Shabbat Zachor: Remembering Our Eternal Enemies

For me there is no need for a special "Holocaust Day." We have one every year the Shabbat before Purim, Shabbat Zachor, when we are commanded by Gd to remember that Amalek will use any trick to attempt to destroy us.

On a personal level, it's the Shabbat right after I was run over by an Arab terrorist in 1996. That Shabbat, while my foot was still very swollen, I hobbled down the hill to the large central Shiloh Tabernacle Synagogue, and all of us from Shiloh who had been at the attack thanked Gd together for our survival.

Gd commanded us, yes a real Torah Mitzvah/Commandment, to remember the dangers Amalek presents to us at all times.

“Zachor Et Asher Asah Lecha Amalek BaDerech Betzetchem MiMitzrayim”“Remember what Amalek did to you on your way out of Egypt! (Devarim 25)”On the Shabbat that precedes Purim, two Torah scrolls are taken from the ark; one for the regular parsha and one for the Maftir – ‘Remember what Amalek did to you’ (Devarim 25). Because of this reading, it is called, Shabbat Zachor (Remember). The Haftorah also deals with Amalek.
There is a mitzvah in the Torah to remember Amalek and his descendants and to orally recall their iniquity. We are to tell our children in each generation what the people of Amalek did to us during our departure from Egypt. This mitzvah will be fulfilled completely only when we shall have caused Amalek’s memory to perish, and their name to be erased from the world, together with the slightest remnant of anything that bears their name. As the Torah says: ‘Remember what Amalek did to you on the way, upon your departure from Egypt’… ‘You shall erase the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens, you shall not forget.’ Upon which the Sages have expounded: ‘Remember,’ orally – ‘You shall not forget,’ in your heart. (OU)

On the Shabbat before Purim, the holiday on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the Amalekite's plot to destroy the Jewish people, the weekly Torah reading is supplemented with the Zachor ("Remember!") reading (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) in which we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth. (Chabad)

That's why I consider this Shabbat, the Shabbat before Purim, to be the true Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Nazi attempt to destroy the Jewish People, all ages and even those who weren't even Jewish by Jewish Law, just had a Jewish grandparent, were included in the Nazi extermination sic plan.

Unfortunately, as we can read in the news, the Jewish People/Nation still have enemies, tricky enemies. They will use "fake news" and pseudo-morality and inaccurate distorted history etc to destroy and endanger us. And like the Hellenists of old, even Jews will join the chorus claiming their Jewish roots make them experts in what's good for other Jews and the State of Israel.

Being "paranoid" is being wise. 

• We must REMEMBER that our eternal enemies still exist and haven't given up in their attempt to destroy us.  
• We must REMEMBER that King Saul was deposed by Gd, because he didn't destroy all of Amalek immediately.

The State of Israel and World Jewry must REMEMBER that our eternal enemies still exist and haven't given up in their attempts to destroy the Jewish People/Nation. These enemies are really one, Amalek, and we won't have a true peace until we destroy them completely, the way that Gd commanded King Saul. It is completely forbidden to have mercy on our enemies. That is the Torah Commandment of ZACHOR, זכור  REMEMBER!

Shabbat Shalom u'Mevorach

May You Have a Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat

ZACHOR, זכור  REMEMBER!