The Gift of Jewish Memory


This coming Shabbat has a special name. It is known as Shabbat Zechor (the Shabbat of remembering.) The day takes its name from a passage that is read from a second Torah making mention of the commandment to remember the attack of the Amalikites on the Children of Israel. We are commanded to remember this unprovoked attack on our ancestors and to keep the memory alive. Shabbat Zechor is always timed as the Shabbat before Purim. The rabbis said that Haman (of Purim infamy) was a descendant of the Amalikites and so the connection was made between Shabbat Zechor and Purim. It is another example of how the Jewish past is to inform every future generation.

We often, and correctly, speak of the gift of memory as being the gift that has kept Judaism alive. In many ways this is true- without knowledge of the Jewish past there is no orientation for the Jewish future. It would be as if we were dropped off in a wilderness without knowing which way to go. All too often, however, we find that the gift of memory is a bitter pill to swallow. “Memory” has taken on a very negative connotation. At Purim we remember Haman and the word “remember” has, in the modern period, been permanently joined the memory of the Holocaust. While we need to remember the suffering of our people, and honor the memory of those lost, we cannot lose sight of the other aspect of the Jewish memory.

We, as a people, have suffered at the hands of countless enemies. It was a part of our past and is still a sad part of our present. We would be blind to miss the parallels between the threats to our ancestors and the threats that are all around us today. We, better than any other people, know that to forget the past is a tragic mistake. Just as this Shabbat we are commanded to remember the past, I remind you that we are also commanded to look beyond it. Is the glass half empty or half full? Is the history of our people a long litany of suffering or a glorious record of triumph?

On Purim we not only recall the threat to an ancient community but we also celebrate their redemption, their victory. As a student of Jewish history I am sometimes overwhelmed by the many struggles that we have faced just to exist. Luckily, I can counter that by remembering that Jewish history never came to an end. Every threat was overcome, every defeat followed by a victory. To be a Jew who responds to the command “remember” means to remember everything- not just the bad but the good. Our sense of memory must be more than an instrument for mourning. It should be our inspiration to celebrate.

Published in the Florida Jewish Journal 2/28,12