuteronomy 25:17.
Hamas went after civilians, the women, elderly, children. They went into communities where the people were weak, i.e., they befriended the Arabs, brought them into their communities to help them, and give them work, befriend them, take them to doctor visits, thought these gentiles were their friends, that they were different. They were not. They used these “friendships” to identify where people lived, how many people lived in each home, so they could target them on the joyous holiday of Simchat Torah.
I will repeat what I have already written. Hamas is Amalek, they targeted the weak, and even as they brutalized them, they videotaped the brutality to brag about it to a world, who was and is happy to see the extermination of Jews. This is as Haman and Achashverosh, in the very sentence which states that Haman sent out messengers to declare a day of Jewish death to all the 127 provinces of Persia, sat down to drink in merriment. The preying on the weak, and the revelation in Jewish genocide.
In every generation, we are deserving of punishment, a reminder that G-d wants us to do better. We remember the enemy, and we celebrate that G-d watches over us to save us.
As our hostages are still in captivity, we can easily feel the tentacles of Amalek, let us prepare our celebration with the knowledge that G-d will redeem them and all of us speedily in our time.
Freilich Purim. Good Shabbos.
-Suri