Our parasha continues to detail internal aspects of the Mishkan and of the service which was to be performed there. If all of these commandments would be carried out properly ונעדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבדי: וקדשתי את אהל מועד ואת המזבח ואת אהרן ואת בניו אקדש לכהן לי: ושכנתי בתוך בני ישראל והייתי להם לאלקים: וידעו כי אני ד' אלקיהם אשר הוצאתי אתם מארץ מצרים לשכני בתוכם אני ד' אלקיהם: (“And I shall keep appointments with the bënei Yisra’él there, and it shall become holy through my kavod. And I shall sanctify the Ohel Mo‘ed and the altar, and Aharon and his sons shall I sanctify to function for Me. And I shall dwell amongst the bënei Yisra’él and I shall become their G-d. And they will know that I am Ha-Shem their G-d Who brought them out of the land of Egypt that I might dwell amongst them; I am Ha-Shem their G-d”; XXIX, 43-46).
The implication is that the construction of the Mishkan (and the later Béyth ha-Miqdash) constituted a major node in history, and that the entire previous history of Israel, including the crucible of the Egyptian exile which had separated the dross from the pure, shining metal illustrative of Israel’s mettle (cf. Exodus X, 22, Rashi ad loc.) was to create the ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש, the “kingdom of kohanim and holy nation” (ibid., XIX, 6) fit that the Shëchina, the Divine Presence, could safely be resident in their midst.
Nonetheless, Hazal tell us, Moshe received a warning: אל תקרי "בכבדי" אלא "במכבדיי" ודבר זה אמר הקב"ה למשה ולא ידעו עד שמתו בני אהרן כיון שמתו בני אהרן אמר לו משה אהרן אחי לא מתו בניך אלא להקדיש שמו של הקב"ה (“Read not bi-chvodi [“through My glory”] but bi-mchubbadai [‘by those honored by Me’]; and this thing was said to Moshe and he did not know [who was meant] until Aharon’s sons died [Leviticus X, 2]; when Aharon’s sons died, Moshe told him, Aharon my brother, your sons died only to sanctify the name of the Holy One, Blessed is He”; זבחים קט"ו:). Moshe is refering to this revelation when he tells Aharon, הוא אשר דבר ד' לאמר בקרובי אקדש (“This is what Ha-Shem spoke, to say, By those close to Me shall I be sanctified”; ibid. 3).
The Or ha-Hayyim suggests that this “sanctification” was necessary לצד שאני מזמן שכינתי לבני חוששני מפרצת גדר ומיעוט כבוד מהם לזה צריך לקדשו בקרובי כדי שיראו ממקדשי וגו' (“since I [G-d] am appointing My Presence for My sons, I fear lest they drop their guard or commit lèse majesté; for this reason, it was necessary to sanctify [the Miqdash] through those close to Me, in order that [the bënei Yisra’él] be wary of My Miqdash....”). The Or ha-Hayyim goes on to say that the reason for the repetition of אני ד' אלקיהם, “I am Ha-Shem their G-d”, is to underscore that the relationship is permanent, even if the Shëchina is not at the moment resident in the midst of Israel (ע"ע ש"ך על התורה והעמק דבר שגם הם אומרים כעין זה ).
The Shlah ha-qadosh (in parshath Va-Yéshev) tells us that there is an intimate connection between the season and the parashoth read at that time. There must therefore be some connection between our parasha and parshath Zachor. With the foregoing in mind, what might it be?
B.
The last shabbath before Purim is called shabbath Zachor because of our second reading, which begins זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק בדרך בצאתך ממצרים (“Remember what ‘Amaléq did to you on the way, as you were leaving Egypt“), and ends תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים אל תשכח (“You shall erase the mention of ‘Amaléq from under the heavens; you shall not forget”). Many people have the custom of reciting this passage as one of the Shésh Zëchiroth, the “Six Remembrances,” each morning after Shaharith. Purim celebrates the foiling of the evil plot of Haman, a lineal descendant of the last ‘Amaléqi king (cf. Esther III, 1 and I Samuel XIV, 4-9).
What, exactly, had ‘Amaléq done to earn G-d’s eternal enmity? Our passage contains the key phrase asher qorcha ba-derech, an example of the creative ambiguity which sometimes characterizes the Torah and frustrates translators. As Rashi ad loc. notes, the verb qorcha could be derived either from the root quf-vav-réysh, in which case the phrase means “who cooled you down on the way,” or it could be derived from the root quf-réysh-hé, in which case it could mean something like “who defiled you on the way” (from the word qeri), or “who happened upon you on the way” (based on the word miqreh). The latter case may be understood as indicative of ‘Amaléq’s core atheistic philosophy, that the universe is governed by random, purposeless chance. As the name of the impending holiday, Purim (“Lots”) tells us, Haman’s preferred method of determining the date for hatching his plot was the casting of lots (cf. Esther III, 7). Plainly, Haman subscribed to the philosophy of his ancestral culture (עיי' ספרי כי תצא פיסקא פ"ו, זוה"ק ח"ג רפ"א:).
Either of these, of course, was inimical to the entire purpose of the enterprise creating the mamlecheth kohanim vë-goy qadosh who were intended to reside around the place אשר יבחר ד' אלקיכם בו לשכן שמו שם (“where Ha-Shem your G-d would choose to make His name resident”; Deuteronomy XII, 11).
But ‘Amaléq was liquidated long ago. Try as we might, we cannot find ‘Amaléq on a map or globe; their capital appears in no gazetteer. So what is the Torah exhorting us to do?
C.
“Amaléq make their first appearance in opposition to Israel in parshath Bë-Shallach, where Moshe declares: כי יד על כס קה מלחמה לד' בעמלק מדר דר (“For hand on G-d’s throne [kés Qah], there is war between Ha-Shem and ‘Amaléq from generation [to] generation”; Exodus XVII, 16, Rashi et Even ‘Ezra ad loc.). Rashi comments further: מהו "כס" ולא נאמר "כסא" ואף השם נחלק לחצי נשבע הקב"ה שאין שמו שלם ואין כסאו שלם עד שימחה שמו של עמלק כולו וכשימחה שמו יהי' השם שלם והכסא שלם שנאמר "האויב תמו חרבות לנצח" זהו עמלק שכתוב בו "ועברתו שמרה נצח" "וערים נתשת אבד זכרם המה" מהו אומר אחריו? "וד' לעולם ישב" – הרי השם שלם – "כונן למשפט כסאו" – הרי כסאו שלם (“Why [does it say] kés rather than kissé’ [the normal spelling of the word with final alef], and the [Divine] Name [i.e. the Tetragrammaton] is also split in half [only the initial yud and hé are written]? The Holy One, Blessed is He, has sworn that His Name is not whole and His throne is not whole until the name of ‘Amaléq has been erased completely, and when his name is erased, the Divine Name will be whole and the throne whole, as it is said. ‘Enemy, the wastes are gone forever [la-netzah; Psalms IX, 7] – this is ‘Amaléq, concerning whom it is written, ‘And His wrath is preserved forever [netzah’; Amos I,11]; ‘And the cities You uprooted, their memory is lost’ [Psalms, ibid., 8] and what does it say afterwards? ‘And Ha-Shem sits forever’ – so the [Divine] Name is whole – ‘and prepares His throne for judgment’ [Psalms, ibid.] – and His throne is whole”).
Hence we see that ‘Amaléq appears to have some potency still; “liquidation” did not constitute “eradication”; after all, Haman was not a citizen of some ‘Amaléqi state, but is counted a member of the tribe nonetheless.
D.
The zecher of ‘Amaléq, it seems, is the perpetuation of the ‘Amaléqi Weltanschauung, the atheistic conception of a random, purposeless world. So long as that remains current, so long as there is not universal recognition of the Creator of the universe, G-d’s reign over the universe is incomplete. The unification of G-d’s Name is thus a priority of Israel’s mission in the world, in testimony of which many people proclaim, before performing some mitzva, לשם יחוד קודשא בריך הוא ושכינתי' בדחילו ורחימו (“for the sake of the unity of the Holy One, Blessed is He and His Presence, with awe and love....”), and the Mahzor Vitry explains the congregational response to Qaddish, Yëhe’ Shëmeih rabba mëvorach (“May His great Name be blessed....”) שזו תפלה שאנו מתפללין למלא שמו כדכתיב "כי יד על כס קה" וכו' ופירושו כך שיהא שמי"ה שם קה רבא כלומר שאנו מתפללין שיהא שמו גדול ושלם (“that this is a prayer which we pray to fill out His Name, as it is written, ‘For hand on throne....’, and its meaning is that the Name Qah [a pun on the spelling of the Aramaic word shëmaih] be great, i.e. that we are praying that His Name will be great and whole”; ל' תוספות, ברכות ג: דה"מ ועונין אבל עיי' עד הסוף דפליגי בי' תוספות).
This tiqqun or “corrective,” especially in light of Rashi’s comment supra, finds support elsewhere in the Talmud: כל העונה אמן יהא שמי' רבא מברך בכל כחו קורעין לו גזר דינו שנאמר "בפרוע פרעות בישראל בהתנדב עם ברכו ד' " מ"ט פרוע פריות? משום דברכו ד' (“Anyone who answers, 'Amén yëhé Shëmeih...' with all his strength has his [evil] decree torn up, as it is said, ‘At the nullification of dangers in Israel, when the people voluntarily bless Ha-Shem’ [Judges V, 2]. Why are the dangers nullified? Because they bless Ha-Shem”; שבת קי"ט:, עיי' רש"י שם).
This, then, is the connection between our parasha, parshath Zachor, and the season. Haman’s perpetuation of ‘Amaléq’s worldview is an example of how the zecher ‘Amaléq still works to frustrate the Divine intention of permanently establishing residence in this world, “making His Name resident” here below. Faithful Israel works to magnify and unify His Name, and eradicate the legacy of ‘Amaléq. When that legacy is gone, as Yëhoshua‘ bin Nun tells us in the magnificent prayer which he authored, the ‘Aleinu recited today at the end of every service, ביום ההוא יהי' ד' אחד ושמו אחד, “On that day, Ha-Shem will be one and His Name one.” (עיי' תשובת רב האי גאון המובא בספר יד נאמן).
