Summary of the day
Shabbat Zachor is the Shabbat before Purim. A second Torah scroll is taken out and three verses are read: “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you left Egypt… you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; do not forget” (Deuteronomy 25:17-19). Hearing this reading in public is considered a Torah mitzvah, so even those who do not usually attend make a point of coming, and the reader has in mind to fulfil the obligation for the listeners.
The mitzvot of the day
- Remembering what Amalek did: hearing the reading with intention, so one should listen carefully to every word.
- A special haftara about Saul and Agag.
- Preparing for Purim, including the half-shekel on the Fast of Esther and the gifts to the poor.
Origin in history
Amalek attacked Israel at Rephidim, “cutting off all the stragglers behind you” (Deuteronomy 25:18), going after the weak. Since then every generation of threat to the people has been linked to this root. Saul was commanded to wipe out Amalek (I Samuel 15), but spared Agag and the best of the flock, and was punished. Agag was eventually killed by Samuel, yet in the rabbinic tradition his seed continued until Haman the Agagite (Megillah 13a). Purim is the repair: Mordechai, a descendant of Saul (“a Benjaminite”), defeats the descendant of Agag.
The message for today
“Remember” and “do not forget” seem redundant, but they are two inner forces: memory in the heart, and not forgetting with the mouth. Evil begins with “who happened upon you on the way” (“karcha”), at a moment of coldness and indifference. Today, memory obliges us to protect the weakest in the community, not to be content with declarations. On Purim we defeat Amalek with mitzvot of unity: food parcels to friends and gifts to the poor.
Torah and haftara readings
The passages read in synagogue, with their start and end.
Shabbat Zachor (the Shabbat before Purim)
- Torah · Morning
Weekly parasha
The weekly parasha (usually Tetzaveh)
- Maftir · Morning
Deuteronomy 25:17–19
"Remember what Amalek did to you"
- Haftara · Morning
1 Samuel 15:2–34
Ashkenazim: Saul and Agag, king of Amalek
- Haftara · Morning
1 Samuel 15:1–34
Sephardim: starting from verse 1
Why this reading? The commandment to remember Amalek and erase his name is from the Torah, and is read publicly so that everyone hears it. It is read before Purim because Haman is "the Agagite" (Esther 3:1), a descendant of Agag king of Amalek, whom Saul spared. The haftara tells of that very failure, and the story continues until the Book of Esther repairs it.