On the Shabbat before Purim, the holiday on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the Amalekite's plot to destroy the Jewish people, the weekly Torah reading is supplemented with the Zachor ("Remember!") reading (Deuteronomy 25:17-19) in which we are commanded to remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth.
When the Israelites left Egypt, no nation dared pick a fight with them. Who would start up with a people whose G‑d just smacked around the mighty Egypt with ten awesome plagues, and drowned the surviving few in the sea? Only Amalek, driven by profound hatred which defied logic, came to wage battle.
According to many Halachic authorities, there is a Biblical requirement for all men to hear the special Zachor reading.
The special Zachor haftorah (I Samuel 15:2-34) discusses G‑d's command to King Saul to destroy the people of Amalek.
"Parshat Zachor" is the second of four special readings added during or immediately before the month of Adar (the other three being Shekalim, Parah and Hachodesh).
Click here for the Zachor Reading along with commentary and insights; click here for more on Amalek.
I am celebrating the 57th anniversary of my Bar Mitzvah. This time, March 23, 2024, I3 Adar II, I must learn the Haftora Zachor, which is a long as the regular Haftara I believe and with difficult words and some challenging trop. Zachor, because it is the shabbat before Purim. I have done my usual Haftora Vayikro many times over the years. Last year you couldn't hear a pin drop. Usually people on both sides of the mehitza are talking and almost drowning out the Haftora. I am hoping to get the same respect this year as I got last year. I believe people should always be respectful and at least read the English, I am going to ask the Rabbi to mention that everyone should make the effort to follow along, to listen to me and read the text, which is so meaningful. I hope they respect this as well as they did last year.