Hamas War

Saturday, February 23, 2013

REMEMBER What Amalek DID...!

This Shabbat, just before Purim we read a few very important lines as Maftir in the synagogue, Deuteronomy Chapter 25 דְּבָרִים.
יז זָכוֹר, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-עָשָׂה לְךָ עֲמָלֵק, בַּדֶּרֶךְ, בְּצֵאתְכֶם מִמִּצְרָיִם. 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way as ye came forth out of Egypt;
יח אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וַיְזַנֵּב בְּךָ כָּל-הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ--וְאַתָּה, עָיֵף וְיָגֵעַ; וְלֹא יָרֵא, אֱלֹהִים. 18 how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God.
יט וְהָיָה בְּהָנִיחַ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ מִכָּל-אֹיְבֶיךָ מִסָּבִיב, בָּאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה-אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ נַחֲלָה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ--תִּמְחֶה אֶת-זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק, מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמָיִם; לֹא, תִּשְׁכָּח. {פ} 19 Therefore it shall be, when the LORD thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the land which the LORD 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. {P}
We are not just to "remember Amalek," like we "remember" the Shabbat, lihavidil, to differentiate, we're supposed to always remember what Amalek did to us when we had just left Egypt and felt confused, full of doubt, lacking confidence etc. That's when Amalek attacked.

Today at our Women's Shabbat Class, when Rabbi Dov Berkovits told us to think of the situations when Amalek had attacked us, I suddenly thought of the nascent Jewish State in 1948, when trying to absorb the survivors of the Nazi death camps...

Did any country actually help and support the struggling Jewish State?  NO!

When we were our physically weakest, the Arabs attacked and the world continued their silence.  The same silence they exhibited before and during World War Two when Nazis were first discriminating against and then murdering Jews.

There were even countries, such as Great Britain which even helped the Arabs.

And standing by is no better than. 

We must remember that push comes to shove, we, the State of Israel has no real ally.  There's no country that would risk anything for us.

Yes, it's a Torah requirement, commandment, Mitzvah, to REMEMBER!

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