Beshalach

Blotting Out Amalek - Within Us

Rabbi Laura Duhan Kaplan and Dr. Robin Friedlander

Amalek attacked Israel in Rephidim . . .God will be at war with Amalek in every generation. (Shemot/Exodus 17:8, 16)

Blot out the memory of Amalek - don't forget! (Devarim/Deuteronomy 25:19)

In traditional Jewish thought, Amalek is the symbol of evil, an evil so great that God and the Israelites are eternally at war with it. Amalek attacked Israel in a place called Rephidim. "Rephidim" is related to an Arabic word that means "support or aid." Thus our sages say that Amalek attacked the part of the Israelite camp where those most in need of support congregated. Amalek targeted the elderly, the ill, and the disabled.

Forgetting to blot out Amalek is as easy as falling into habitual patterns of thought and feeling. When we lose patience with people because we forget our awareness of the wide spectrum of disabilities - sensory, physical, intellectual, mental/emotional - Amalek is awake within us. When we have an easy opportunity to accommodate people with disabilities - e.g., through wheelchair ramps, microphones, adjustments in educational settings - and we don't use the opportunity, Amalek is attacking.

We can diminish the power of Amalek through mindfulness and right action. When we see each person as a human being with a mixture of qualities; when we remember not to see only disabilities that make us inconvenienced or uncomfortable; when we actively welcome the contributions of diverse people to our community: then we are remembering to blot out Amalek.

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