Spirituality
TORAH
PORTION
Amalek's Evil Cry
Is All Around Us
An afternoon of fine food
and fun for a cause
2P1r+i-6PM
Parshat Tzav: Leviticus 6:1-8:36;
Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:22-9:23.
SUNDAY
MARCH 27, 2011
Proceeds to benefit nonprofit food rescue organizations
Forgotten Harvest and Aitarnirage's RockCity Kitchen
T
FEATURING SELECTIONS FROM THESE FINE DINING PARTNERS
Atlas Bistro • Sacco • Café Via • Chen Chow -Crave, Dearborn
Dorsey Culinary School • PireKeepers Casino-Hong Hua -Just Baked
Macomb Culinary institute • MotorCity Casino• Pizzeria Biqa • Quattro
Roast= Slows BBO•Steve and Rocky's-The Sunday Dinner Company
Toasted Oak • Walnut Creek Country Club
General Admission $35
To purchase tickets, visit forgottenharvest.org or call (248)967-1.500 x"115
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his Shabbat, Shabbat
Zachor — the Shabbat of
Remembrance — we take
two Torah scrolls out of the ark dur-
ing the morning service. From the
first scroll we read the weekly Torah
portion; from the second
scroll we read about two
eternal obligations:
1.To remember what
Amalek attempted to do to
our ancestors when they
left Egypt, and
2.to obliterate Amalek.
What was it that Amalek
wanted to do? When the
Jewish people left Egypt,
they were protected from
the Egyptian army by
God's open miracles. It was
apparent to all the nations
in the vicinity that
the Jews were God's
people, and none
would start up with a
nation that benefited
from such Divine pro-
tection.
None — except for
the nation of Amalek.
Knowing very well
that the probability of
victory in battle was
remote, they attacked
the nascent Jewish nation anyway.
And, indeed, they lost the battle when
the Almighty interceded on behalf of
the Jews.
What motivated Amalek to get
involved in such a foolhardy war? Our
sages explain that Amalek was the first
nation in world history to be motivated
by simple crass, illogical anti-Semitism.
They knew that they didn't stand a
chance against the Jewish people, yet
their blind hatred propelled them into
something that they would pay for
dearly. It is this irrational, unreasonable
hatred that we remember on Shabbat
Zachor, and that we are commanded to
utterly erase.
We have recently seen revolutions
taking place in many Arab countries.
For decades, tens of millions of Arabs
have been oppressed by dictators who
have abused their people in almost
every way possible. This was public
knowledge to anyone who took the
interest and made the effort to find
out what was happening on
the Arab street. Yet for years,
assorted world agencies, the
media and the international
community in general have
demonized only Israel for
alleged human rights viola-
tions against Arabs.
This vogue of condemn-
ing Israel is rampant on our
own college campuses. It's a
funny thing. You constantly
hear of college students
demanding from their uni-
versity boards to disinvest
from Israel; but I
don't remember ever
hearing of demands
to disinvest from
Libya, Egypt, Tunisia
and other Arab coun-
tries where the stan-
dard of living is much
lower than that of
Arabs who live on the
West Bank and whose
citizens have far less
freedom and far fewer
rights than do their counterparts in
Israel.
What is the reason for the obvious
hypocrisy?
It's called Amalek. It's called illogi-
cal, irrational, vintage anti-Semitism.
We don't know who Amalek is today,
but the mitzvah to obliterate what
they stood for remains.
This Shabbat we rededicate ourselves
to obliterate Amalek's ugly message by
becoming ambassadors of Israel and
Judaism and by expressing our outrage
over the blatant hypocrisy demonstrat-
ed by the enemies of Israel. I_
This vogue of
condemning
Israel is rampant
on our own
college c ampuses.
It's not just about getting you back on your feet.
It's about getting you back to your life.
Marvin & Betty Danto Health Care Center
248388.5300
Heartland - West Bloomfield
248.6611700
NIBMA21SMIZMMEI
Heartland Health Care Center - Oakland
248 729.4400
32
eartland
Health Care Center
Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing
March
2011
Elimelech Silberberg is rabbi of Sarah &
Morris Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center
of West Bloomfield.