Parashat Tetzaveh
February 27, 2010
13 Adar 5770
Vol. 19 No. 21

This week's Halacha file: The Mesirah Dilemma – Part Three

This week's issue is sponsored by Ilana and Moshe Wertenteil in honor of the recent marriage of Ahuva Fein to Avi Press

Remembering Passion
by Rabbi Sariel Malitzky

Every year, as we approach the Yom Tov of Purim, we read Parashat Zachor. Parashat Zachor, which according to many is a Biblical obligation (see Tosafot Megillah 17B s.v. Kol and Orach Chaim 685:7), is read to fulfill the mandate of “Zachor Eit Asher Asah Lecha Amaleik BaDerech BeTzeitecha MiMitzrayim Asher Korcha VaDerech” “Remember what Amaleik did to you, on the way, when you were leaving Egypt, that he happened upon you” (Devarim 25:17).

Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev writes that the obligation to destroy Amaleik is not fought only on battlefields or limited to annihilating Amaleik’s physical offspring; rather, every Jew must eradicate his internal “Amaleik,” a metaphysical element that is part of our spiritual makeup, along with its destructive Hashkafah. Therefore, Parashat Zachor is our call to battle to rid ourselves of the Amaleik within us. What is this “Amaleik” that is within us? What must we destroy? What is this spiritual Hashkafic Amaleik?

Undoubtedly, Amaleik represents many damaging Hashkafot in the world. However, there is a beautiful insight offered by the Kozhnister Maggid, in his work Avodat Yisrael, which sheds light on one of the Hashkafot of Amaleik.

On the aforementioned Pasuk describing Amaleik, the Dubno Maggid writes that the word “Kor” means cold. “Asher Korcha VaDerech” can be understood to mean that they made you cold while on Derech Hashem. Amaleik tried to cool down our passion in our Avodat Hashem. The Yeitzer Hara often tries to calm our passion in our Avodat Hashem. He attempts to cool us down when we are fired up in our spiritual endeavors. He tries to make us complacent and thereby not strive to reach greater heights in our spiritual development.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein, the famed Mashgiach of the Mirrer and Ponevezh Yeshivot, writes that his teacher reported that Rav Yisrael Salanter was fond of saying that the number one prerequisite for learning Mussar is the ability to have feeling. A person must have “Hergesh,” passion, because “without Hergesh one is not alive, and is actually considered to be dead. Living is not determined by the mere act of breathing. To live is much more than that. It means that one is excited, energetic, and lives life with a ‘bren.’ (passion)”
Rav Shalom Schwadron points out that when a doctor arrives to visit a patient who is critically ill, he will often check the ill patient’s body temperature. If there is some body warmth, the doctor knows that the individual is still alive, and can hope and pray for a recovery. However, if the body is cold, the doctor knows that the patient is unfortunately no longer alive.

Amaleik attempted to cool down Bnei Yisrael’s passion and fire. According to the Kedushat Levi, this is a battle that we are still fighting to this day. It is therefore incumbent upon us all to try and eradicate the coldness that lies within to be alive in the fullest sense of the word, and thereby fulfill the command of “Remember Amaleik” to that same degree.

Repetition Recognition
by Moshe Kollmar

This week’s Keriat HaTorah has a special Maftir and Haftarah, that of Parashat Zachor. In the Maftir (Devarim 25:17-19), three Pesukim are read, each with its own separate function. One commands Bnei Yisrael to always remember Amaleik’s attack upon them ancestors as they left Egypt; another details exactly what Amaleik did; the third commands them to destroy all traces of Amaleik and not to forget. The third Pasuk is repeated by many Ahkenazim during the Keriah because there is a difference in opinion about how to pronounce the nineteenth word, albeit without changing its meaning. The first time the Pasuk is read, the Baal Korei pronounces the word as “Zeicher,” and during the second he pronounces it “Zecher.”

This practice seems very odd. Why do many repeat the entire Pasuk (many only repeat the word Zeicher) simply because there is a dispute about the pronunciation of one word? In all other (rare) instances in which there is a Rabbinic dispute, including when the Pesukim of Zachor are read as part of the regular weekly Sidrah, the Baal Korei pronounces the word according to the custom of his community and does not bother to repeat it. However, even if he pronounces a word according to a minority opinion not followed by the local community, as long as there is no difference in meaning or spelling, he is neither corrected nor forced to repeat. Why, then, is the reading of Zachor as the special Maftir different?

In addition, if one examines the text of Parashat Zachor itself, a few problems arise. One, why is this section given a full three Pesukim, one of which is only a complete repeat of what Amaleik did? This is already detailed in Parashat BeShalach, the Torah section read on Purim day! Also, the second part of the third Pasuk seems to repeat the first Pasuk, with a negative commandment in addition to a positive commandment. Therefore, it should come before the first half of that Pasuk, not after it! Finally, the first half of the third Pasuk is extremely wordy and repetitive. Acknowledging all of these, Parashat Zachor should be written as something closer to, “Zachor VeLo Tishkach Eit Asher Asah Lecha Amaleik BaDerech BeTzeitechem MiMitzrayim. VeHayah Ki Yitein Hashem Elokecha Lecha Menuchah BeEretz Nachalatecha, Timcheh Et Zeicher Amaleik MiTachat HaShamayim,” “Remember, and don’t forget, what Amaleik did to you as you left Egypt. And when Hashem your G-d will give you peace in the land of your inheritance, you should erase all traces of Amaleik from under the heavens.” Although the double language of “remember and don’t forget” may seem awkward, it is already used in the command to remember how Bnai Yisrael angered Hashem in the desert (Devarim 9:7).

According to all Minhagim, Parshat Zachor is directly connected to Purim, as, according to Rav, it is always read on the Shabbat preceding Purim (Megilah 30a). On a basic level, the connection between the Maftir, Haftarah, and Purim is clear: the Maftir gives a command to destroy Amaleik, the Haftarah deals with the fulfillment of this command, although with the mistake of prolonging the life of the Amalekite king Agag long enough for him to bear a child, and the story of Purim describes the result of this mistake. (The entire danger of the Purim story is caused by Haman, a descendent of Agag’s child.) This connection is appealing, but it fails to explain why we repeat one of the Pesukim in the Maftir.

The lessons to be learned from Parashat Zachor can be derived fully only when the four sections of Maftir, Haftara, Torah reading for Purim, and Megillat Esther are closely compared. The Maftir begins by telling us to remember what Amaleik did; according to Rav, Amaleik’s action will be read within the next week, while according to Shmuel, it either was just read or will be read soon. The Sefer HaChinuch (Mitzvah 603) writes that if one merely recites the words the Torah uses in commanding him to remember Amaleik but does not stop to contemplate and actually remind himself, he has not only failed to fulfill his Mitzvah to remember, he has also violated the command not to forget. We then detail exactly what Amaleik did: they ambushed us, killed off the stragglers of Bnai Yisrael from behind while Bnai Yisrael were weak, and, finally, Amaleik did not fear Hashem.

The Torah tells us exactly what Amaleik’s mistakes were: they attacked the weak and defenseless after giving themselves the additional advantages of surprise and being hidden, and they also did not fear Hashem. The Torah knows that when this is read as Parshat Zachor, the full story of their attack will be detailed in the near future, but it repeats these details to remind us exactly what Amaleik did wrong as a nation who feared everyone but Hashem, the One with the most power to harm it. The Torah hopes we will contemplate this and learn from the incident.

Parashat Zachor then continues by commanding us to kill Amaleik when Hashem will give us the land of Israel. The Torah uses the sesquipedalian language of “VeHayah BeHani’ach Hashem Elokecha Lecha MiKol Oyevecha MiSaviv BaAretz Asher Hashem Elokecha Notein Lecha Nachalah LeRishtah,” “And it will be when Hashem your G-d gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies, in the land where Hashem your G-d gives to you as an inheritance to possess it” (Devarim 25:19), to emphasize that it is Hashem who is the One who gives us peace from our enemies and the land, without us needing to have nearly as physically powerful an army as we should have to conquer such well-defended land and then without having any invasions from neighbors, assuming we still are faithful to Hashem (a faithfulness that, unfortunately, wavered often).

This is a direct contrast to Amaleik, who would attack only with a significant physical advantage and was completely ignorant of the power of Hashem. Shaul, as king, is commanded to destroy Amaleik under the above circumstances. He wages a war against Amaleik, and, with Hashem’s help, easily wins, killing all the men of Amaleik but Agag in the battle. He then makes the mistake of keeping Agag alive, even though Shmuel HaNavi had specifically told him to kill all of Amaleik (Shmuel Aleph 15:3). He fails to learn Amaleik’s lesson, as he ignores the word of Hashem, Who won the war for him, and saves the most powerful and dangerous of his enemy, acting similarly to Amaleik, who would fight only if they had an almost definite chance of victory, and even then only against the weak. After Shaul repeats Amaleik’s error, Agag has a son who is an ancestor of Haman.

Haman also fails to learn this lesson. The Persian Prime Minister asks the only man more powerful than he, King Achashveirosh, for permission to kill the people with whom he has an eternal feud, the Jews. Haman recognizes that there is a man more powerful than he, from whom he must seek aid and support for his plan, but fails to recognize Hashem. It is his inability to recognize the presence of an immortal Higher Power Who ultimately runs the show that causes his downfall, as he fails to realize that the queen, the one person whom the king prefers to him, is in fact Jewish. Esther, who the Chachamim say was seventy-five when Achashveirosh selected her (Bereishit Rabbah 39:13), was clearly placed in the palace purely by a miracle, something Haman should have realized but did not. From these stories, the Torah expects us to see that any who repeats the mistake of previous generations will suffer a similar fate, whether that fate be extreme dishonor in the case of Shaul, who eventually realizes his mistake (Shmuel I 15:24), or death in the case of Haman.

The Torah concludes the Maftir section with a reminder not to forget. This is not just a reminder of what Amaleik did and what mistakes they made, but a reminder of what will happen to any who fails to recognize the ever-present Hand of Hashem which manipulates all events in the world to fit into a master plan. It is Hashem and only Hashem who controls everything, a fact that we must recognize. It is in recognition of this that we repeat the last Pasuk with the word “Zecher” instead of the word “Zeicher,” not because it makes any difference in meaning, but because this is the section of recognizing the Heavenly Hand behind everything, and we are especially careful to know exactly what Hashem wants from us so we do not repeat the mistakes of previous generations.

Holy Vestments
by Zvi Wolpoe

While working in the Beit HaMikdash, the Kohanim had to wear special garments, or their work would not count. The purpose of the garments was to separate the Kohanim from the other members of Bnei Yisrael while they were doing their priestly work. People had to realize that Aharon and his sons were on a higher spiritual level, and that was the reason they were the only people doing the work. The garments were a constant reminder to any onlookers and to the Kohanim as well that the way people approach a task influences others’ performance of similar tasks. Additionally, the fact that the Kohanim could do the service in their special clothing suggests that if a Jew involves himself in serving Hashem, he should take care to dress appropriately and have respect and dignity toward Hashem.

All of the priestly vestments were made of the materials that were property of the nation. The vestments were so special that the Kohanim could not even have a bandage separating their skin from the material. This lack of separation transformed the Kohen into a single vessel fulfilling Hashem’s will. The fact that the people donated their clothes showed that the Kohanim were not their own separate entity; rather, they became representatives of Israel, carrying out the nation’s urge to raise itself onto a higher level of spirituality. May we be Zocheh to see the Kohanim in their priestly garments in the third Beit HaMikdash.

Remez HaShavua
by Neil Bodner

In this week’s Parashah, Tetzaveh, Moshe Rabbeinu’s name is not mentioned once despite his heavy involvement in its ongoings; instead Hashem always addresses him in the pronoun, “you”. But how is this possible? Moshe is the Torah, so much so that we call it “Torat Moshe”!
The Baal HaTurim offers an astounding answer: A name is a device through which you can only identify an individual, but it doesn’t reflect his inner essence. So too with Moshe in this week’s Parsha. His name does not appear but his essence does, in the phrase “VeAtah Tetzaveh,” “You shall command” (Shemot 27:20). Moshe Rabbeinu’s role was to command Bnei Yisrael on Hashem’s behalf.

The Remez: The entirety of Moshe Rabbeinu’s name is achieved by spelling out each letter of his name,,ה-א ,ש-י-ן and מ-ם. But since only a hidden version of Moshe is referenced in the Parashah, we only add up the hidden letters (ם+ין+א) in order to achieve the Gematria of 101, identical to the number of Pesukim in Parashat Tetzaveh. {Vilna Gaon}