Why remember Amalek?

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

Every year on the Shabbos before Purim, we read Parshas Zachor, which relates how after the Exodus and Matan Torah, all the nations feared the Jews, but the nation of Amalek waged war against the Jews just to cool off this fear (see Rashi on Devarim 25:18). This is one of the Six Mitzvos of Remembrance (printed in many siddurim after Tefillas Shacharis); we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek, and in the future, to eradicate this nation.

Why should there be a special mitzvah to remember the evil of Amalek? We no longer know who belongs to this nation, so the command to eradicate them will only go into effect in the times of Moshiach. What do we gain by remembering this?

Moreover, the other Mitzvos of Remembrance teach us fundamental principles of Judaism, such as the Exodus, the giving of the Torah and the holiness of the Shabbos. What purpose does remembering the evil of Amalek serve?

Before answering, let’s understand who Amalek is. Why did this nation launch a battle against the Jewish people, which Rashi (Devarim 25:18) compares to a person who jumps into a tub full of boiling water, knowing that he will suffer burns, because he wants to cool down the water for everyone else. Why would they do this?

The answer is that when the Jewish people miraculously left Egypt, crossed through the Red Sea and received the Torah, this showed all the nations that Hashem oversees and manipulates the forces of nature to assist His nation. Amalek could not tolerate this. They insisted that the world is run by blind forces of nature, with no hashgacha pratis (Divine providence). Whatever occurs in the world is simply happenstance. Therefore, they had to attack the Jews and all that they stood for.

Amalek is called the “First of the Gentiles” (Bamidbar 24:20) because they embody this heretical idea and spread it throughout the world. Their very essence is the denial of Hashem’s involvement in our lives. Therefore, we try to remember that there is an evil force in the world that runs counter to what we know, that Hashem is “mechadeish b’tuvo b’chol yom maaseh Bereishis — He renews in His goodness every day the work of creation” (from the weekday Yotzer Ohr prayer). We are commanded to hate Amalek, who try to blind humanity to Hashem’s hashgacha, and we await the day when the entire world will be rid of their destructive presence (Haamek Davar Shemos 17:14).

Unfortunately, this heretical force affects not only the gentiles but us as well. We are commanded to believe in Hashem with a clear and firm faith. Amalek is a force that tries to weaken that. The Kedushas Levi states that a Jew should know that if he ever wonders to himself, “Where is Hashem? Why did this happen?” — he should pause and acknowledge that these doubts stem from Amalek. In fact, the Gematria (numerical value) of “Amalek” is the same as the Hebrew word for “doubt” (safek). Our response must be to strengthen our emuna, particularly in hashgacha pratis. By working to develop positive thoughts of emuna and distancing doubts — which in fact run counter to what we truly believe — we fulfill the mitzvah of eradicating the memory of Amalek.

How can we strengthen our belief in hashgacha pratis, that Hashem oversees all the affairs of the world and is aware of and involved in every detail of our lives? We should think, even when not everything is going our way, still — how much is going our way? Were you successful in your job today? Or in learning? Or in coming on time to davening? Have you avoided the flu this winter? Get used to recalling that all these good things come from Hashem. The next step is to consider that even things that seem bad are also from Hashem, and are intended to push us to improve ourselves (see Rambam, Laws of Taanis 1:2). This takes training, but we can do it!

Rav Avraham, son of the Vilna Gaon, writes that studying Megilas Esther can strengthen our emuna in hashgacha pratis enormously. So many small events connect together in such an intricate way that no one can claim that “it’s all just a coincidence.” Even if a detail here or there can seem random, the way all the details come together teaches clearly that Hashem was orchestrating the entire story.

The Ramban (Bereishis 18:19) writes that even though Hashem’s hashgacha pratis extends to every Jew, His tzaddikim merit a special form of protection. The Steipler would advise people to try to be in the presence of gedolei Yisrael to behold their special hashgacha and be inspired by it.

Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein relates that a bachur was once in the Ben Gurion Airport waiting for the announcement for passengers to board the plane. He noticed that a mashgiach of a yeshiva gedola was in a corner, davening. Realizing that his plane was the only one scheduled to take off in the near future, this mashgiach was clearly also holding a ticket for the same flight. The boarding announcement was made, and several hundred people began filing orderly onto the plane. Meanwhile, the mashgiach was absorbed in his davening, completely unaware of the announcement.

Curious, the bachur decided not to board the plane but rather to stand beside the mashgiach. When the mashgiach finished davening, it was ten minutes after the last passenger aside from them had boarded the plane. The two ran to the admissions counter, hoping they’d still be allowed on to the plane. No staff was there to take their boarding passes, but they asked another airport employee if the flight had already taken off.

“No,” he said. “A suspicious object was found on board and security had to take care of it. Just now they got clearance for take-off.”

“Can you get us to the plane? We have tickets!”

The employee showed them where to go, and moments before take-off, they boarded the flight.

When the bachur was asked why he had stayed with the mashgiach, as he could have missed his flight, he replied: “I felt that the mashgiach would merit extra Hashgacha pratis and everything would work out. If not, I thought that he might need my help.”

May we strengthen our Emuna in Hashgacha Pratis!