Parshat Tetzaveh Zachor 5785
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the clothes worn by the Kohen Gadol and the Kohen Hedyot when doing the Avodah in the Mishkan. On the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol, the Choshen, there were twelve different stones which had the names of the twelve tribes on them. In addition, on the shoulders of the Efod, there were an additional two stones which also had the twelve tribes engraved on them, six on each stone. These stones were Avnei Shoham, which was one of the twelve stones on the Choshen. Why were these stones Avnei Shoham, and not one of the other eleven stones found on the Choshen?
We read parshat Zachor every year on the Shabbos before Purim. The Medrash Tanchuma on parshat Ki Seitzei points out that just as the parsha of remembering Amalek begins with the word Zachor, so too the parsha of Shabbos begins with the word Zachor, as the pasuk says (Chapter 20, Pasuk 8), זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. We learn from here a mitzvah from the Torah to remember and sanctify Shabbos by making Kiddush. Though these two mitzvos are based on the word Zachor, they have opposite meanings.
Shabbos is the basis and the foundation of the creation of the world. The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh teaches that we learn from the pasuk in Ki Sisa (Chapter 31, Pasuk 17), וביום השביעי שבת וינפש, that Shabbos is the Nefesh; it is the soul and the essence of creation. Before Shabbos, the world was hanging in the balance, and then Shabbos came and solidified the world. He adds that the creation is dependent on Shabbos and every week when we keep Shabbos, the world is “recreated” for another six days until the next Shabbos. And this cycle continues from week to week.
As a result, Shabbos is a day of memory. The Sfas Emes explains that something which is the source and the essence is never forgotten. And therefore, the mitzvah of sanctifying Shabbos is expressed through זכור since Shabbos is the foundation of creation and the source of bracha, מקור הברכה, it is always remembered.
The Medrash Rabbah at the end of our parsha teaches that the stone of Shoham which was on the Choshen of the Kohen Gadol had the name of the tribe of Yosef engraved on it. The Zohar Hakadosh teaches that Yosef was the Tzadik who was the foundation of the world, צדיק יסוד עולם. And this is why it was the stone of Yosef, שהם, which were placed on the shoulders of the Eifod.
The Torah says regarding the אבני שהם (Chapter 28, Pasuk 12), ושמת את שתי האבנים על כתפת הפד אבני זכרן לבני ישראל. The stones of Yosef were אבני זכרן; they were stones of memory. Since Yosef was the Tzadik who was the foundation of the world, therefore, it is precisely his stones which serve as a memory before Hashem on behalf of Bnei Yisrael. As we explained above, the foundation and source is always remembered.
And Yosef was the one whose stones had the names of all the tribes. Yosef was the unifying figure as well for all the tribes. As Yosef’s dream indicated (Bereishis, Chapter 37, Pasuk 7) והנה תסבינה אלמתיכם ותשתחוין לאלמתי; all of your sheaves bowed down to mine. All the tribes focused on Yosef; he eventually brought them all together.
The Zohar Hakadosh adds that when Yaakov left home and all the stones gathered together as one under his head, this gathering of the stones represents the stones of the tribes on the garment of the Kohen Gadol. And stones are the physical representation of a foundation. And in the bracha of Yosef in parshat Veyechi it says (Chapter 49, Pasuk 24), משם רועה אבן ישראל. Rashi adds that אבן refers to אב ובן, יעקב ובניו. Yosef is the stone, the foundation, who unifies and gathers together all of Clal Yisrael, Yaakov and his sons. Hence, the stones of Yosef, the אבני שהם, are אבני זכרן.
The Zachor of Amalek is the mitzvah to remember to eradicate that which attempts to destroy our essence. Amalek has no basis or foundation; it is based on שקר, on lies. It can only exist in Olam Hazeh, which is an עלמא דשיקרא. As the Ohr Gedalyahu explains, this is why the pasuk says in Ki Seitzei (Chapter 25, Pasuk 19), תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים; only תחת השמים can the lies of Amalek exist, but not למעלה מן השמים.
The pasuk says in the end of Beshalach which we read on Purim (Chapter 17, Pasuk 11), והיה כאשר ירים משה ידו וגבר ישראל. Chazal teach on these words in the Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah that it is not Moshe raising his hands that made them successful in the war against Amalek. It was Bnei Yisrael subjugating their hearts to their Father in heaven. When we return to our source and foundation by remembering who we are, we can eradicate those who have no real essence and foundation.
The Sfas Emes also teaches that the word ירים ידו is future tense. It applies in all future generations. And we see this in our present situation; the more we know who we are, we will be successful against the evil incarnation of Amalek in our generation. As long as we remember our source and our essence as Bnei Yisrael, the descendants of יעקב ובניו, we will remove all of those without any foundation or basis.
Good Shabbos
Print this article