I’m on a plane flying back to Atlanta from NYC. I was blessed to spend the past four days learning with colleagues at the Hadar Rabbinic Intensive Yeshivah. The learning was deep and incredible. I look forward to telling you about the classes I took and the learning I did, but for now, I want to stay focused on the weekly פרשה/parsha/portion, or more importantly, the special שבת/Shabbat, שבת זכור/Shabbat Zachor.
Each year, we have this special שבת the week before פורים/Purim. We begin our observance of פורים by recalling the people who sought to destroy us, the people of עמלק/Amalek. We’re commanded to remember to never forget to destroy the memory of עמלק. There’s a struggle because we shouldn’t seek to destroy the memory of the pain and suffering. We can’t do that, because to do so would allow us to move on. We know all too well there’s no such thing as moving on. We have a sacred obligation to move forward while also looking back.
As Jews, we’re the eternal protectors of memory. We take it upon ourselves to sanctify the holiness of memory and safeguard the important role it plays. Our ancestors, murdered by Hitler and the Nazis, are kept sacred when we remember them. Remembering the actions of the Nazis help us work to prevent any repeat of the Holocaust. This is the two-part importance of memory when it comes to the Jewish people. We’ve seen time and again the flipping of this sanctity on its head as the Jews of the world, who are working to safeguard against attempted repeated Holocausts, are being accused of being the Nazis we’re preventing. Accusations of this sort remove the sanctity of the memories of our loved ones who were butchered at the hands of bigots and tyrants.
Our focus on memory continues to be a backbone of the modern Jewish experience. Two Jewish actors, Adrien Brody and Kieran Culkin, won Oscars during the Academy Awards last week for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for work in movies about the Holocaust and its memory. Much has been said about Brody and this being his second Oscar for Best Actor from movies about the Holocaust. It’s part of his heritage and part of his story. We should applaud his remarks during his speech where he called out the antisemitism of today.
Each of us has a sacred task to fulfill this year and every year: we need to sanctify our history and maintain our values learned from our history. We must show our people, our ancestors, and the world that we won’t allow the past to be forgotten. Instead, we need to honor the past and continue to learn from it, now and into the future.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Hearshen
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