Shabbat Unpacked: Vayikra, Zachor, Esther
By: Rabbi Jordan Silvestri, RMBA Head of School
This Shabbat is certainly a packed and frenetic experience for us all. We begin with the opening parsha of Vayikra, turn our attention to Parshat Zachor and end the evening off on Motzei Shabbat with the night reading of Megillat Esther. My rebbi, Rabbi Reuven Taragin, always shared with us that the weekly Torah portion and any additional readings connected are specifically designed for the time of year in which they are read. This unique set of readings is somewhat rare and, as such, we are asked to rumble with the question, Why these readings and why now?
Parshat Vayikra is the first of many parshiot that explores the daily procedures that filled the walls of the Mishkan, the tabernacle, and the diversity amongst the korbanot, the sacrifices that were both brought daily and as required. The second half of the parsha takes on a very different tone:
דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לֵאמֹר֒ נֶ֗פֶשׁ כִּֽי־תֶחֱטָ֤א בִשְׁגָגָה֙ מִכֹּל֙ מִצְוֺ֣ת יְהֹוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֣א תֵעָשֶׂ֑ינָה וְעָשָׂ֕ה מֵאַחַ֖ת מֵהֵֽנָּה
Speak to Bnei Yisrael saying that anyone who sins accidentally in regard to any of Hashem’s commandments that he should not do yet does - Vaykira 4:2
The second half of the parsha goes into grave detail regarding every permutation of a sin offering based on the circumstances surrounding the offense. In next week’s parsha, it focuses primarily on the service of the Kohanim specifically after the Mishkan was consecrated. Seems strange that the Torah puts so much emphasis on what we should do when we make mistakes of all kinds. No one likes to be told how to repent especially after hearing so much of that narrative following the Golden calf. Why does the Torah focus so intently at this juncture on sin?
Parshat Zachor, the Torah portion of Remembrance, focused on the generational requirement to rid the world of the nation of Amalek, the nation that had the gall and audacity to attack the weak and feeble Jewish people seconds after leaving Egypt.
זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵאתְכֶ֥ם מִמִּצְרָֽיִם
We are to remember that which Amalek did to us on our way from leaving Egypt
- Devarim 25:17
We read this portion of the parsha prior to Purim as we expand the definition of Amalek to any individual or nation whose purpose is to destroy the Jewish people. Haman in the Purim story is one of those individuals. In a week like ours, it seems like overkill to read both Parshat Zachor and Megillat Esther. Could one not suffice?
I believe that the answer is in Megillat Esther in the moments when Mordechai, in sackcloth and deep mourning, begs Esther to beseech him from the courtyard and take the mantle of the Jewish people’s savior from within the castle. Esther did not heed his warning to which Mordechai responded:
וַיֹּ֥אמֶר מׇרְדֳּכַ֖י לְהָשִׁ֣יב אֶל־אֶסְתֵּ֑ר אַל־תְּדַמִּ֣י בְנַפְשֵׁ֔ךְ לְהִמָּלֵ֥ט בֵּית־הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ מִכׇּל־הַיְּהוּדִֽים
כִּ֣י אִם־הַחֲרֵ֣שׁ תַּחֲרִ֘ישִׁי֮ בָּעֵ֣ת הַזֹּאת֒ רֶ֣וַח וְהַצָּלָ֞ה יַעֲמ֤וֹד לַיְּהוּדִים֙ מִמָּק֣וֹם אַחֵ֔ר וְאַ֥תְּ וּבֵית־אָבִ֖יךְ תֹּאבֵ֑דוּ וּמִ֣י יוֹדֵ֔עַ אִם־לְעֵ֣ת כָּזֹ֔את הִגַּ֖עַתְּ לַמַּלְכֽוּת
And Mordechai responded to Esther, “Do not imagine that you will escape with your life from the king’s palace. Rather, if you keep silent in this matter, relief and deliverance will come to the Jewish people from some other location. You and your father’s household will be lost. And who knows, perhaps you obtained a seat in the kingship for this very reason
- Megillat Esther 4:13-14
At this moment, Mordechai was not only speaking to Esther at a time of national crisis. He was talking to generations of Jewish people that came before him and so many more that have come since. The Mishkan is the means in which Hashem bestowed upon us the moniker of Mamlechet Kohanim V’Goy Kadosh (A kingship of priests and a holy nation). It is in this moment where our lives took their final form into something majestic, ethereal and beyond human capacity. This new found identity is constant on the defensive as it attempts to thwart attacks from all sides. Some from the outside world and some that stem from within.
The attacks of Amalek in the desert and all other such attacks were meant to devalue and dissect any ounce of holiness from within ourselves. Amalek could not see why a nation such as ours deserved to be saved from the hands of the Egyptians and to be given special treatment. Haman’s fragile ego could not allow himself to be embarrassed by Mordechai in the eyes of the elite and, in turn, decided that no remnant of the Jewish masses could exist for his worth to maintain any value. These atrocities and so many more moments that we have experienced from the Holocaust to October 7th stem from these insecurities. The horror they bring is beyond measure or words and they are not the worst attacks we have sustained. Those are the ones that we allow to happen to ourselves.
Our dedication to the epitaph of being distinguished and holy stems from the manner in which we choose to distinguish ourselves from the secular, elevate ourselves with the grandiose and share those wonders with generation after generation. We speak of values, the actions that bring us meaning and the power that has to shine light in the darkest of places. Our actions paint a picture of everlasting light or deafening darkness. We are reminded that the tool that allows us to connect to Hashem can also provide us with the means to mending that bond.
Isn’t it enough that we must endure the pain that the world has allowed us to experience? When will not again include not only the atrocities of the national landscape, and also, the internal experiences of the manner in which we nurture the relationship with Hashem in the most private of moments.