By Marco Del Monte
Shabbat Zachor
This Shabbat we will begin reading the third book of the Torah, the Sefer Vayikra. Furthermore, this Shabbat is called Shabbat Zachor, that is, the Shabbat before Purim. On this Shabbat two Sifrei Torah will be read: one from which the weekly parashah will be read; and from the other, the passage speaking of the memory of Amalek's infamous attack on the people of Israel, directed at the most fragile, weak, and defenceless part of the people, will be read.
This passage is chosen because, as one can notice in its verses, it describes the personality of Amalek and all his progeny, which, as we know, also includes the wicked antagonist of the Purim story, namely Haman.
Whoever reads the text of the Sefer Torah will notice that the word "Vayikra – And He called" is written with a small Alef. The Midrash explains that when Moses wrote the Torah at the dictation of Hashem, at the moment when "Vayikra – And He called" was to be written, Moses wanted to modify the spelling to *Vaikar*, without the final Alef. What is the difference between the two terms? *Vayikra* means to call habitually, as if there were a very close bond between the two interlocutors, whereas *Vaykar* means to call casually, every now and then, not frequently, designating a less close relationship: indeed, it is the term that will be used to describe Hashem's call to Balaam. Moses was the humblest of all men, and for this reason he wanted to change the writing so as not to "pretend" to be a "close friend" of Hashem; he did not feel worthy. What, then, can connect this Parashah to Purim? As the Chachamim explain to us, a part of Moses' Neshamah was contained in Mordechai, the bitter enemy of Haman. Haman, Mordechai's wicked adversary, in his haughtiness and wickedness, demanded that everyone bow down to him. When he is called by the king, who asks him for advice on what to give to a benefactor of the "King", he thinks, obviously, that only he can be worthy of being predestined for this, because no one deserved as much as he did to be close to the king and a friend of the king. Haman, therefore, embodies the Anti-Moses: the one so humble as not to feel adequate to be considered the Friend of the KING; the other, so arrogant as to believe that only he can be close to the king. In the end, Moses, with the part of his soul present in Mordechai, will once again confront and defeat the arrogance of Amalek and Haman. Our greatness lies in feeling small, as my teacher, Rav Yehuda Kahaloun Zecher Tzaddik Livrachah, taught me: when you look through the small end of the binoculars you see things large; exactly the opposite happens if you look from the other side.
Shabbat Shalom Umevorach and Purim Sameach
Translated from the Italian with Google Gemini. The Italian text is the original.