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Our Rabbi's Message
March 14th 2008
By Rabbi Aaron Kriegel"Turn the other cheek" is not a Jewish response to violence. We are not supposed to let other people take advantage of us any more than we are allowed to take advantage of other people. And in fact we have the right to fight back against those who try to hurt us in any unjust way. We also have the obligation to remember the frightful ways that people have tried to bring us down.
It is for that reason that on this Shabbat, and on every Shabbat before Purim, we are commanded to remember what Amalek did to us when we were leaving Egypt. However, the obligation to remember and not to forget what Amalek did does not stop with Amalek. We observe Purim not only to remember how we survived the threats of Haman, but also to recall what kind of person Haman was and to consider his machinations.
For the Jew and for any decent person, hate is a learned response. Little children are not born hating. Little children cannot even see the differences between people. Color or nationality or religion means very little to them. As they grow, adults teach them about differences and teach them to hate those who are different. Children will play with any child, but as they grow, the group they are allowed and they choose to play with becomes smaller and smaller. Often our groups become smaller for just that reason. Some of those children with whom we played grow up believing that we are evil and should be destroyed.
So, sometimes it is good to recall those who we do not let into our group. Sometimes we are wise to know that some adults do want what we have and even want our lives. And until the End of Days, the messianic age, we will remain obligated by the very threat of our existence to remember those of every generation conspired to steal our very lives.
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