There are זכירות שש, six remembrances, which every Yid is commanded to recall every single day. Within this lies a commandment to emotionally connect with these events, and in this way they will become etched into our hearts.
The mitzvah to “remember” means, by definition, that we must become emotional about it. We must experience it with complete emotion, and in this way, we will live with those events forever. It must penetrate to our bones, so we will never forget it.
There are stories of chassidim who remembered a vort they heard from a tzaddik for decades to come...words of chizuk or yiras Shamayim that stood by them through difficult situation for years after they heard them. This is because they internalized these words with great emotion and feeling. The chassid came to the tzaddik as an open vessel to accept his teachings, and this is why it remains with him forever.
The sefarim hakedoshim explain that the מידת היסוד is called זכירה, because remembering is connecting. When we connect with something, we remember that thing.
Despising Amalek
We see this phenomenon with regard to the mitzvah of עמלק לך עשה אשר את זכור, remember what Amalek did unto you. The Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvos 189) rules that the essence of this mitzvah is to evoke within ourselves a hatred for Amalek.
One may think that we can fulfill this mitzvah by listening to Parashas Zachor once a year. But this isn’t what the Rishonim tells us. The heart of this mitzvah is to arouse a strong feeling of hatred—because the Ribbono shel Olam wants us to live with this feeling of hatred to evil.
As long as we merely listen to krias haTorah, we go on with life. We’re missing the essence and the heart of this mitzvah. When the Ribbono shel Olam says עמלק לך עשה אשר את זכור, it means that this remembrance should remain with you at all times. It needs be that kind of recalling—one that comes when you walk around with burning hatred toward evil. You will learn through this to begin hating evil and other aspects of life that aren’t good for your neshamah. You will come to understand how the kelipah buries you... how Amalek infuses coldness and apathy to everything towards which we should be feeling warmth, engagement, and excitement. We must “bake” this hatred into our hearts, so we don’t slowly begin feeling comfortable with Amalek.
It is this way every time the Ribbono shel Olam commands us to remember something. The idea is to become excited, to experience emotion. The Torah demands that we learn and study the pesukim in such a way that they will bring us to feel—and in this way these ideas will become etched in our minds and remain with us forever. This is what זכור really means.
