AMALEK – The Ultimate Distraction, and the Ultimate Uniter

Parshat Zachor 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

Parshat Zachor is a time for remembrance. Of course it is a time to remember what Amalek did to our ancestors coming out of Egypt, but the word Zachor also reminds us to remember other things, perhaps even in very recent history. 

Last year, Parshat Zachor (3/7/20) was the last Shabbos our shul was open in a time we would call normal. There was a nervousness in the air, people were not shaking hands, we were “being careful,” but a few days later we had a full Purim in the shul as well, albeit minus a few people who were taking precautions. By the end of the week, just a few hours before Shabbos, shul was closed for what turned out to be close to 3 months. That 3 month period included Pesach and Shavuos, and was a time filled with uncertainty, painful losses, and an unclear direction for the immediate future. 

Here we are, one lunar year later, and we are where we are. Of course we are not yet where we would like to be, with a full return to normal. But hopefully we will be getting there soon. Our shul has been open, for the most part, since June, thank God, and things have been going well under the circumstances. Even as we eventually have a full return to normalcy, it is understood that some people will need a little more time to feel completely comfortable. Hopefully that point will come for everyone in due time, without fear. 

Going back another year to Parshat Zachor, I have a personal memory of spending Shabbos in Yerushalayim, the evening after having achieved something that seemed a world away 3 months prior. Having been unable to run a mile without losing my breath, I took on a challenge, thanks to an organization called “Rabbis Can Run” to participate in the Jerusalem Marathon with a goal to run a half marathon – 13.1 miles. I was one of 13 rabbis – some of whom similarly ran a ½ marathon, while others opted for a 10K (6.2 miles). 

Friday morning was the race, and Friday evening I was asked to speak at our Shabbos dinner, and I shared the following dvar Torah (surrounded by five asterisks at the beginning and end). Why I share with you now will be explained afterwards. 

***** 

Who was Amalek? I heard in the name of the Baalei Tosafos, and I found it recorded by Rabbi Chaim Paltiel on Parshas Balak (explained/ quasi-translated below). 

ראשית גוים עמלק. עמלק ר"ת עמרם משה לוי קהת ולכך יצא ללחום עמו קודם לכל האומות ששמו הטעהו לומר אילו הצדיקים נכללים בשמי ודאי אנצח אבל לא שאחריתו עדי אובד, כלומר שס"ת של שמם מיתה, לרמוז שזכות מועיל לישראל שיהיה סופו למיתה. 

Why did Amalek take such a chance in attacking the Israelites? ק ל מ ע ה ו ש מ ר ת י ה מ 

Amalek contemplated its own name, עמלק, and discovered that the letters of this name are identical with the initial letters of four great Jews: Amram, Moshe, Levi, and Kehas. Amalek assumed, since its name formed the ראשי תיבות of these four Israelite spiritual giants, that it too would be endowed with supernatural triumph. But the mistake that Amalek made was that it failed to consider the סופי תיבות "concluding letters" of these four names. Rearranged, these letters spell the Hebrew word מיתה, "death!"  (Read the columns to find the names, the letters on top spell Amalek, and the letters on the bottom are the letters of מיתה)

ע מ ל ק

מ ש ו ה

         ר

ם ה י ת

 Bilaam said, "ראשית גוים עמלק ואחריתו עדי אבד” "The first of the nations is Amalek, and its end will be utter destruction." What Bilaam meant was that Amalek may boast of "the first," that the first letters of the four Jewish heroes spell its own name, but ultimately its end or conclusion will be destruction — because the last letters of those names spell מיתה death. 

I’d like to look at two questions when contemplating Parshas Zachor.

   1. Why do we need to remember Amalek? They are gone. We’ve never met one. We’ll never meet one. If not for the command to remember them, they’d be forgotten to history. Perhaps as it should be. 

   2. Why is the commandment to remember them written in the singular? זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק? By all rights it should be something like תזכרו מה שעשו לכם עמלק! 

The Slonimer Rebbe explained that the commandment for remembering Amalek is in the singular because it’s every person’s battle: every person has to face the reality of the battle with Amalek. It’s a spiritual battle against evil, that every time we give in to temptation, every time we lose a personal battle and sin, we’re giving a victory to Amalek. 

Bilaam and Balak also represented Amalek – בלעם בלק – Amalek is embedded in their names! They tried to be a distraction to the Jewish people, causing the Bnei Yisrael to fall to temptation and sin. 

In simple terms – AMALEK is the DISTRACTION which prevents you from getting to your goal. 

I was thinking that there is another way to look at the idea of Zachor being in the singular. 

Rashi tells us in Parshas Yisro, when the Torah says the people camped ויחן שם ישראל נגד ההר 

that the Torah describes Israel in the singular because at Sinai they were כאיש אחד בלב אחד, like one man with one (united) heart, but everyone forgets the second half of that Rashi, that everywhere else their unity was tainted by מחלוקת ותרעומות. Complaints and arguments. 

The Torah tells us Yisro came to meet Moshe at Har HaElokim – which means at Sinai. As Yisro had recently heard about the battle with Amalek, the simple understanding of the Torah – whether Yisro came before or after Revelation – is that the battle with Amalek is what led them straight to Sinai. In other words, the unity at Sinai followed from what happened with Amalek. 

 Were they united at Sinai because of Sinai? Or were they united at Sinai because of what happened before Sinai? 

The Torah tells us that עמלק came and fought with ישראל. They didn’t look at Israel as a bunch of groups of people, with internal מחלוקת and different factions. זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק. In the singular. לך! It does not say לכם! And maybe עשה does not mean DID, but the other meaning of עשה, which is MADE. 

AMALEK MADE YOU – because they saw you AS ONE PEOPLE – INTO A TARGET. AMALEK MADE YOU INTO A NATION NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH. You were NOTHING. Haggard. Disheveled. A people who needed God to fight your battles for you. 

But AMALEK MADE YOU. They FORCED YOU TO UNITE. They PUSHED you to the battlefield. They turned you, from a bunch of helpless slaves, from a bunch of nebichs, into an army that struck FEAR into enemies. 

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE LESSON WE NEED TO TAKE FROM THAT WHICH אשר עשה לך עמלק. 

When we read Zachor, we recall that the Bnei Yisrael were עיף ויגע ולא ירא אלקים. Tired and exhausted and not fearing of God. 

What could this mean? 

During my training, too often I looked forward to what I’d be plugged into, and did not take advantage of the opportunity to disconnect. When I went on my longest training run, I found the real chizuk and the ability to go on really came when I unplugged, and disconnected. As we know, running is a mind game. The wall we sometimes hit is Amalek, Amalek telling me “You can’t do this. You’re too tired.” Too often I found Amalek telling me, “You’re alone in this. No one is with you.” 

But I needed to finish those eleven miles of the long training run. And though my knee hurt and my foot hurt, I turned to the Ribono Shel Olam and said, לא אירא רע כי אתה עמדי. (Don’t worry, I skipped the גם כי אלך part!) I found God on the run. And I realized what overcoming Amalek could do. 

Bnei Yisrael were עיף. They were exhausted. Spent. They had seen God at the sea, but how quickly did they forget! Amalek came, and how did they win the battle? They united as one – of course. But the Mishneh tells us in Rosh Hashana that the battle was won when the people looked at Moshe on the hilltop, with his hands stretched heavenwards, and they too found God. That’s what Amalek did for them. When they could look past the distraction of Amalek, they could be indestructible. Remember, all that Amalek is really good for - as it is the Bnei Yisrael who carry the merit of Amram, Moshe, Levi and Kehas - is reaching an end symbolized by the last letters of their names - מיתה - Amalek's demise. 

The Slonimer Rebbe said Zachor is in the singular because Amalek is a battle each individual faces. When you find God when Amalek is trying to veer you from your path to Sinai, you can defeat Amalek. 

And when you find God when Amalek is telling you “you can’t do this,” you find that indeed you can finish a half-marathon. 

 ***** 

This past year has seen ups and downs for all of us. Plans curtailed, cancelled, ruined. Simchas missed. Bikur Cholim visits and Shiva visits being taken out of our experience. The opportunity to be there for loved ones before, during and after medical procedures and hospital, rehab, or care facility stays also taken away. In many ways our lives have been turned upside down. 

It’s not our fault. In too many cases, sadly, it is out of our hands. We wish it were different, but for the time being, it is our present reality. I spoke to someone this week who was sitting shiva for his brother, and he told me “My brother was in a care facility – and they killed him. They didn’t tend to him, they didn’t care about him. They didn’t feed him. They let him wither away” – there are too many stories like this from this past year, of people who were not allowed to have family visit, to have family advocate, to have family look after them, whose lives were cut down by sub-par care. They didn’t die from COVID, but COVID killed them. 

This is Amalek. Amalek is a distraction aimed at taking us away from our goals. In cases like this, Amalek prevents us from loving properly, caring properly, reaching out properly, doing what we know is our responsibility. Amalek attacked the weak, the elderly, the vulnerable! In a way Amalek is too alive and well, because Amalek is capable of so much harm. That’s one reason I shared the dvar Torah – to remind us that Amalek needs to be overcome. 

But Amalek also inspires us to unite, and to help us overcome our own obstacles. And so I share a personal triumph. Many of us have dealt with or are still dealing with our own bouts of depression and hopelessness. We read, listen to or watch the news and wonder when it will end. We hear news of another death and wonder when the Angel of Death will point his finger at us. 

On the other hand, we know that our goals as Jews are to be always improving and growing in our Torah learning, in our Tefillah, and in our Middos (character improvement). This is a reflection of our connection to God, our relationships with others, and our personal mindfulness in our relationship with ourselves. Some of us have achieved incredible things, overcoming hurdles and obstacles to make davening meaningful daily, to increase our Torah study, with online or telephone Chavrusas, and to read books or participate in the many Internet offerings that are available, to help us refine ourselves. 

Personally, the ups and downs carried their own toll in some relationships with people, with food, with attentiveness to personal growth. And always, lurking in the background, was running. Will I keep it up? There were lulls, sometimes even two months without any exercise. But somewhere in mid November I started again, running for 2.5 miles. And by the end of December I pushed out a 10K (6.2 miles). The following weeks, each Saturday night after Shabbos, I challenged myself to run a little more than the previous week. And last Saturday night, 2/13/21, I ran my second half-marathon, just about two years after my first. 

I had to imagine the streets, which were empty, filled with onlookers yelling “Kol HaKavod.” I had to imagine the crowds of runners giving strength and encouragement by simply being there. 

I don’t listen to music or podcasts when I run anymore. It’s important to carve out time to just being able to be with one’s own thoughts. And during that run, I thought about the dvar Torah I had told over then, shared above, and felt that it applies very much to COVID, and decided that for the week of Remembering/Zachor, it was something that would do well to be shared with our community. 

There is too much Amalek in our lives. There is too much that we allow to hold us back from achieving our goals. Sometimes we need a trigger. And sometimes, as I experienced around the 10 mile mark a feeling that I may have taken on more than I can handle, we need that inner voice that tells us, “Enough. You’re going to finish this, and you’re not going to let anything get in the way of your getting to the finish line.” 

Our Running Rabbis have a Whatsapp group. We share with each other our successes and failures, give each other chizuk in our running challenges, and every now and then share the Torah we think of when we’re running. In general, we view the running as an “Avodah” – a way of maintaining health so we can better serve Hashem – and view the challenge of the run as a metaphor for every challenge life places in front of us. 

In just a few weeks we will once again say חזק חזק ונתחזק. While the custom is widespread today, its source and history is rather interesting (that will hopefully be the topic of this Dvar Torah for Shabbos Chazak). For now let us just draw strength, like the Israelites did when they fought Amalek, from the image of Moshe praying to the Almighty on a hilltop. If Moshe was the source of inspiration and strength in the original battle with Amalek, let his legacy of the Torah, the Mishkan, and leading the people to the Promised Land be what inspires us in our everlasting efforts at finding inspiration from the Torah, from our place of worship/service, and from the journey of life that brings us to our final destination of Olam Haba.