Parshas Zachor, literally “remember”, is read the Shabbos before Purim
in preparation of the holiday. The subject of the haftorah is King Saul’s war
against Amalek, because it is like the conflict with Haman and his nation
Amalek, much later in the days of Mordechai and Esther. In the haftorah the
prophet Samuel relates Hashem’s command to Saul, who has been king of Israel
for about two years that he is to strike Amalek and totally destroy them. He is
explicitly told not to spare man, woman, child, or infant. In addition there is
to be no plunder their possessions, not their livestock, chattel, or money.
It’s a ruthless commandment but Saul is ruthless enough to keep it. He attacks
and is victorious but does not keep the commandment to totally destroy Amalek.
Rather he spares the king and seizes all possessions of significant value. The
idea of the commandment is that Amalek is incorrigibly evil. Any surviving
remnant will be evil, their possessions are tainted, and their money is dirty.
Shmuel goes out to meet Shaul after the battle. Shaul knows he did
wrong. To cover it up he cheerfully greets Shmuel, saying he has fulfilled the
word of G-d. In response Shmuel asks him about sparing the King of Amalek and
the plunder, then rebukes him saying, “Is it small in your eyes to be head of
the tribes of Israel and that Hashem has appointed you to be king of Israel”.
Saul acts as if capturing the king was the same as killing him. As for the
plunder, the people wanted to use it for sacrifices so he indulged them. Shmuel
chastises him saying that charm will not cover up rebelliousness and that being
pushy is obnoxious and useless. He then tells him that G-d is dismissing him as
king (Samuel 1 chapter 15). Saul in fact nominally remains for another year of
so during which an evil spirit from Hashem drives him mad. Later he dies in
battle, basically disgracefully.
The verdict seems excessive. Reviewing the story of Saul helps to
understand it. Saul is first introduced when Shmuel, the prophet, is an old
man. Shaul has been told by his father to search the country to find his lost
donkeys. After searching unsuccessfully for days he accepts his attendant’s
advice to inquire of the prophet. Shmuel is pleased and prophecies that he will
find the donkeys that day. He is in fact the choice of HaKadosh Baruch Hu to be
king and is anointed by Shmuel (Samuel 1 chapter 9 and 10).
After assuming office, his son Jonathan kills an officer of the Pelishtim.
This is intended to be a prelude for a general war to free Israel from their
domination. Shaul then musters the nation but, when the Pelishtim respond with
a large well-armed force, the people hide.
Shmuel is scheduled to arrive, because of distance and the dangers of
traveling it will be sometime within a seven day period. Before the seventh day
is out, the soldiers start to scatter. At that point Shaul offers the
sacrifices that were set aside for Shmuel. As soon as they are completed Shmuel
arrives. When Shaul meets him, Shmuel asks why he offered the sacrifices. Saul
should have apologized. He responds truthfully that he was concerned about the
people scattering but lies that Shmuel had not come at the proper time, he
feared an imminent attack, and that he really did not want to bring the offer but
forced himself to do so. Shmuel is unhappy with the answer and tells him that
he behaved foolishly and because of it, his kingdom would not endure (Ibid
Chapter 13).
The Malbim explains that this was a test from Hashem which Shaul did not
pass. Again Shaul’s handling of the situation was less than excellent but the
punishment seems excessive. Saul then attacks the Pelishtim. Some aspects of
his leadership are peculiar, but he does have a big victory.
In analyzing this story there is a tendency to compare the relationship
between Samuel and Saul to the one between Moshe and Joshua. Joshua was very
much the disciple of Moshe and Saul should have been the same way towards
Samuel but was not. The issue of the sacrifice is more complex. For a prophet
it is not just a show of dedication, rather it is a vehicle for inquiring of
Hashem. The inquiry in this episode would be to ask of the holy One blessed be
He, if the nation should go out to war.
It seems that the lesson is that at times a person is required to
inquire of others particularly, the wise and righteous. It may be something the
person doesn’t understand. It can be a big important change that they should
mention to their rabbi and ask for his blessing and his advice if any. Excessive
self-reliance seems to be an aspect of Amalek; especially if instead of
apologizing, one will lie simply to save face. It is even worse if the king,
who is an example to the nation, has such a characteristic, because a lesser
man may think that he can be a rasha when it suits him.
After the sin of Amalek, Saul changes. Sparks of his pristine goodness
with Shmuel remain especially in his love of David which appears from time to
time. This raises the idea of influence; specifically want influences a person
and most importantly what influences the king.
The Chumash generally takes a dim view of plunder but makes a serious
exception when it commands the Israelites to take expensive jewelry and clothes
from the Egyptians just before the exodus. When the Israelites drain Egypt of
its wealth an unusual word is used "וינצלו".
It is the language of rescue or apology. So to speak the Chumash is saying that
Israel should look at the jewels and remember that Egypt welcomed them during
the famine in the days of Jacob, forgive the slavery, and not hate them because
there is good in them. It is the opposite with Amalek. If a Jew looks at a
jewel from them, it will bring out their evil characteristics, especially the
ones that they find pleasing, because it is the nature of Amalek to bring out
evil. This is the reason that the memory and culture of Amalek must be
eradicated from under heaven.
לע"נ
ה אמה מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז בנוסן תשנ"ח
העלון ניתן לקבל בדואר אלקטרוני וגם באתר
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