Parshat Zachor: What Exactly Are We Supposed to Remember?

"זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים, אשר קרך בדרך ויזנב בך כל הנחשלים אחריך ואתה עיף ויגע ולא ירא אלקים, והיה בהניח ה' אלקיך לך מכל אויביך מסביב בארץ אשר ה' אליקך נותן לך נחלה לרשתה, תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים לא תשכח." (דברים כה יז)

This week, we read Parshat Zachor, the torah portion that reminds us about the bold act that Amalek took in attacking the Jewish people so soon after the miracles of the exodus from Egypt and the splitting of the see. Although in Jewish law there are a few times we are commanded to “remember” something, what exactly are we supposed to do or to think about to fulfill this mitzvah properly? What is the goal? Let’s explore this based on an essay found in the sefer Shevilei Pinchas.

First let’s look at the war with Amalek in Parshas בשלח:

"ויקרא שם המקום מסה ומריבה על ריב בני ישראל ועל נסותם את ה' לאמר היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין. ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים. (שמות יז ז)

Rashi explains that Hashem says to Klal Yisrael, I am always here for you and ready to take care of you, and you say היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין? How could you? How could you ask am I really here? Didn’t you just experience the miracles of Egypt and Yam Suf? What will be when a dog comes and bites you? Will you then cry out for me? Perhaps we can appreciate this through the parable of of a man who travels with his son on his shoulder and every time the son sees something he wants, the father buys it for him. The boy asks repeatedly, and the father provides. Afterwards, they meet another man and the boy asks him, “have you seen my father?” His father asks his son, “you don’t know where I am? I’ve been with you all this time.” So he sends the boy off on his own and comes along a dog and bites him.

This question is so troublesome, that there must be something more here than meets the eye?

Let’s explore another question that might help shed some light on the first.

Why did Chazal institute the bracha of שעשה נסים לאבותינו בימים ההם בזמן הזה just on Chanukah and Purim, but not on Pesach?

The קדושת לוי explains that there is a difference between the miracle of יציאת מצרים and the miracle of Chanukah and Purim. The miracle of the exodus from Egypt was למעלה מן הטבע, above the norms of nature. Hashem changed nature;  both its order and normal function – 10 plagues, water changed to blood, frogs, lice, darkness, all first born dying in one night and the biggest of all with the splitting of the sea. But the miracle of Chanukah and Purim was disguised in the normal order of nature. רבים ביד מעטים but it was in normal nature. So too on Purim, Haman wanting to kill us, but through the pawns of Esther and Achashverosh, Haman was stopped and the decree was annulled. Nothing out of nature, but yet it was all done through the יד ה'. Therefore, Chazal instituted this bracha to say the miracles that Hashem did were disguised בזמן הזה, in the guise of nature so they were “in this time,” in the world of time. As opposed to the miracles of the exodus which were above nature and, not disguised in the typical time of nature.

Based on this, it sounds as though the miracles of Chanukah and Purim have some additional level, even higher than the miracles of Pesach, which were above time. There is one danger with a supernatural miracle;  although it shows that Hashem can change nature, perhaps when He restores nature, he removes himself and gives control back over to the stars and constellations. Although this is a heretical way of thinking, this is what one might think. The בני יששכר explains that when we come to the miracle of Adar, which was within nature, but shows the world that Hashem is pulling all the strings, leaving no doubt that He is in control of the world at all times, never leaving it to the stars. The lesson: all of nature, every day is a direct result of Hashem’s control. What emerges is that all of the workings of the world are in Hashem’s direct control.

The miracles of Purim and Chanukah are disguised in nature to teach us that Hashem is not just able to change nature and perform miracles, but he controls every detail of daily life. This is the foundation of our אמונה. This is similar to the teaching of the Ramban (Parshas Bo) that we are obligated to believe in the ways of how Hashem controls nature; that all of the supernatural miracles were actually done to teach us that all hidden parts of nature and hidden miracles are  in fact miraculous.

Now we can begin to understand what the Jews responded when being attacked by Amalek. They had witnessed the open and undeniable miracles of Egypt, but they thoughtt maybe Hashem then retreated into the background, giving control to the stars. That is the pshat, היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין, Is Hashem with us in nature and still in control, or is he more removed?

This also explains the parable of Rashi, where the boy asks the stranger if he knows where his father is. We asked, how could he ask that? How does he not know and see his father is right there? He’s been doing everything for him? The answer: since the boy has gotten used to his father taking care of everything,  he has made it so natural that he forgets the source of where it is coming from. The lesson: we get so used to Hashem taking care of us through natural means, we take for granted that the sun rises and sets and that rain falls, etc. The result is we “forget” Hashem, we forget that he is running the day to day nature of the world. As a result, just as in the Mashal where the father throws the boy off and a dog comes and bites him, so too, if we forget Hashem’s daily involvement in the nature of the world, that causes Hashem to have something natural punish us – ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידים, Amalek just happens upon us and attacks us.

The שם משמואל explains the war with Amalek had to come before מתן תורה to avoid any excuses; without this lesson of Amalek, people could have mistaken מתן תורה as a coincidental act of nature, and then it would not have had the same importance. All the more so, the miracles of Chanukah and Purim which were disguised in nature, we have to first erase the name of Amalek so as not to allow people to mistakenly attribute these miracles to acts of nature.