(Excerpts from a Shiyur given by HaRav
Avraham Shapiro, Rosh Yeshivath Mercaz HaRav)
"Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way
as ye came forth out of Egypt; how he met thee by the way, and smote the
hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear, when thou was faint
and weary; and he feared not G-d. Therefore it shall be, when the L-rd
thy G-d hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about, in the
land which the L-rd thy G-d giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it,
that thou should blot out the remembrance of Amalek, from under heaven;
thou shalt not forget." (Deut. 25:17-19)
Parashat Zachor is a special Parashah; it is always
new and relevant...It is a Parashah that awakens us to a time for moral
stock-taking. For people are without self-knowledge, unaware of their own
true state of being, and man lives in error.
King Saul was told by the Prophet Samuel, "Thus saith the L-rd of
hosts: I remember that which Amalek did to Israel...Now go and smite Amalek
and utterly destroy all all that they have, and spare them not; but slay
both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."
(I Sam. 15:2-3) The People of Israel undertook to fulfill a very special
and unique mitzvah, the blotting out of Amalek. They rejoiced that they
were given the right to fulfill this one-time mitzvah, but instead they
transgressed. Saul said, "I have performed the commandments of the
L-rd." (I Sam.15:13) Saul too rejoiced, seeing in himself the savior
of the People - and instead lost the Kingdom. For Saul and all who were
there were in error. "But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the
best of the sheep, and of the oxen, even the young of the second birth,
and the lambs and all that was good, and would not destroy them; but everything
that was of no account and feeble, that they destroyed utterly." (I
Sam. 15:9) Only after Samuel rebuked Saul did he understand that he had
not fulfilled a mitzvah but had transgressed. "...Hath the L-rd as
great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices/As in the hearkening to
the voice of the L-rd?/Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,/And to
hearken than the fat of rams..." (I Sam. 15:22)
Man does not always allow himself to be aware of his self-interest. He
expresses his motives in humane terms: How can I kill? What of pity and
compassion? Samuel said to Saul: "Wherefore then didst thou not hearken
to the voice of the L-rd, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that
which was evil in the sight of the L-rd?" (I Sam. 15:19) For it was
clear to the prophet that Saul's motivations were not the purely spiritual
ones that Saul allowed himself to believe they were. Saul did "not
hearken to the voice of the L-rd" he flew "upon the spoil"
and he did "that which was evil in the sight of the L-rd". And
therefore a bat-kol (Heavenly Voice) cried out - Do not be overly "righteous"
... For the essential thing is to hearken and obey; this is the foundation
of faith...
The flaw in Saul was that he did not hearken to the truth - one must hearken
and hear. One who does not listen may delude oneself into believing in
one's own righteousness. Years earlier when Samuel had first told Saul
he was to be king, Saul had protested his unworthiness. Now once again
Samuel rebukes this false modesty. "And Samuel said: `Though thou
be little in thine own sight, art thou not head of the tribes of Israel?
And the L-rd annointed thee king over Israel;' "...For when a man
says he is not fitted for a task - is this not a kind of pride? What does
it mean, "I" am fit to be a general but not a king? What is "I"?
Who said that "I" am worthy of any charge - great or small? If
there is a task to be done - be prepared to do it...
...And now, too, in our own time, in our own day, if one keeps faith with
the Torah there can be no false reckonings...Those who justify their lack
of faith in Eretz Israel in terms of "humaneness" - of loud concern
for the rights of the Arabs - are motivated neither by ideals nor ideology
- but by pure self-interest...Some desire political power; others, to live
"a quiet life" - though to live in conflict with the Torah can
never bring about quiet...Like Saul they "fly upon the spoil"...They
are motivated by self-interest, while affirming their own righteousness...
Controversy too can be motivated by self-interest. One may go to almost
any lengths to prove that one is right. Hananiah the son of Azzur, who
lived at the time of Jeremiah, was once a true prophet of a very high degree.
Because it angered him that Jeremiah prophesied, he grew soured and embittered,
and turned to false prophecies. He prophesied that Judea would not fall
and that there would be no Destruction. Because of this Jeremiah was sent
to say, "...thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore thus
saith the L-rd...this year thou shalt die...So Hananiah the prophet died
the same year in the seventh month." (Jer. 28:15-17) According to
Rashi (Tosephtah) it is written "the same year" in order to emphasize
that Hananiah did indeed die that same year. For when Hananiah felt his
death approaching just before Rosh HaShanah - he gave orders that his burial
should not take place until after the New Year, so that it would not be
said that Jeremiah's prophecy had come true. Thus we see where self-interest
may lead.
"Tremble and sin not;/Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and
be still. Selah." (Ps. 4:5) The Gemara interprets this passage in
relation to the struggle between the Evil Inclination and the Good Inclination
for mastery over each person. "... `Tremble and sin not' - if one
is victorious [over the Evil Inclination] it is well, and if not let him
occupy himself with Torah, as is written: `Commune with your own heart'.
If one is victorious it is well, and if not let him read the Shema Israel,
as is written: `upon your bed'. If one is victorious it is well, and if
not then let him remember the day of his death, as is written: `...and
be still. Selah.' " (Brakhoth 5a) The prophet Hananiah lay dying.
On this very day when he ought to acknowledge his error he cannot overcome
his self-interest and confess the truth. He is ready to deceive the People
on his deathbed rather than admit that Jeremiah was right.
One must beware of self-interest. One must not have confidence in the purity
of one's motives...There is the Torah, there is the Law which we are obligated
to keep. But beyond the Law lies the pitfalls of self-interest...We can
only strive to understand as best we can what is the Will of G-d and how
we may serve it...
(edited and translated by Rhea Magnes)
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