REMEMBER

AMALEK FROM UNDER HEAVEN. DO NOT FORGET!

(Devarim

25: 17-19)

Blot out the memory of Amalek –

Israel said to the Holy One Blessed Be He: Master of all worlds, you tell us to

blot out the memory of Amalek!? We are flesh and

blood, we last but an hour – You who exist and live forever – You remember! The

Holy One Blessed Be He told them: My children, you need only read the passage

about Amalek every year, and I will count it as if

you are blotting its name out from the world.

(Pesiktah

Rabbati 12)

It is a positive commandment to

destroy the memory of Amalek, for it says, You shall blot out the memory of Amalek, and it is a positive commandment to always

recall its evil deeds and waylaying in order to inflame hatred against it, for

it is said, remember what Amalek did to you. Tradition

teaches that remember is performed with the mouth, do not forget

with the heart, for it is forbidden to forget to bear hostility and hatred

towards it.

(RaMBaM,

Hilkot Melakhim, 5:5)

'Do not forget'

– Do not forget this thing if the day comes and you will want to become like Amalek, and, like Amalek, you

fail to recognize your obligation and do not know God.

Rather, you only seek opportunities, in matters small or great, to exploit your

advantage in order to harm your fellow men. Do not forget this if the day comes

and you ask to relieve your heart of its role and its mission as Israel that

you have taken upon yourself amongst humanity. Do not envy the laurels which a

foolish world throws to those happy with having destroyed the happiness of

others. Remember the tear-soaked soil which nurtures the laurels of those

wreathes, do not forget this thing when the day comes and you yourself suffer Amalek's violence and coarseness. Keep standing straight! Preserve

the humanity and values of justice that you learned from your God. The future

belongs to them, and in the end humanity and justice will overcome coarseness

and violence. You yourself were sent in order to announce and to bring near –

with your very example – that overcoming and that future.

Do not forget – and in order that you not forget, remember

from time to time, renew in your heart the memory of Amalek

and what you have been told of its future.

(From

Rabbi Simshon Raphael Hirsch's commentary on Devarim 25:19, written circa 1860!)

The Oath Which You Had Israel Swear Has Arrived (Sotah 13a)

Haim Rubinstein

Dedicated to the memory

of my father-in-law,

Ya'akov Orloveski, of blessed

memory

the anniversary of whose death occurs in this season.

It is

a well-known fact that the parasha of Tetzaveh is read either on the first or second Shabbat of

the month of Adar, that is to say, in the week which includes the seventh of

Adar, which is held to be both Moses' birthday and the date of his death. The Jewish

world has set it aside as the day honoring burial societies. Some people fast

on this day, marking the night following with joyful celebration. Members of

the burial societies often observe the fast of the seventh of Adar, following

it with an important feast. The explanation of their custom is that they are

always doing deeds of kindness towards the dead, just as God Himself did Moses

the kindness of burying him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beit-peor (Devarim 34: 6)

on that day. The IDF has also established this date as the memorial

day for IDF soldiers whose place of burial is unknown.

The IDF's decision was based on the verse from Devarim which states that the place of Moses' burial is

unknown. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab…

to this day (3:5-6).

The fact that Moses' name is mentioned only once in all of parashat Tetzaveh serves as a key

to its symbolic interpretation. In this connection, Yeshayahu Leibowitz wrote, "It is as if to hint to us that on

that day our Rabbi Moses departed from this world." The authors of the midrash connect the absence of

Moses' name with his declaration to God in parashat Ki Tissa, following the sin of

the golden calf; And yet, if you would forgive their sin! If not, erase me from

the book which You have written! (Devarim 32:32). It would seem that Moses' request was

fulfilled by the erasure of his name from an entire parasha,

the parasha dealing with the building of the

Tabernacle and with the priestly service.

The

first mention of the possibility of disappearance in Scripture involves Adam

who had "disappeared" in the Garden of Eden, leaving God's call, "Where

are you?" (Bereishit 3:9),

echoing through the cosmos.

It continues with Reuven's cry, "The boy is

gone! Now, what am I to do? (Bereishit 37:30). Joseph's story is a classic case of a "missing person" –

following a particular operation, the boy disappeared and it was no longer

possible to retrace his steps. An explication of the verses exemplifies the

psychological process which the grieving family undergoes when someone goes

missing.

The

only item found in the "scene of the event" was an ornamented tunic, They had the ornamented tunic taken to their

father, and they said, "We found this" (Bereishit 37:32). The immediate explanation is offered by

their father as an inference from their testimonies and from objects brought

from the field – He recognized it, and said, "My son's tunic! A wild

beast has devoured him! Joseph was torn by a beast!" (Bereishit 37:33). The first process is mourning, a process

which every bereaved parent, every person who has received Job's tidings, must

undergo. Jacob rent his clothes, put sackcloth on his loins, and observed

mourning for his son many days (37:34).

Families

of missing soldiers do not accept the usual explanations, such as Joseph was

torn by a beast. The more they become involved with the impenetrable riddle,

the stronger is their refusal to accept reality. All his sons and daughters

father bewailed him (37:35). Constant, inconsolable crying gives no

rest. The life of those who mourn without a grave is made up of hopes and

disappointments. Reactions to this kind of tragedy are as varied as is the

spectrum of human personalities.

The

process of disappearance develops through the following chapters, beginning with

the verse, The Midianites, meanwhile, sold him in

steward (37:36). From here on the plot thickens until it

becomes impossible for normal methods of inquiry to retrace Joseph's movements.

Despite the fact that he remains alive, he becomes a "missing person."

His situation is close to those defined by the army as "missing";

since there is no reliable evidence of his death, he cannot be proclaimed a

dead person whose place of burial is unknown. Those seeking him lack clear

information regarding his capture; he appears neither on the "list of

wounded" nor on the "list of the dead."

As

far as Joseph's family was concerned, his discovery was achieved accidentally. Thanks

to economic conditions and a journey of family members to Egypt, the "missing

person" was uncovered in his new position as no less than the Viceroy of

Egypt.

In

today's painful reality, the location of a missing person, dead or alive, is

achieved after extended collection of information, its processing and analysis,

and much creative thinking, which includes brain-storming, and the consideration

and checking of unusual possibilities that can only be discounted after

relevant search areas are demarcated and carefully explored.

And

you shall carry up my bones from here with you" (Shemot 13:19).

The children of Israel did not forget their oath when they left Egypt. The

Talmud (Sotah13a) tells the following story:

How

did our Rabbi Moses know where Joseph was buried? They said: Serah, the daughter of Asher remained alive from that

generation. Moses went to her, and asked: "Do you know anything about the

location of Joseph's grave? She told him: "They made him a metal casket in

Egypt, and placed it in the Nile in order to cause its waters to be blessed."

Moses

went and stood on the bank of the Nile, and said: "Joseph, Joseph! The

time has come for [the fulfillment of] the oath of the Holy One Blessed be He

to redeem you [Israel], and [the time for fulfillment] has arrived [for] the

oath that you caused Israel to swear. If you show yourself -very good – if not

– we are free of your oath." Immediately, Joseph's casket came floating

up.

The

same passage of the Talmud brings an alternative version of the events as well:

Rabbi

Natan said: He was buried in a royal crypt. Moses

went and stood by the royal crypt, and said: "Joseph, the time has come

for [the fulfillment of] the oath of the Holy One Blessed be He to redeem you

caused Israel to swear. If you show yourself -very good – if not – we are free

of your oath." At that moment, Joseph's casket began to shake. Moses took

it and brought it to be with him.

The

process of locating a missing person involves something like the shaking of

Joseph's casket that rested in its place for years, until Moses came across it

and removed it from the earth. The return of a missing body to Israel and its

proper Jewish burial also shares something with Moses' proclamation on the bank

of the Nile: The time has come for [the fulfillment of]

the oath of the Holy One Blessed be He to redeem you [Israel], and [the time

for fulfillment] has arrived [for] the oath that you caused Israel to swear! It seems that anyone who has ever been

engaged in such endeavors experiences the fulfillment of that same old oath.

The

Talmud there adds:

And

all of those years that Israel was in the wilderness, there were those two aronot [arks or caskets], one for the deceased, and

the other for the Divine Presence, traveling together. Passers-by would ask:

What are those two aronot? They would say: One

for a deceased person, the other for the Divine Presence.

The

Sages attribute the same importance and holiness to Joseph's bones as to the

Divine Presence! Joseph juxtaposed to the Divine Presence, one next to the

other. This profound respect for the fallen whose place of burial has been

located, and whose bodies are being brought to their proper resting place, even

at great cost, is worthy of partaking in that same tradition of honor and awe. Akin

to Remove your sandals from your feet, for

the place on which you stand is holy ground (3:5).

We

shall finish with the same topic with which we began. he

mishnah in that same chapter of Sotah

states: Who is greater for us than Joseph, who[se burial] was attended to by

none less than Moses. Moses was privileged with [attending to] Joseph's bones,

and there is no one in Israel greater than him, for it says, and Moses took

with him the bones of Joseph (Shemot 13:19).

Who do we have greater than Moses, who['s burial] was attended to by no less

than the Holy One Blessed be He, for it says, He buried him in the valley (Devarim 34:6). This is said not only of Moses, but of all

the righteous, that God gathers them up, for it says, Your righteousness

shall march before you, the Presence of the Lord shall be your rear guard (Isaiah 58:8).

It is

proper to add that in our day, the missing soldiers of the IDF, and those whose

place of burial remains unknown, are included in that group which the Holy One

Blessed Be He attends to personally, and He shall gather them up.

Haim Rubinstein serves as an IDF reserve officer for

locating the missing.

Rava asked: "Reading the Meggilah,

or attending to an unburied corpse, which takes precedence? Is reading the Meggilah more important because it involves the publicizing

of a miracle, or is attending to the corpse more important, since it involves

human dignity?" After asking, they answered that attending to the corpse

took precedence, for Mar had said, "Great is concern for the dignity of

man, for it overrides the Torah's prohibitions.

(Meggilah

3b)

It is preferable to spend more

on gifts to the poor than on the Purim meal or presents to friends. For no joy

is greater or more glorious than the joy of gladdening the hearts of the poor,

the orphans, the widows, and the strangers. Indeed, he who causes the hearts of

the unfortunate to rejoice, emulates the Divine Presence, of whom Scripture

says, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the

contrite ones (Isaiah 57:15).

(RaMBaM,

Hilkhot Meggilah Ve-Hannukah 2:17, Hyamson

translation)

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