פרשת צו וענייני מחיית עמלק

This week’s Parsha deals primarily with the sacrificial offerings which Hashem commanded to be performed in the newly built Mishkan, and which would eventually be offered in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.  These intricate sets of instructions were relayed to Moshe, and were then passed on to the Kohanim and to the entire Jewish people.  The first offering mentioned is the “Olah” offering, which was to be presented twice daily on the altar and which was completely burnt for Hashem.  Rashi explains that the word “Tzav” was chosen in order to motivate the Kohanim and the Jewish people to perform this particular sacrifice with great alacrity.  He explains that this offering required greater enthusiasm than the others  because it involved an enormous, daily monetary loss.  No part of the animal was permitted to be eaten, even by the Kohanim.  The entire animal needed to be scorched whole, rendering it inedible.  Accordingly, Hashem chose the word “Tzav” to inspire the Kohanim to perform it with the same eagerness they performed the rest of the service.

R’ Simcha Zissel from Kelm points out an obvious concern with this Rashi.  The Kohanim were deliberately chosen for their piety and their predisposition toward spirituality.  Why then would we assume that the expense involved would have led them to be lackadaisical in their responsibilities?  Couldn’t we have relied on their spirituality and assumed they would have been above that?  R’ Simcha Zissel explains that we see from here that Hashem created the human being with a strong attachment to his physical possessions, and no matter how developed he is, it is impossible, and quite possibly detrimental, to ignore that connection.  The Gemorah states that some people transgress the commandments concerning forbidden sexual relations, many transgress theft, and all transgress the commandments concerning forbidden speech.  “Many transgress theft” includes many righteous people, who are otherwise quite careful with Halacha, yet nonetheless stumble on this challenge because of their infatuation with money.  There is a story told about one of the great leaders of the past generation who, on his deathbed, gathered his students and told them, “You all know that I have tried to work on myself during my lifetime.  And you and I both know where I am going to be in a few minutes.  But if you held out a sum of money this minute, even now, I would have to restrain myself from the desire to reach out and grab it!”  We cannot deny our fascination and attachment to money.  Rather,  the correct position is to acknowledge that connection, and attempt to keep it in check so that it does not interfere with our service of Hashem.

R’ Simcha Zissel goes on to suggest that there are exercises one should perform to attempt to detach himself from this strong connection to physicality.  We find that when R’ Shimon Bar Yochai emerged from the cave with his son, everywhere they looked, they saw people abandoning their spiritual pursuits in favor of financial advance.  They incredulously gazed upon these “skewed” people and, in so doing, literally burnt them up, until R’ Shimon Bar Yochai and his son were commanded to return to their cave and develop a little more tolerance.  This Gemorah teaches us that we should view our need to be involved with this ephemeral world with as much distaste as possible.   Although we certainly have to provide for our families, this should be done as quickly as possible and without excessive emotional involvement.  Our focus and passion must be on the spiritual and on the gains we can make therein.  When we are in the work place, our intent should be to get our work done efficiently and honestly, and to get back to what is really important – eternity.  This way, by shifting our focal point, and realigning our priorities, money and physical pursuits will naturally become far less important in our lives, while success in spirituality will take on a more primary role.

This week, we have an opportunity we only get once a year, to remember what Amalek did to us, and to obliterate them from this earth because of it.  If one researches Chazal to understand what was so terrible about Amalek that earned them the unique commandment to be wiped out of existence, one finds that it was particularly their lack of proper respect for what is important in life.  This wicked trait is called “ליצנות” or mockery.  They simply did not take seriously what they should have.  This began with their decision to attack the Jewish people in the desert.  The Jews had just had indescribable miracles performed for them.  Everybody on the planet knew that they were Hashem’s chosen people.  Amalek wanted to cast doubt on that fact by attacking them.  The numerical value for Amalek is Safek – doubt.  The verse says, “אשר קרך בדרך” implying that the whole reason we have to destroy Amalek is because they “cooled us off” along the way.  This “cooling,” however it presents itself, can cause one to doubt the primacy of spirituality in this world, and to question one’s own hard-won value system, and thus is one of the most insidious forces on earth.  The only way to combat such a force is with a powerful burst of trust and faith in Hashem, and by constantly driving home what we know to be true.

Amalek’s chutzpah began with his grandfather, Eisav.  Eisav gave away his spiritual birthright for a bowl of soup, thereby beginning a trend of people who mock spirituality and spiritual pursuits.  Amalek took it much further.  The Midrash says that Amalek, at the height (or nadir) of his mockery, cut off the foreskins of the Jewish people and threw them in the air, exclaiming, “Are these the people you chose and the ridiculous commandments You commanded?”  The Megillah says about Haman, the direct descendant of Eisav, that he mocked the Jewish people, apparently carrying on a family tradition.  Achashverosh wore the clothes of the Kohen Gadol at his party, as did his lovely wife Vashti, mocking the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash.  This force of scoffers and mockery is very real and very present, persisting in our world.   Today, we no longer can fulfill the commandment of wiping out Amalek, because we do not have the ability to determine with absolute certainty who they are.  But the commandment to preserve a hatred for them, and to wipe out what they stand for, is still completely relevant and incumbent upon every Jew.  Every time we hear a voice belittling the importance of spirituality and its pursuit, we have a commandment in the Torah to wipe out that force of Amalek and quash that voice as thoroughly as possible, even if it emanates from within, and remind ourselves of what we know to be true, as revealed to us by Hashem at Sinai.  The Mashgiach, R’ Aryeh Finkel points out that the three common “Amalek” traps people fall into concern Torah, tefilah, and personal relationships.  Regarding Torah, he explains that Amalek was only able to attack when the Jews were weak in their Torah study.  This can easily happen to us when we don’t take our learning seriously enough, or we feel that we have achieved a “sufficient” level of Torah study.  Regarding tefilah, The Gemorah in  Berachos (6b) says that prayer is something which stands at the highest spiritual point, yet people scoff at its value.  They don’t fully realize what it means to stand in front of the Creator thrice daily and be able to speak to Him about anything.  And finally, Amalek can crop up in how we treat our friends.  The Torah teaches us that a Kohen must not take long steps ascending the ramp of the Mizbeach, lest his legs be exposed and the honor of the Mizbeach be diminished.  Chazal learn out that if the Torah is teaching us to have such a heightened sensitivity for the honor of an inanimate object, certainly the idea of reducing our fellow man’s honor will be so anathema to us that we will never even contemplate such a despicable action.  R’ Aryeh concludes that we see from this Chazal in what esteem we need to hold our fellow man, in that he is compared to the altar in the Beis Hamkidash!  The way to get to this level of honor is to consider the fact that just as the Beis Hamikdash was Hashem’s sanctuary in this world, each and every human being is created in the image of Hashem and is like a miniature Mikdash.  In summary, Amalek stands for everything which skews our values and causes us to ignore or not take seriously our spiritual growth, and the destruction of that horrible, sinister, jaded attitude can only come when we regain our innocence and choose to place all our emphasis on spirituality and the inroads we can make therein.

May Hashem bless us all to wipe out the memory of Amalek this year, and rejoice in Jerusalem!