Remembering Amalek and Shabbos Together
The Context
G‑d famously commands the Jewish people to always recall the evil of Amalek:
“You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt.... You shall not forget!” (Devarim 25:17‑19)
Rambam (Hilchos Melachim 5:5) teaches that Remembering Amalek is a mitzva that we are constantly obligated to fulfill. Similarly, Ramban (on Shemos 20:8) learns that according to its literal interpretation, the Commandant to remember Shabbos is also a constant obligation.
In a cryptic Midrash (Pirkei DiRebbi Eliezer, 44), the sages drew a link between this command and the command to remember the Shabbos:
When the Jewish people first heard the mitzvah to remember Amalek, they asked Moshe, “one verse says to remember what Amalek did to you, another verse says to remember the Shabbos. How are we to fulfill both commands to remember?” Moshe answered with a parable: “This is a cup and this is a cup. A cup of spiced wine is not to be compared to a cup of vinegar. This “Remember” is in order to observe and to sanctify the Shabbos day, and the other “Remember” is in order to destroy and to cut off all the offspring of Amalek.”
The Questions
- What was the Jewish people’s question? Why would it be problematic to fulfill both mitzvot to remember?
- Why is remembering Amalek compared to a cup of vinegar?
- What did Moshe mean with his preface that both mitzvos are “cups”?
The Explanation
The commandment to remember something does not mean to simply recall the event absentmindedly or superficially. True remembering is when the person relives the event and it permeates him completely.
If this is the case, then recalling Amalek and Shabbos is a difficult balance to hold, for they represent contradictory themes. Remembering the Shabbos means to know that G‑d created the world, and recreates it every moment. Included in this is the idea that G‑d directs the world and oversees every detail of every creation.
Amalek represents an ideology of “knowing G‑d, and intentionally rebelling against Him.” They were a people who had full knowledge that G‑d was the Creator, yet they disregarded this and acted as if there was no master to the world. Remembering Amalek in order to destroy them, entails truly recognizing that an entity that disregards G‑d exists.
How, then, the Jewish people asked, could we immerse ourselves simultaneously in these two opposite themes, in the constant creation of the world implied in Shabbos, and in the rejection of G‑d, implicit in remembering Amalek?
Moshe answered with a parable of wine and vinegar. Vinegar is bitter, yet the sages teach that it has restorative properties. Vinegar is also not considered its own distinct product, it is derived from wine.
Amalek, Moshe was saying, is plainly bitter, it is a rejection of G‑d. Yet, it, too, is derived from G‑d, from “wine;” G‑d created the capacity for Amalek to exist. Therefore, it must be able to serve some purpose. By recognizing the depth of Amalek’s betrayal and consciously rejecting it and asserting G‑d’s reality in the face of cynicism, we use Amalek’s evil for a positive purpose, the strengthening of our own faith.
Thus, both Shabbos and Amalek are “cups”—vessels that can contain the Divine. Yet this objective is realized with different paths. Shabbos affirms G‑d’s existence through holy actions. By recalling Amalek, we affirm G‑d’s existence through an act of rejection. They are different “cups,” but not contradictory.
The Lesson
When a person lives in the realm of “Shabbos,” of absolute awareness of the Divine reality, it is possible that they think they are immune to the temptations of Amalek. Therefore, the Midrash teaches that these remembrances go together. We must recall the evil of Amalek even while experiencing Shabbos, because we are always vulnerable.
And if we find ourselves in the realm of Amalek, of denying G‑d’s reality in our life, we must know there is always hope to reclaim the consciousness of Shabbos. We can take the vinegar of rebellion and use it to restore our souls.
Likkutei Sichos Vol. 19, p. 221ff.
By: ProjectLikkuteiSichos.org
Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
