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Three and 1/2 year Lectionary
Adar 11, 5766 – March 10/11, 2006
First
Year of the
Fifth
Year of the Shemittah Cycle
Friday,
Friday,
Friday,
For
other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp
Week
Forty-three of the Cycle
Coming
celebrations:
Fast of
Esther – Adar 13, 5766 – March 12/13,
2006
Purim
(non walled cities) Adar 14, 5766 – March 13/14,
2006
Purim
(walled cities) Adar 15, 5766 – March 14/15,
2006
For more information see:
http://www.betemunah.org/allegories.doc
; http://www.betemunah.org/esther.doc
; and
http://www.betemunah.org/purim.doc
Next
Sabbat: Shabbat Parah – Sabbath of the Red Heifer
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Shabbat: |
Torah |
Weekday Torah |
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זָכוֹר |
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“Zakhor” |
Reader 1 – Debarim 24:14-18 |
Reader 1 – Sh’mot |
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“Remember” |
Reader 2 – Debarim 24:19-22 |
Reader 2 – Sh’mot |
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“Recuerda” |
Reader 3 – Debarim 25:1-4 |
Reader 3 – Sh’mot |
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Debarim (Deut.) 24:14 – 25:19 |
Reader 4 – Debarim 25:5-7 |
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I Samuel 15:1-34 |
Reader 5 – Debarim 25:8-10 |
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Reader 6 – Debarim 25:11-16 |
Reader 1 – Sh’mot 5:1-4 |
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Reader 7 – Debarim 25:17-19 |
Reader 2 – Sh’mot 5:5-9 |
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Maftir – Debarim 25:17-19 |
Reader 3 – Sh’mot |
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N.C. Rev. 1:12 – 3:22 |
I Samuel 15:1-34 |
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Roll of Honor:
This Torah commentary comes to
you courtesy of His Honour Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and beloved family, as
well of Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah and beloved family. For their
regular and sacrificial giving, we pray G-d’s richest blessings upon their
lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael, amen ve amen! Also a great thank you to His Excellency Adon
Stephen Legge and beloved family for making available at short notice computing
facilities to produce this week’s Torah Commentary.
Targum Pseudo
Jonathan for:
Debarim
(Deut.) 24:14 – 25:19
You shall not be hard
upon your neighbors, or shift (or decrease) the wages of the needy and poor
hireling of your brethren, or of the strangers who sojourn in your land, in
your cities. In his day you shall pay him his hire. Nor let the sun go down
upon it; because he is poor, and he hopes (for that hire) to sustain his life:
lest he appeal against you before the Lord, and it be guilt in you. [
Fathers shall not die
either by the testimony or for the sin of the children, and children shall not
die either by the testimony or for the sin of the fathers: every one shall die,
by proper witnesses, for his own sin. You shall not warp the judgment of the
stranger, the orphan, or the widow, nor shall any one of you take the garment
of the widow for a pledge, that evil neighbors rise not and bring out a bad
report against her when you return her pledge unto her. And remember that you
were bondservants in the
When you have reaped
your harvests in your fields, and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you
shall not return to take it; let it be for the stranger, the orphan, and the
widow, that the Word of the Lord your God may bless you in all the works of
your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not search them after
(you have done it); for the stranger, the orphan, and widow, let it be. [
XXV. If there be a
controversy, between two men, then they shall come to the judges, and they
shall judge them, and give the decision (or outweighing of) righteousness to
the innocent, and of condemnation to the guilty. And if the wicked deserve
stripes, the judge shall make him lie down, and they shall scourge him in his
presence by his judgment, according to the measure of his guilt. [
You shall not muzzle
the mouth of the ox in the time of his treading out; [
When brethren from the
(same) father inhabit this world at the same time, and have the same
inheritance, the wife of one of them, who may have died, shall not go forth
into the street to marry a stranger; her brother-in-law shall go to her, and
take her to wife, and become her husband. And the first-born whom she bears
shall stand in the inheritance in the name of the deceased brother, that his
name may not be blotted out from
While men are striving
together, if the wife of one of them approach to rescue her husband from the
hand of him who smites him, and putting forth her hand lays hold of the place
of his shame, you shall cut off her hand; your eyes shall not pity. [
You shall not have in
your bag weights that are deceitful; great weights to buy with, and less
weights to sell with. Nor shall you have in your houses measures that deceive;
great measures to buy with, and less measures to sell with. [
Keep in mind what the
house of Amalek did unto you in the way, on your coming up out of Mizraim; how they
overtook you in the way, and slew every one of those among you who were
thinking to go aside from My Word; the men of the tribe of the house of Dan, in
whose hands were idols (or things. of strange worship), and the clouds overcast
them, and they of the house of Amalek took them and mutilated them, and they
were cast up: but you, O house of Israel, were faint and weary from great
servitude of the Mizraee, and the terrors of the waves of the sea through the
midst of which you had passed. Nor were the house of Amalek afraid before the
Lord. [
Ashlamatah: I Samuel 15:1-34
1 And Samuel said unto
Saul: 'The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over His people, over
2 Thus says the LORD
of hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to
3 Now go and smite
Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay
both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.' {S}
4 And Saul summoned
the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten
thousand men of
5 And Saul came to the
city of
6 And Saul said unto
the Kenites: 'Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I
destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel,
when they came up out of Egypt.' So the Kenites departed from among the
Amalekites.
7 And Saul smote the
Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is in front of
8 And he took Agag the
king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the
edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the
people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young
of the second birth, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not
utterly destroy them; but every thing that was of no account and feeble, that
they destroyed utterly. {P}
10 Then came the word
of the LORD unto Samuel, saying:
11 'It repents Me that
I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following Me, and has
not performed My commandments.' And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the
LORD all night.
12 And Samuel rose
early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying: 'Saul came
to
13 And Samuel came to
Saul; and Saul said unto him: 'Blessed be you of the LORD; I have performed the
commandment of the LORD.'
14 And Samuel said:
'What means then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the
oxen which I hear?'
15 And Saul said:
'They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of
the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God; and the rest we
have utterly destroyed.' {P}
16 Then Samuel said
unto Saul: 'Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD has said to me this
night.' And he said unto him: 'Say on.' {S}
17 And Samuel said:
'Though you be little in your own sight, art you not head of the tribes of
18 and the LORD sent
you on a journey, and said: Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites,
and fight against them until they be consumed.
19 Wherefore then did
you not hearken to the voice of the LORD, but did fly upon the spoil, and did
that which was evil in the sight of the LORD?' {S}
20 And Saul said unto
Samuel: 'Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way
which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have
utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took
of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice
unto the LORD your God in Gilgal.' {S}
22 And Samuel said: 'Has
the LORD as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearkening
to the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to
hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is
as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because
you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being
king.' {S}
24 And Saul said unto
Samuel: 'I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD,
and your words; because I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice.
25 Now therefore, I
pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.'
26 And Samuel said
unto Saul: 'I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the
LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over
27 And as Samuel
turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent.
{S}
28 And Samuel said
unto him: 'The LORD has rent the
29 And also the Glory
of Israel will not lie nor repent; for He is not a man, that He should repent.'
30 Then he said: 'I have sinned; yet honor me now, I pray, before the elders of
my people, and before
31 So Samuel returned
after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. {S}
32 Then said Samuel:
'Bring hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.' And Agag came unto him in
chains. And Agag said: 'Surely the bitterness of death is at hand.' {S}
33 And Samuel said: As
your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among
women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. {S}
34 Then Samuel went to
Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeath-shaul.
35 And Samuel never
beheld Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul; and
the LORD repented that He had made Saul king over
Remember and Do Not Forget
By Hillel ben David (Greg Killian)
On the Shabbat before Purim, two Torah scrolls are taken from the ark; one for the regular Parasha and one for the Maftir (During this special Shabbat the regular portion of the week is read and seven persons are called to the Torah. The Maftir is taken from another portion and relates to the theme of this special Shabbat, as does the Prophetic portion.). The Maftir commands us to 'Remember what Amalek did to you' (Devarim 25). Because of this reading, it is called, Shabbat Zakhor (Remember). The Haftarah also deals with Amalek.
This Shabbat Zakhor’s proximity to Purim demands that there be a connection between the two, and the detailing of that connection is one of the purposes of this paper.
On Shabbat Zakhor we perform the mitzvot to remember and not forget what Amalek did. The imperative to remember the deeds of Amalek was given permanence by Moshe at the command of HaShem:
Shemot
(Exodus)
Whenever something is “written in a book”, it is done so with the idea that the issue needs to be remembered.
The readings, relative to Amalek, for Shabbat Zakhor are:
Torah: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17-19
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 15:1-34
Rambam in his Sefer HaMitzvot tells us that there are three specific mitzvot related to Amalek:
1. Positive mitzva number 188: “The extinction of the seed of Amalek”:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when HaShem thy God
hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which
HaShem thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it, [that] thou
shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not
forget [it].
2. Positive mitzva number 189: “Remembering the nefarious deeds of Amalek”:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the
way, when ye were come forth out of
3. Negative mitzva number 59: “Not forgetting what Amalek did to us”:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:19 Therefore it shall be, when HaShem thy God
hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which
HaShem thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it, [that] thou
shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not
forget [it].
(The Rambam also discusses the above mitzvot in Sefer Hachinuch mitzvah 603, 604, 608.)
Since we have three mitzvot relative to the destruction of Amalek, it is important that we have a good understanding of our opponent and of his nefarious deeds. Armed with this knowledge we will be positioned to fulfill these mitzvot at the appropriate times.
Once a year on the Shabbat before Purim, we have the only Torah reading in which everyone is obligated to hear[1]:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17-19 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the
way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he encountered you by the
way, and smote the hindmost of thee, [even] all [that were] feeble behind thee,
when thou [wast] faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall be,
when HaShem thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in
the land which HaShem thy God giveth thee [for] an inheritance to possess it,
[that] thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou
shalt not forget [it].
On Shabbat Zakhor we can perform two mitzvot: We “Remember the nefarious deeds of Amalek” and we “do not forget what Amalek did to us”.
The Torah shows us that, Amalek, is intimately associated with evil in this world. We will see that Amalek really does represent evil. When Amalek is eliminated, so too is evil.
Amalek, and therefore evil, will be with us until Mashiach finally destroys it. Our Sages teach us that “In every generation Amalek rises to destroy us, and each time he clothes himself in a different nation”[2].
The ways of Amalek, in every generation, are always the same and they provide the clue that we are fighting Amalek. The Midrash provides an intriguing insight into the methodology of Amalek, which helps us to understand the mitzvot to remember and not forget. The Hebrew word Karcha, "encountered you," also translates "cooled you off". Thus the Midrash says:
Midrash Tanhuma What is the incident (of Amalek) comparable
to? To a boiling tub of water which no creature was able to enter. Along came
one evil-doer and jumped into it. Although he was burned, he cooled it for the
others. So, too, when
Abarbanel (at the end of Parashat Ki Tsetse) finds four signs that we are fighting Amalek, which are disclosed by the Torah in Parashat Zakhor:
1. Conventional war is
fought in order to protect one's territory from a belligerent other nation.
Amalek’s territorial integrity was not being threatened by the exodus of the
Jews from
2. When winds of war loom on the horizon of any society, it is most common that the aggressor will announce his intentions to go to war. Here, Amalek didn't at all announce its intentions to attack.
3. Amalek’s ambush was directed towards the weak and feeble in the Jewish camp; those who were least able to defend themselves were killed.
4. For some absurd reason Amalek feared the Jews. Remember, though, that these were tired slaves, awed by their sudden reversal of fate, but weary nonetheless. These Jews cast fear over the camp of Amalekites. But HaShem, the great warrior on behalf of the Jews, they did not fear. How come? Abarbanel accordingly concludes: The utter absurdity of this attack when measured against conventional war for all times marked Amalek as the target of annihilation by the Jewish people. Indeed, this is HaShem's personal war also.
The Rambam, in Sefer Hachinuch, teaches us that the penalty for theft is greater if we steal when the owner is not around. This greater penalty is levied because it shows that we do not fear HaShem, but we do fear the owner. Thus we must conclude that Amalek’s penalty will be greater than those enemies who fear HaShem.
Amalek was the illegitimate son of Eliphaz, and the grandson of Esav, whose guardian angel is none other than HaSatan himself[3]. (Amalek’s mother was the illegitimate daughter of Amalek’s father). This is the first appearance of the word “Amalek” in the Torah:
Bereshit
(Genesis) 36:8-16 Thus dwelt Esau in
The progeny of Amalek are the archetypal enemy of the Jewish People. Their very existence is diametrically opposed to the Torah. The Sages describe the people of Amalek as being the essence of all the evil in the world.
Esau we know as the brother of
Yaakov, the son of Isaac. The Torah tells us that Esau wanted to kill his
brother Yaakov, who was also called
Bereshit (Genesis) 27:41-42 And Esau hated Yaakov because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him:
and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand;
then will I slay my brother Yaakov.
And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and
called Yaakov her younger son,
and said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort
himself, [purposing] to kill thee.
Eliphaz we know as one of the so called “friends” of Iyov (Job):
Iyov (Job) 42:7 And it was [so], that after HaShem had spoken these words unto Job,
HaShem said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and
against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me [the thing that is]
right, as my servant Job [hath].
Eliphaz was Esau's son (Bereshit 36:4). According to the Midrash (quoted by Rashi in Bereshit 29:11) he was bidden by his father to pursue Yaakov and slay him. Owing, however, to the influence of the teachings of Isaac, which he had imbibed, he forbore to do this, and as a compromise, in order not to disobey his father wholly, he deprived Yaakov of all his possessions, because a man without possessions is reckoned as dead.
Thus we see that Esau, Eliphaz, and Amalek all want to kill Yaakov. Amalek is following in his father’s footsteps. Amalek comes from an infamous family line.
This family also had some royal blood:
Sanhedrin 99b A propos, what is the purpose of [writing],
And Lotan's sister was Timna? — Timna was a royal princess, as it is written,
alluf [duke] Lotan, alluf [duke] Timna; and by ‘alluf’ an uncrowned ruler is
meant. Desiring to become a proselyte, she went to Abraham, Isaac and Yaakov,
but they did not accept her. So she went and became a concubine to Eliphaz the
son of Esau, saying, ‘I had rather be a servant to this people than a mistress
of another nation.’ From her Amalek was descended who afflicted
The Midrash also gives us some insight into the genealogy of Amalek:
Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXXII:14 AND TIMNA WAS CONCUBINE TO ELIPHAZ ESAU'S
SON (XXXVI, 14). R. Simeon b. Yohai taught: What purpose is served by the
verse, AND TIMNA WAS CONCUBINE TO ELIPHAZ?-It is to inform us of the greatness
of the house of our father Abraham and how royalty wished to become allied
[through marriage] to him. For what was Lotan? He was a son of one of the
chiefs, as it says, The chief of Lotan, etc. (ibid 29). Now it is written, And
Lotan's sister was Timna (ibid 22), and yet, AND TIMNA WAS CONCUBINE, etc.! She
said: Since I am not worthy of being his wife, let me be his handmaid. Now may
we not here draw a conclusion a fortiori: If kings ran to cleave to the wicked
Esau, who had to his credit but the one pious deed of honouring his father, how
much more will they run to cleave to Yaakov, who fulfilled the whole Torah!
The child of Timna was Amalek, the archenemy of the Jewish people. This was not accidental. When a potential convert, with genuine intentions, is distanced from the Jewish people by being made to feel unfit, the consequences for the Jewish people can be disastrous. The same occurred to Orpah. When she was discouraged from joining the ranks of the Jews, her children were given vast powers over the Jewish people. One of these children was Goliath, another was Yishbi; both of them were massive warriors who focused their efforts on fighting against the Jewish people.
Though the name Amalek refers to a nation that actually existed, it also describes a character trait within ourselves. Just as Amalek stood in direct opposition to the Jewish people, the trait symbolized by Amalek defies the very foundations of our divine service.
The Midrash[4] describes the nature of this trait in its commentary on the verse:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25:17-18 "Remember what Amalek did to you...as
you came forth from
The Midrash explains that the Hebrew word "Karcha" ("he encountered you") can also be rendered as "he cooled you off." Amalek represents the cold rationality, which makes us question everything we do or experience[5].
" Amalek," in terms of
our spiritual service of HaShem, is symbolic of coldness and apathy for all
that is holy. Of Amalek it is said, "He cooled you off" -- i.e., the
physical Amalek dampened
Yalkut Shimoni 1:264 "According to our
traditions, Esau will fall, in the hands of Rachel's children".
Chazal teach that Amalek, the descendant of Esau, will fall by the hand of Rachel’s children. Yehoshua from Ephraim was the first to fight and succeed (partially). King Saul of Binyamin took up the challenge, and Mordechai of Binyamin succeeded against Haman.
The Haftarah for Shabbat Zakhor
recalls the war with Amalek during the time of the prophet Sh’muel and King
Saul. The leader of the Amalekites[6]
at that time was King Agag, an ancestor of Haman, who is one of the central
characters in the story of Purim.
Saul,
the first king in
Sh’muel Alef (1 Samuel) 15:1-33 Samuel also said unto Saul, HaShem sent me
to anoint thee [to be] king over his people, over
Mordechai, the hero of Megillat Esther, was a descendant of King Saul and of the same royal house. No wonder he was given the task of destroying Haman, the descendant of Amalek! This incredibly close connection suggest that the reason why Shabbat Zakhor is the Shabbat before Purim, is to Chase home that the descendants of Rachel will destroy the descendants of Esau.
By the way, Hakham Shaul was also a Benjamite:
Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am
an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, [of] the tribe of Benjamin.
I believe that Hakham’s Shaul and his namesake, His Majesty King Saul (Shaul), had many things in common. King Saul battled physically against Amalek whilst Hakham Shaul used Torah as his weapon to eradicate the evil that is Amalek.
When we are confronted with an enemy who hates us and wants our destruction because we are different, because we remain faithful to HaShem and His Torah no matter what, because we won't compromise our beliefs, this is when we confront Amalek, no less than did Yehoshua or King Saul or Mordechai.
Amalek: The term may be divided into amal - to toil, and the letter kuf, with the meaning 'ejection of the life-spirit' e.g. katal - to kill with removal of life-spirit. So Amalek means 'becoming dispirited through loss of spirit as a result of hard labour and continuous toil'. Such detachment is negative in nature.
Amalek represents intellectual doubt, the kind that erodes one's sense of belief that HaShem is running world. This is why the Hebrew word "Amalek" (in gematria) has the numeric value of 240, which is equal to the Hebrew word "safek," which means doubt.
The Feast of Purim gets its name from the lots that Haman, the Amalekite, used to choose the day of destruction for the Jews. Pur is the Persian word for lots. The Hebrew word for lots is Goral. This is an amazing thing! Haman, like all Amalekites, does not believe that there is a God in the world. He thinks that everything occurs by happenstance. Yet we know that the truth is quite different:
Mishlei (Proverbs)
It is the Goral, the Pur, that demonstrates most powerfully this "Hashgachah Pratis", this providence, of HaShem in every detail of the world's existence. When a Goral is conducted, one has no input or influence on the outcome of the Goral. Thus Haman’s device to prove there is only happenstance, and that there is no God, was in fact proving just the opposite!
The Tikunei Zohar calls Yom HaKippurim a "day which is like Purim" ("Yom KiPurim"). On Yom HaKippurim our atonement is guided by the Goral in much the same way that HaShem directed Haman’s Pur.
The first time that the Torah tells us about the cowardly evil deeds of Amalek is in:
Shemot (Exodus) 17:7-16 And he called the name of the place Massah,
and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of
After the Jewish people defeated
Amalek in war, the verse states, "HaShem will be at war with Amalek for
all generations" (ibid.
King Saul failed to utterly
destroy Amalek as he had been commanded, and as a consequence lost his
kingship, and was slain by an Amalekite. Ever since, each generation of the
Jewish people has had war with an "Amalek": Haman; Stalin,
Hitler;
The Nazarean Codicil also addresses an enemy of the noble people:
Romans 16:17-20 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and
offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For
they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by
good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. For your
obedience is come abroad unto all [men]. I am glad therefore on your behalf:
but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning
evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.
The enemy that is being addressed is the one who causes divisions. The one who destroys are unity is just like Amalek. As Amalek creates doubt so too does the one who causes division within the congregation.
* * *
Bereshit (Genesis) 21:1 The Canaanites heard ...
He heard that Aharon had died and
that the Clouds of Glory had lifted ... Amalek is a “punishing strap” for
The Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 20b) clarifies the
process of the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash (the holy Temple). It states that the
nation of
The eradication of Amalek comes after we have a King who is a descendant of Rachel (Either from the tribe of Yosef or from the tribe of Binyamin). I have dealt with this topic extensively in the study titled “Esther”. Only AFTER Amalek is destroyed can the Mashiach ben David restore the Beit HaMikdash
Shabbat Zakhor is the name of the Shabbat before Purim so that the destruction of Amalek will be adjacent to the destruction of Haman, the latter being an Agagite, a descendant of Amalek.
Haman, one of the central
characters of the Megillat Esther, was descended from Amalek. The Prophets says
in Yeshayahu (chapter 43) that in spite of Bnei
Amalek’s goal is the total
destruction of
Haman’s treacherous buyout of the Jews has a parallel in the Nazarean Codicil:
Matityahu (Matthew) 26:14-16 Then one of the twelve, called Judas
Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said [unto them], What will ye give
me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty
pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.
Judas, a convert, was an image of Haman, the Amalekite.
Mashiach=
Mashiach was sold for silver, by Judas.
Both Judas and Haman had to leave their wine feast.
Both Judas and Haman were hung by gallows of their own making.
Both Judas and Haman were traitors of the Jewish people.
Both Judas and Haman were born Gentiles.
Both Judas and Haman sold out to those who were glad about their enemy’s impending destruction.
Both Judas and Haman gave their lives to destroy the Jewish people.
Both Judas and Haman had their plans come to nothing on Nisan 17.
Haman was thought to be Esther’s friend and Judas was thought to be Yeshua’s friend.
Both Judas and Haman were Amalekites!
Because the righteous are the body of Mashiach; if the head is killed, so is the body. Amalek is only interested in the destruction of all of the Bnei Israel.
Adar marks the fall and defeat of Haman the Agagite, a descendant of Amalek.
Shabbat similarly marks the
connection between God and His people - "Between Me and Bnei
Shabbat 118 "Had Bnei Yisrael observed the first
Shabbat after the giving of the manna, no other nation would have been able to
have dominion over them. The verse states: 'And it was on the seventh day that
some of the people went out to gather [the manna],' and afterwards the Torah
states: 'And Amalek came and fought.'"
When the Bnei Yisrael desecrate the Shabbat, they also damage their connection to God, thereby exposing an opening for Amalek to attempt to challenge the entire relationship between God and His nation.
The Midrash[7]
states that the word "Zakhor" (remember) appears with regard to both
Amalek and Shabbat because "the two are equal". One symbolizes God's
Hashgachah Pratis, His providence, and one its denial. Remembering and keeping
the Shabbat strengthens the holy covenant between HaShem and His nation
Our Sages decreed that Parashat Zakhor was to be read on the Shabbat before Purim and not on Purim itself. Shabbat symbolizes return out of love.
Devarim (Deuteronomy 25:17-18 Remember what Amalek did to you as you were
leaving
Parashat Ki Teitzei is known as the Parshah with the most amount of mitzvot, so it may not be surprising to find the mitzvah to recall Amalek's hatred of the Jewish people at the end of the Parshah, seemingly disconnected from what came before it and what comes after it.
However, the mitzvah that preceded this one of remembering Amalek was that of keeping properly balanced weights and measures, so that no one will ever end up paying more than they should have for what he purchased. However, the weighing of items is a symbol for far more than the give-and-take of the business world; it also represents the idea of being "deliberate in judgment."
Thus, the rabbis have taught:
Pirkei Avot 1:1 Moshe received Torah from Sinai, and handed
it over to Yehoshua; Yehoshua to the Elders; the Elders to the Prophets; and
the Prophets handed it over to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three
things: Be deliberate in judgment; develop many students; and make a fence for
Torah.
First the Mishnah discusses the mesorah, the line of Torah tradition without which Torah Judaism cannot survive. Right after that, however, the first teaching to emerge is to be "deliberate in judgment" ... to weigh issues and assess their importance.
It is as if the rabbis are admonishing that the Mesorah itself survives only when those responsible for it act level headed, are well-balanced, and only interested in the pursuit of justice-HaShem's justice. If not, then the teachings become flawed, severed from their Divine Source. The result of not properly weighing ideas: doubt, confusion, and war with Amalek!
Wait, the lesson is not over yet!
Following the command to remember
Amalek comes Bikkurim, the mitzvah to bring up the First-Fruits to the
This is the other half of the "sandwich" that encloses the story of Amalek. Disgruntled people are rebellious people who tend to turn against the authorities governing their lives. If the economy is good and the standard of living is reasonably high, then leaders can get away with just about anything. But if the quality of life drops, and you're a leader ... watch out!
Timing of Amalek’s Demise
The Targum of Yonatan ben Uziel (a translation of the Bible into Aramaic, the Jewish vernacular of ancient times) explains that the war against Amalek will end only when Mashiach comes and ushers in the Messianic age.
Shortly after leaving Mitzrayim, the Jewish people began to waver is their belief and in their Torah studies. This wavering led directly to a physical battle. The physical battle with Amalek began as a result of a spiritual problem:
Shemot (Exodus) 17:1-2 And all the congregation of the children of
Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to
the commandment of HaShem, and pitched in Rephidim: and [there was] no water
for the people to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said,
“Give us water that we may drink”. And Moses said unto them, “Why chide ye with
me? Wherefore do ye tempt HaShem?”
Baba Kama 82a The
[following] ten enactments were ordained by Ezra: That the law be read
[publicly] in the Minhah8 service on Sabbath; that the law be read [publicly]
on Mondays and Thursdays; that Courts be held on Mondays and Thursdays; that
clothes be washed on Thursdays; that garlic be eaten on Fridays; that the
housewife rise early to bake bread; that a woman must wear a sinnar; that a
woman must comb her hair before performing immersion; that pedlars [selling
spicery] be allowed to travel about in the towns, He also decreed immersion to
be required by those to whom pollution has happened.
‘That the law be read [publicly] in the
Minhah service on Sabbath:’ on account of shopkeepers [who during the weekdays
have no time to hear the reading of the Law].
‘That the law be read [publicly] on Mondays and Thursdays.’ But was this ordained by Ezra? Was this not ordained even before him? For it was taught: ‘And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water, upon which those who expound verses metaphorically said: water means nothing but Torah, as it says: Ho, everyone that thirsteth come ye for water. It thus means that as they went three days without Torah they immediately became exhausted. The prophets among them thereupon rose and enacted that they should publicly read the law on Sabbath, make a break on Sunday, read again on Monday, make a break again on Tuesday and Wednesday, read again on Thursday and then make a break on Friday so that they should not be kept for three days without Torah.’ — Originally it was ordained that one man should read three verses or that three men should together read three verses, corresponding to priests, Levites and Israelites. Then Ezra came and ordained that three men should be called up to read, and that ten verses should be read, corresponding to ten batlanim.
After this spiritual problem, Amalek “just happens” to come upon the Children of Israel:
Shemot (Exodus) 17:8 Then came Amalek, and fought with
After leaving the
Sanhedrin 106a What is the meaning of Rephidim? — R.
Eliezer said: Rephidim was its name. R. Joshua said: [It was so called] because
there they slackened in [their loyalty to] the Torah, as it is written, The
fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands.
The Mishnah illustrates the situation:
Rosh Hashanah 29a MISHNAH. [IT IS WRITTEN] AND IT
CAME TO PASS, WHEN MOSES HELD UP HIS HAND THAT
It states that when Moses raised
his hands in the air during the war with Amalek, the Jewish people prevailed.
Also, when his hands would be down at his side, the nation of Amalek prevailed
(Exodus
It says: And Amalek came.
The Gur Aryeh points out an
interesting consistency in the Torah. In all other instances of war described
in the Torah the word used is "went out" and not "came."
See "When you go out to war" (Deut.
So here, when the Torah says that
Amalek CAME and made war, it has the sound of an unprovoked incitement. Or we
could say, it has the sound of his being invited to come! G-d invited him to
make war with
If the Jews would have been fully
engaged in Torah study, then Amalek could have not attack them. It is
interesting to note that Amalek is a descendent of
What
Brings Amalek?
Devarim
(Deuteronomy) 25:17ff describes the mitzva to remember Amalek. This portion
ends with the command to remember and eradicate Amalek. Immediately prior to
the mitzvah of eradicating Amalek is the portion of honest weights and
measures.
Rashi, commenting on the juxtaposition of the two portions says, the connection is to teach us that if a person is dishonest with weights and measures, he is going to be attacked by Amalek. According to this Rashi, the reason why we suffer at the hands of Amalek is because of dishonesty.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 25 is actually the second time Amalek is mentioned in the Torah. Parshat Beshalach contains the first mention of the attack of Amalek. In the portion that precedes the section of Amalek, the Children of Israel ask the question:
Shemot (Exodus) 17:7 "Is HaShem in our midst or not?"
In this portion we see that the faith of the Children of Israel people was lax. What happened? Amalek attacked. Why did Amalek attach us at precisely this time? Chazal teach that this attack occurred at this time because Amalek represents that force in the world that does not believe in HaShem. We see from this portion that Amalek comes as a result of a lack of faith.
The question arises: Which is it? What brings Amalek? Does Amalek come because of a lack of faith or does Amalek come because of dishonesty and theft?
Rav Moshe Feinstein, z"tl, says that Amalek comes when there is a lack of faith. The portion of dishonest weights and measures is not a portion that merely deals with theft and dishonesty. Failure to maintain honest weights and measures only occurs when people are lacking in faith in HaShem!
Those who believes in HaShem, believes that it is HaShem who gives them their livelihood. Ultimately, no matter how hard we work and how hard we try, a person's sustenance is determined for him on Rosh Hashanah. If one believes in that, why should he have crooked weights and measures? Why is he cheating? What good will an extra dollar do for a person, if his annual income is already pre-determined?
The problem is that this person does not believe that it is HaShem who gives livelihood. This is not a crime of passion; this is not a sin of dishonesty. This is a "theological issue." This person believes he has to steal to make money! Those who do not maintain integrity in the marketplace, and cheats others, should concern himself with the reprisal of Amalek.
Therefore both the portion in Shemot and the portion in Devarim are teaching the same lesson. Amalek comes when we say: "Is HaShem in our midst?" When one's belief is weak, Amalek comes. And if one thinks he has to cut corners and cheat to earn a livelihood, then his belief is weak!
In our time, the major killers belonging to Amalek: Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Arafat, all were allowed or even encouraged, to continue to practice their barbarities because of the tolerance, the "appeasement" extended to them by well-meaning good people. If honest people do nothing, simply because they mistakenly believe that it does not affect them directly, then Amalek will come and attack.
Chazal teach us that Moshe's hands raised towards Heaven, in Shemot 17, were not the cause of the Children of Israel's triumph. Rather, the people's ability to subjugate their minds and heart to the service of HaShem was the determining factor in their success. Thus, Amalek's war against the Children of Israel symbolizes our ability to withstand outside pressures in order to focus upon the real source of our sustenance - HaShem. Amalek came to extinguish our fire of belief in HaShem. He did not succeed!
* * *
The arrival of Yitro, in Shemot 18, is juxtaposed with the battle against Amalek, in Shemot 17. The connection of these two portions lends further insight into Amalek.
Ibn Ezra indicates that these two portions are adjacent to show us that Amalek attacks the Children of Israel who had just left Egypt, and does them a disservice whilst Yitro came and did the Children of Israel a huge favor by suggesting to Moshe a hierarchy of judges rather than a system where only Moshe could settle disputes between people. Later in history, Amalek and Yitro appear together again. HaShem tells Sh’muel, the prophet, to have King Shaul destroy Amalek in its entirety. King Shaul first contacts a small nation, the Kenites, and asks them to move away from their home, which is in proximity of Amalek and in danger of being destroyed by the Children of Israel in a war. There is a tradition that the Kenites are descendants of Yitro, and King Shaul goes out of his way to warn them out of appreciation for the favor Yitro had done for the Jewish people in the desert. The Torah put these stories of Yitro and Amalek back to back to remind King Shaul that, even when avenging Amalek, he, and every person who fights a battle, must remember to show gratitude to those who have helped them along the way.
Yitro came to Moshe right after the first battle with Amalek. Both of them were Gentiles. Amalek represents the essence of the Gentiles, the evil in its worse expression, evil per se. Yitro was also a Gentile. The first one raised his hand to destroy the holy people and the second came out to offer good advice.
We still can hear the echo of the words in the last sentences of Shemot 17: "I will utterly blot out ... War with Amalek from generation to generation", and right after that: "Yitro, the priest of Midian, Moshe's father in law, heard of all that HaShem had done for Moshe and for Israel, His people." Two Gentiles standing at opposite extremes, yet the Torah puts them back-to-back. From Amalek we learn that you do not deal with the evil. You blot out him! From Yitro we learn, that an individual Gentile may be good to the Israelites, but not Midian, as a nation.
Rabbeinu Bachya, a classic 14th
century Torah commentator, explains that the juxtaposition, of Amalek and
Yitro, highlighted the stark contrast between the responses of Amalek and Yitro
to the miraculous events that surrounded the Children of Israel’s exodus from
The nation of Amalek chose, to not only close their eyes to the truth, but to attack those who carried its message. Yitro, on the other hand, took heed, paying very close attention to the events as they unfolded, and after witnessing one act of Divine providence after another, came to the conclusion that this nation must be very special. Yitro realized that he could not hide from the truth.
* * *
The Torah puts three things next to each other:
What is the connection between these three events?
At a very basic level we see that that the bread from heaven was a miraculous event. Why then, were the people worried about water? If HaShem can supply bread from heaven, which had never been seen before, why didn’t the people suspect that HaShem could bring water from heaven, like He had been doing for a very long time?
We can begin to understand answers to these questions when we consider that the word manna, is spelled: i7Œ8v = HaMan.
This is very interesting considering that the Amalekite protagonist in the Megillat Esther is spelled: i‡7n7v = Haman
This suggests that the allusion to Haman, in the incident of the manna, is a warning of the spiritual nature of this event, not the physical nature. It is as though we can see that if we fail to learn the lesson of the manna, then we will have trouble with the Amalekites.
So, do we learn our lesson? No, we go ahead and complain about the lack of water. The Sages then see this lack of Torah and its wisdom, as the cause of the Amalekite attack.
This lesson was obscured for the generation in the wilderness. This lesson is apparent to the talmid Torah, the Torah student today. This suggests that this event will occur again and that the lesson is very appropriate to us today, as the prophet said:
Micah 7:15 According to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I
shew unto him marvelous [things].
Gog, according to the Septuagint, is 'Agag,' a generic term used for kings of Amalek. Any war against the Children of Israel, meant to annihilate them, has to involve Amalek.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 24.7 Water will flow from their buckets; their
seed will have abundant water. "Their king will be greater than Agag;
their kingdom will be exalted.
LXX version Bamidbar (Numbers) 24.7: There shall come a man out of his
seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the
The word "Gog" uses not only the same consonants but has the same meaning as "Agag;" namely "roof, or that which covers."
Chazal have taught us that the battle with Gog and Magog will take place during Succoth, on the eve of the Messianic era. The mitzvot of Succoth are the survival mechanism for this great war. The Succah and the waving of the lulav and etrog are essential to our survival during this war. Complete trust is the critical requirement against a foe who trusts only in his own might.
The Haftarah on Shabbat chol hamoed is taken from Ezekiel 38, which contains a prophecy of the terrible war of Gog and Magog. This will be the last war ever to be fought, but it will engulf the whole world. Then will come a new era of peace, when HaShem will be recognized by all the nations of the world. The prophecy is very similar to that of Zechariah 14, read on the first day of Succoth.
Shabbat chol hamoed Pesach and Succoth:
Shemot 33:12 – 34:26
Shabbat chol hamoed Pesach:
Yechezkel 37:1-14
Shabbat chol hamoed Succoth:
Yechezkel 38:18 – 29:16
Every Shabbat chol hamoed Succoth we read the Haftarah (Yechezkel, Chapter 38) about the final confrontation at the end of days between Gog / Magog and the Children of Israel. How does Succoth connect with Gog and Magog and the end of days? Every year, when the Jew leaves his home for a week to eat, sleep and live in a Succah; a flimsy structure with a roof made of bits of wood, reed, bamboo, etc., he actualizes the idea that his ultimate care and protection come only from HaShem. The word "Gog" in Hebrew means roof.
The ADMOR of Zejichov, who lived some 200 years ago, wrote in his book a commentary about Exodus 4,13. The rabbi asks, how come the word "NA" (which is translated in English to 'please') is written in the verse. And he writes:
Know
this: Gog and Magog war will start at Hosha-Na Raba
Yehoshua
fought Amalek shortly after Pesach, on Iyar 28.
Mordechai
and Esther had Haman the Agagite hanged on Nisan 17, during Pesach.
King Saul’s seven sons were killed on Nisan 16 - Midrash Rabbah, Naso, ch.8
Wherever you find someone with a fanatical, implacable and illogical enmity to the Jewish People, you have found Amalek. His very existence is founded on his antipathy and hatred for the offspring of Yaakov.
Amalek is called Reshit
(the "first"), "Amalek was the first of nations"; he was
the first of the nations to attack
Bamidbar (Numbers) 24:20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up
his parable, and said, Amalek [was] the first of the nations; but his latter
end [shall be] that he perish forever.
The power of Reshit derives from the vacant space that precedes creation altogether. Analogously, Esau was born before his twin brother, Yaakov, and was considered to be the firstborn son.
Everything that is Reshit, first, contains the blueprint of all that is to follow. The seed comes first. Contained in the seed is the tree. Amalek is the bitter seed of anti-Semitism. Amalek Beware!
Tehillim (Psalm) 121:4 Behold, he that keepeth
Bamidbar (Numbers) 24:20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up
his parable, and said, Amalek [was] the first of the nations; but his latter
end [shall be] that he perish forever.
Shemot (Exodus)
However,
Shemot (Exodus)
Additionally, Yaakov took the right of the firstborn from his brother, Esau, from whom Amalek descends.
The way Yaakov, and
Our Sages state that the war with Amalek was one of the necessary preparations for the Giving of the Torah. Similarly, our Sages[9] state that the Jews did not fully accept the Torah until the time of Purim. This suggests that Torah is the tikkun (correction) for Amalek and, indeed, all evil.
"If one reads the Megillah in the wrong order (literally,
'backwards'), he has not fulfilled his obligation."
The Baal Shem Tov explained that this refers to a person who reads the Megillah believing that the story it tells occurred only in the past (that is, he reads it "backwards," as a retrospective account) and that the miracle of Purim does not endure into the present. Such a man has not fulfilled his obligation, for the purpose of the reading of the Megillah is to learn how a Jew should behave in the present.
* * *
Within Shechem itself is an allusion to the disturbingly divisive power of Amalek, alluded to by the pasuk:
Shemot (Exodus)
Why is “Throne” written “kais” and not “kisei”? And why is God’s Name divided in half [yud-heh]? The Holy One, Blessed is He, swears that His Name will not be whole nor His Throne whole until the name of Amalek is completely eradicated. (Rashi)
The existence of Amalek is analogous to the division of God’s Holy Ineffable Name (the Tetragrammaton Name that is not said the way it is written), or, at least, our perception of it. The doubt that Amalek causes, either directly or indirectly, results in the appearance of a separation between the “yud-heh” and the “vav-heh” of God’s Name. Therefore, when we recite the following tefillah before doing a mitzvah:
I hereby do this (mitzvah)
to unify the Holy One and His Presence, in fear and in love, in order to unify
and make whole the name “yud-heh” with “vav-heh” in the name of all of
we are not just focusing our attention on the mitzvah, but we are actually going to war against Amalek!, and rectifying what went wrong in Shechem.
A Thought to Ponder
Sanhedrin 96b "The grandchildren [descendants] of
Shabbat Shalom!
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
[1] Mishnah Berurah OC 685
[2] Me'am Loez; Devarim vol.3 p. 977
[3] "Samael" -- Rashi, Sukkah 29a and Sotah 10b, from Tanhuma, Vayishlach 8 -- Midrash Rabba at the end of Devarim identifies Samael with the Satan and the Angel of Death
[4] Midrash Tanhuma, Parshat Ki Teitzei, sec. 9.
[5] Cf. Sefer HaMaamarim 5679, p. 294.
[6] see Rabbenu Bachya Shemot 16:17
[7] Tanhuma, Ki Teitzei 7
[8] Many of the ideas in this section were provided by Rabbi Frand’s comments on Parshat Ki Teitzei
[9] Shabbat 88a