Parshat Zachor

יז זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵֽאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם: יח אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כָּל־הַנֶּֽחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ וְלֹ֥א יָרֵ֖א אֱלֹהִֽים: יט וְהָיָ֡ה בְּהָנִ֣יחַ ה' אֱלֹהֶ֣יךָ | לְ֠ךָ֠ מִכָּל־אֹ֨יְבֶ֜יךָ מִסָּבִ֗יב בָּאָ֨רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר ה'־אֱלֹהֶ֠יךָ נֹתֵ֨ן לְךָ֤ נַֽחֲלָה֙ לְרִשְׁתָּ֔הּ תִּמְחֶה֙ אֶת־זֵ֣כֶר * (זֶ֣כֶר) עֲמָלֵ֔ק מִתַּ֖חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם לֹ֖א תִּשְׁכָּֽח:

17. You shall remember what Amalek did to you on the way, when you went out of Egypt, 18. how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary, and he did not fear God. 19. [Therefore,] it will be, when the Lord your God grants you respite from all your enemies around [you] in the land which the Lord, your God, gives to you as an inheritance to possess, that you shall obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens. You shall not forget!

(Devarim 25:17-19)

Parshat Zachor is the second of the "Four Parshiot" that come out around the month of Adar, the first being Shekalim, and the other 2, Parah and HaChodesh. Zachor is read on the Shabbat before Purim. It contains the mitzvah to remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people when they left Egypt, and to erase their memory from the world. The timing of Parshat Zachor, the Shabbat before Purim, is pretty obvious. On Purim we celebrate our victory over over Haman and his supporters in Shushan, and throughout Achashverosh's empire. Haman, of course, was a descendant of Amalek. And like the initial attack by Amalek, who attacked Bnei Yisrael when they were weak and tired, Haman did exactly the same thing.

The Purim story takes place during the time after the destruction of the first Temple, but before the second Temple was built. This was a period of defeat and mourning for the Jewish people. Haman saw that we were hurting, and tried to take advantage of that hurt to utterly destroy us. The Jewish people were weak, just like Bnei Yisrael were weak when they fled Egypt. This is the true legacy of Amalek.

The second pasuk (Devarim 25:17) starts אֲשֶׁ֨ר קָֽרְךָ֜ בַּדֶּ֗רֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּ֤ב בְּךָ֙ כָּל־הַנֶּֽחֱשָׁלִ֣ים אַֽחֲרֶ֔יךָ וְאַתָּ֖ה עָיֵ֣ף וְיָגֵ֑עַ how he happened upon you on the way and cut off all the stragglers at your rear, when you were faint and weary, The plain language (pshat) is pretty easy to understand - Amalek attacked the stragglers of Bnei Yisrael from behind, victimizing the weakest of the weak - a heinous crime on its own.

Rashi comments on this pasuk that the word קָרְךָ comes from the word קֶרִי essentially meaning seminal emissions. Rashi explains that this means that Amalek defiled the Jewish people, specifically the men with sexual acts.

Bnei Yisrael were weak and tired, and Amalek defiled the weakest of them all. In other words, these sexual acts were non-consensual, to say the least. This brings our understanding of the evils of Amalek to an even lower level of depravity.

This of course, is on top of the more commonly known explanations that Amalek specifically targeted Bnei Yisrael as an act of rebellion or spite, against God. A nasty combination all around.

The commandment to remember Amalek is not just a reminder of a historical event, but it is also a call to action. We are commanded to eradicate the memory of Amalek, not just the people themselves, but also their ideology and the traits that they represent.