It is hard enough to remember, but how do we remember to forget? This Shabbat, in addition to beginning the book of Leviticus, we also read a selection from the Deuteronomy that ends with the instruction to: “Blot out the memory of Amalek. Do not forget it!” (25:19).
Amalek is a mysterious tribe that attacked the Israelites when they first left Egypt. More than that we really don’t know. Our ancestors did a really good job of forgetting, so much so that even the reason for our hatred against the group has been lost to the sands of time.
I think of my wife’s maternal grandparents who would cut out the face of all their grandchildren’s exes from family pictures. In this way, we would remember to forget them every time we went through photo albums. There is also the mysterious rabbi named Elisha Ben Abuyah who lived during the time of Rabbi Akiva. He was one of the greats, until he did something so heretical, he was wiped off the face of the Talmud. Literally, they renamed him Aher, meaning other, so even his name would be hard to remember. As to specifics of what he did, even the rabbis of the Talmud had no idea.
Remembering to forget is a way of not letting evil be perpetuated. We need to remember that evil is possible, but we do not want to celebrate the name of history’s worst villains and thus perpetuate their actions.
We read about Amalek this week in preparation for Purim, where we will boo and hiss Haman’s name throughout the holiday. This Shabbat is called Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of remembrance, as if to tell us to remember evildoers like Haman for this week and this week only, afterward we can pretend they never existed at all. The Putins of the world will continue to afflict us, but we need not spend any unnecessary brain cells remembering their names.
Join us on Wednesday night (3/16) at 7, either virtually or in person, for our 10th anniversary Purim Spiel. We will have plenty of time to remember Haman then.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex