T'tzaveh/Zachor 5772

This week’s parsha begins with G-d instructing Moshe (Moses): “V’Atah t’tzaveh  -- And you shall command the Children of Israel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting.”

Since this Shabbat precedes Purim, which we observe this year on Thursday, March 8, we also read the maftir portion Zachor (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:17-19) which describes how Amalek attacks the Jewish people as they leave Egypt, and gives us the mitzvah (commandment) to zachor (remember) what Amalek did.  Haman, the evil prime minister in the Purim story, descends from Amalek.

(Read the story of Purim at www.chabad.org/holidays/purim/article_cdo/aid/645995/jewish/The-Basic-Purim-Story.htm )

What is the connection between the “pure, crushed oil” and remembering Amalek?

Writes Rabbi Yaakov Menken on torah.org:  “The Tzeror HaMor offers a homiletic explanation of the need for pure oil.  Israel is compared to an olive:  just as an olive produces its pure oil only when it is crushed, so too we see the Nation of Israel at its finest when it faces difficult trials.  Israel is also compared to oil, which cannot mix with other liquids – rather, it always rises to the top. Even if you shake and mix Israel among the nations of the world, we always remain distinct…It is specifically in the face of great difficulties that Israel separates out and rises up.”

Notes Rochel Holzkenner on chabad.org:  “Jews throughout history were able to remain [distinct] committed to Torah despite the tremendous danger that this commitment entailed.  For example, despite Haman’s threat to annihilate the entire Jewish nation, the Jews didn’t renounce their Jewish identity – they didn’t even attempt to hide it.  Instead, they publicly rallied together in prayer and Torah study.”

Today, a new Haman has arisen in modern-day Persia, known as Iran, and a new menace confronts the Jewish people.  Rav Moshe Wolfson is quoted in Hamodia as saying: “The leader of Iran says clearly that he wants to kill, rachmana litzlan (G-d help us), every Yid in the world, just like Haman.” Rav Wolfson  goes on to insist that this imminent threat  to our existence demands that we beseech G-d and that we strengthen ourselves in Torah, prayer and acts of loving-kindness.

Writes Rabbi Shraga Simmons on aish.com: “Amalek attacked the Jews karcha – which literally means by way of happenstance.  Amalek’s entire philosophy is that there is no design or providence in the world.  Everything is haphazard, dictated by chance, luck and fate. That’s why Haman, a direct descendant of Amalek, decided to kill the Jews based on a lottery [pur], from which the name Purim is derived.” 

Rabbi Simmons continues: “Philosophically, Amalek and the Jewish people stand at opposite ends of the spectrum. Judaism believes that the world has purpose and meaning, and that G-d is intimately involved in our lives. Indeed, that is the very lesson of Purim: Even when things seem bleak, G-d is there, guiding events.”

As parents, it is important to convey to our children that we rely upon G-d, and that everything that happens is within G-d’s control.  We must teach our children how to pray, that is, to turn to G-d when they feel threatened or “crushed.”  And we must teach them to zachor (remember) that G-d will help us.