Parsha:

Beshalach,  Ki Teitzei,  Ki Tisa,  Zachor 

Collections: Rabbi Etshalom Megilas Esther

Description

Upon the successful completion of the war against Amalek, led by Yehoshua and directed by Moshe, Hashem commands Moshe to "write this for a memorial in the (a?) scroll and place it in the ears of Yehoshua, for I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek..." These two odd phrases - "כתב זאת זכרון בספר" and the unmatched "שים באזני יהושע" themselves beg for clarification; yet the clear contradiction between the declaration "I will utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek" _ מחה אמחה את זכר עמלק - and the command in Devarim 25: "You shall utterly wipe out the memory of Amalek" - תמחה את זכר עמלק - requires resolution. We examine both the contradiction, as well as the two odd phrases - and our exploration leads us to observing a development in the relationship between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem during the years in the desert.