On the Sabbath before Purim, after the reading of the week's Torah, another Torah is added - "Remember what Amalek did to you," because Manna was from the seed of Amalek.
The Torah commands us to remember and not forget what Amalek did to us, and to eradicate this evil completely - "You shall blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven"!
This attitude toward Amalek is unparalleled. There were other corrupt nations that harmed the people of Israel, and with them it is possible, under certain conditions, to reach an agreement. The only nation with whom we must not agree to any agreement is Amalek. Hence, his evil is exceptional and extremely negative.
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Cools the bath
In the world of Jewish thought, Amalek symbolizes absolute evil, which has no possibility of being corrected. It is a type of refined insolence, which does not stem from a lack of knowledge. On the contrary, the Sages defined Amalek as someone who "knows his Lord and intends to rebel against Him.".
He stands against the Creator precisely out of knowledge of His greatness and power.
This is completely illogical behavior. If you recognize the power of the Creator, how dare you stand against Him?! But this was the case with the appearance of Amalek after the Exodus from Egypt. All the nations saw the miracles of the Creator in Egypt and the Red Sea. "All the inhabitants of Canaan were amazed" - even the corrupt and idolatrous people of Canaan were amazed at the wonders that the Holy One, the Blessed, showed. And just then Amalek appeared. He saw the miracles, witnessed all the wonders - and yet he went out to fight Israel.
Our sages likened Amalek to someone who jumps into a boiling bath and knows he will be burned, but his goal is to cool the bath before others. There is no cure for such an attitude, and it is impossible to deal with it through persuasion.
Hasidic teachings teach that 'Amalek' is within each of us. In this way, the parsha of 'Zachor' is given an actualization, to say: we are not talking about things that were in the past only, but about a constant war raging within our souls, and about the need to eliminate the 'Amalek' within us.
This 'Amalek' takes on various forms, and sometimes they are subtle and subtle. For example, it may appear in the form of inexplicable resistance to sacred words. The person understands, knows, is convinced – and resists. Why? Just like that, without explanation.
Sometimes obvious miracles occur. Everyone goes wild with admiration and exclaims: 'A miracle!', while the 'Amalek' inside responds coldly: 'This is not a miracle at all.' It has no logical explanation for how such a thing could happen. It just says that 'this is not a miracle' and casts doubt and confusion.
Skepticism and indifference
Another image of 'Amalek' is coolness, as it is said of Amalek: "He who is cold in his way" - 'cold' in the sense of cold. He cools the enthusiasm. Okay, he whispers to you, study Torah, pray, keep the commandments - but without enthusiasm, without fervor and joy. He knows that things done out of coolness lose their flavor and become an oppressive burden.
Our task is to locate the inner 'Amalek' within us and erase its memory. To bring enthusiasm and joy into our lives and into the work of the Creator, to ward off skepticism and apathy. To be warm Jews, full of the fervor of faith. Happy Purim!
