On the Shabbat that precedes Purim, two Torah scrolls are taken from the ark; one for the regular reading and the other for Maftir- “Remember What Amalek did to you…(Devarim 25). Because of this reading this Shabbat is known as Shabbat Zachor (Remember).
Haman, the villain in the story of Purim was a direct descendant of Amalek, a cruel nation who has always wanted to annihilate the Jewish nation in every generation.
Before Purim we are reminded once again of what Amalek did to us when coming out of Egypt. The Jews who still harbored doubts about leaving Egypt were the ones who were attacked because they trailed behind the rest without energy and faith.
The name “Amalek” has a numerical value (gematria) of 240. The simplest way of writing this number in Hebrew letters is reish-mem which means haughty. Transposing the two letters gives the word “bitter” (mar). Amalek carries himself upon high and embitters the fate of Israel. His end is high (ram) and bitter (mar) too. King Ahashverosh had Haman hanged on a gallow that was 50 cubits high.
The Baal Shem Tov pointed out that the numerical value of Amalek is also the numerical value of the word “safek” (doubt). In our psyche, Amalek is a negativity that infests our mind filling it with doubts which eat away our faith.
So “Shabbat Zachor” reminds us once again that we need to fight our doubts by re-igniting the flame of the heart, by loving H”S “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.
We do this by fighting ideas that cool us down in the love and fear of H”S by studying Torah, praying, and doing acts of kindness we will be assured to keep that flame burning and in that way, if doubt happens to be in the neighborhood they will just be burned into ashes having no power over you.
#shabbatshalom #zachor #remember #nodoubts #faith
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