Remember

This Shabbat is Shabbat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembrance.

"I hate history," declared Israel's President Peres. "I'm sick of history."

Israel wants to forget. But G-d has commanded us to remember. He has commanded us to remember who we are and for what purpose we were created. Fear of remembering is actually the fear of the memory's significance. Because remembrance is first and foremost the Biblical directive to "Remember what Amalek did to you." Nothing points more keenly to our special identity than Amalek.

The forces of absolute evil embarked upon a war to destroy the Jewish People, and delayed the trains to the front so that they could send more Jews to Auschwitz. If absolute evil fears the Jews so much, it is a sign that they hold within them something very good. As we know, darkness fears light.

But we do not want to remember Amalek because we do not want to remember ourselves. We are afraid to reach the conclusion that we really do possess something special, something that burdens us with a special responsibility, something that will always make us different, separate.

But the memory is imprinted in our national DNA. There is no nation that knows how to remember like we do. We simply cannot forget.

Manhigut Yehudit is about remembering. It is about leadership with a faith-based and history-based consciousness. We need leadership that has an affinity to history and understands its significance. He who remembers the past and holds the keys to understand it - also understands where we are going, despite all the obstacles. And that is a clear reason for boundless joy.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim.