The reading, the keriah, the special parsha about Amalek, the opinion of most poskim, as it's brought down in Shulchan Aruch סימן תרפ״ה, is that קריאת פרשת זכור is a מצות עשה מן התורה. Based on the פסוק, זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק, that you always have to remember what Amalek did to us, and therefore there was a תקנה to read the parsha about Amalek the Shabbos before Purim. But the Magen Avraham in סימן ס׳, סעיף קטן ב׳, asks the question: There are other things also that Hashem told us in the Torah that He wants us to remember. That is מתן תורה, and מעשה מרים, what Miriam did, שבת, מעשה העגל, these are things that it says in the Shulchan Aruch we have to think about when we say the ברכות קריאת שמע, when we say the berachos before קריאת שמע in davenen. So why is it that the תקנה to read a special parsha in the Torah was only concerning זכירת מעשה עמלק, and not concerning the other זכירות, other things we have to remember? And he answers that concerning מתן תורה we have a special Yom Tov, which is Shavuos. Shabbos, we have Shabbos. מעשה מרים and מעשה העגל, the reason there is no תקנה to read those parshiyot in the Torah because it is גנותן של ישראל. It would be an embarrassment for the Yidden to read the parsha about the עגל and about מעשה מרים. And therefore, the only one that they made a תקנה to read a special פרשה in the Torah is only about מעשה עמלק. But this answer needs further explanation, because the Magen Avraham himself in סימן תרפ״ה writes that even though we say that קריאת פרשת זכור is min haTorah, but the fact that we read it on this Shabbos is only מדרבנן, תקנת חכמים. So if it's only a תקנת חכמים, why did they have to be mesaken to read it this special Shabbos when we already have something that reminds us of the inyan of Amalek, and that is the Yom Tov of Purim? So just like he says the reason we don't have a special קריאה concerning Matan Torah is because we have the Yom Tov Shavuos, concerning זכירת עמלק we also have the Yom Tov of Purim, because Purim is connected to the inyan of זכירת and מחיית עמלק. And the din is that the קריאה of Purim is also the פרשה of Amalek, as it says in the Mishnah Megillah דף ל׳ עמוד ב׳. And the Magen Avraham himself in סימן תרפ״ה writes that you are yotzei the mitzvat aseh of קריאת פרשת זכור through hearing the קריאה on Purim. And in the Chinuch מצוה תר״ג it says, ודין היה לקרותה ביום פורים, that really we should have read פרשת זכור on פורים, לפי שהוא מענינו של יום, because that is from the inyan of the day of פורים, כי המן הרשע היה מזרעו, because המן הרשע was from the children of Amalek. So it comes out that Purim is connected to מחיית עמלק. And the truth is, the reason why פרשת זכור is the Shabbos before Purim is, as the Gemara says in מגילה דף ל׳ עמוד א׳, כי היכא דלא תקדם עשיה לזכירה. The reason it comes the Shabbos before Purim, so we shouldn't have the עשייה before the זכירה, we shouldn't have the doing before the remembering. Purim is referred to as the עשייה of מחיית עמלק, and the Shabbos before is the זכירה. So it comes out that we do have a time of the year when anyway it is connected to מחיית עמלק. So why do we have to have a special קריאה on the Shabbos before Purim, the קריאה of פרשת זכור? So from that we understand that the תקנה of פרשת זכור is not only because we want to remember the מעשה of עמלק, but there must be something special in the ענין of זכירת מעשה עמלק, which is more than the other זכירות, and therefore only the זכירה of מעשה עמלק has a special קריאה in the Torah with a special Shabbos, while the other זכירות don't have. But the question is, what is so special about זכירת עמלק? Why is that more important than the זכירה of the other things?

לכאורה, just the opposite. The other זכירות should be more important. For instance, the זכירה of מעמד הר סיני of מתן תורה, that, as we understand, is the foundation of the whole תורה ומצות. So therefore that certainly would need a קריאה. Shabbos is also a very, very important mitzvah. It's a מצוה כוללת, it's a general mitzvah of the whole Yiddishkeit, as the Chinuch says in מצוה ל״ב, that משרשי המצוה that כל יסודי הדת, that this includes all the foundations of the Jewish religion, so that is very important. And this is not only important for the day of Shabbos, but it's also important for all days of the week, as the Ramban says in Parshas Yisro. On the other hand, the מעשה העגל, which is the opposite of the keeping of אנכי ה׳ אלקיך לא יהיה לך, this is also important for always. Because as we see in the pasuk where it says, וביום פקדי ופקדתי, Hashem says, the day I will remember, I will remember, and the Chazal say that it means that whenever Hashem punishes a Yid for any aveirah, He adds a little bit of the punishment for the מעשה העגל. So we see that a מעשה העגל, in addition to the fact that it's a very major thing because it's the inyan of עבודה זרה, which is the opposite of the whole foundation of Yiddishkeit, it is important for all generations because we constantly suffer about the מעשה העגל. Even concerning the מעשה מרים, which seems to be one very small detail which doesn't seem to have results concerning all future generations, nevertheless it has a very important lesson for Klal Yisrael: how much you're supposed to be careful of not speaking lashon hara. Because lashon hara is one of the worst aveiros, as the Gemara says in Arakhin דף ט״ו עמוד ב׳ that speaking lashon hara is מגדיל עונות כנגד ג׳ עבירות: עבודה זרה וגילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים. That by speaking lashon hara you could reach worse levels than by doing the three worst aveiros, which is worshipping idols and committing adultery and committing murder. On the other hand, it is one of the hardest things to be careful from, as the Gemara says in Bava Basra דף קס״ד עמוד ב׳ that אין אדם ניצול בכל יום, that's one of the things a person cannot be safe from every day. So, therefore, it is important constantly to remember the מעשה מרים to teach us how important this is to stay away from lashon hara. So this is also a very general thing. On the other hand, to remember what Amalek did seems to be one small detailed thing, which לכאורה has no significance for later generations, and it has no לימוד כללי, no general לימוד. So why is it that davka for זכירת מעשה עמלק we have a special Shabbos and a special kri'ah? The question is even more than that. בפשטות, the whole purpose of זכירת מעשה עמלק is מחיית עמלק. Why do we have to remember what Amalek did? In order to be able to wipe out Amalek, as the pasuk says: והיה בהניח השם אלקיך לך מכל אויביך, that when Hashem will let you off from all your enemies, then תמחה את זכר עמלק, you have to wipe out the זכר of Amalek. And the Rambam in Sefer Hamitzvot, מצות עשה קפ״ט writes: ציוונו לזכור מה שעשה לנו עמלק, He commanded us to remember what Amalek did. This is the מצות עשה of זכירת עמלק, of remembering what Amalek did. ולשנוא אותו בכל עת ועת, and we have to hate him constantly, ונעורר הנפשות במאמרים להילחם בו, and we have to awaken ourselves with all the different things in order to fight with him. So it seems that the whole purpose of זכירת עמלק is only in order to be able to fight and wipe out Amalek. So according to that, when we're not able to wipe out Amalek, it seems that there is no reason for the mitzvah of זכירת עמלק. And that is something we cannot do now, because, first of all, the mitzvah of מחיית עמלק is only when the Yidden lived in Eretz Yisrael, as the Gemara says in Sanhedrin דף כ׳ עמוד ב׳ and the Rambam paskens in the beginning of Hilchot Melachim, that ג׳ מצוות נצטוו ישראל בכניסתן לארץ. There were three mitzvot given to the Yidden when they entered Eretz Yisrael, and the second mitzvah is להכרית זרעו של עמלק, to wipe out, to destroy the children of Amalek. So that is a mitzvah that is connected to Eretz Yisrael. And this itself is only בהניח השם אלקיך לך מכל אויביך. That's after we've finished with all the other enemies, that's ersht when we have this mitzvah of מחיית עמלק. And the truth is that even if not for those conditions, nowadays we can't even wipe out Amalek even if we'd want to, because Chazal say that עלה סנחריב ובלבל את העולם, that Sancheriv mixed up the whole world, he mixed up all the nations, and now we don't know exactly who's from which nation. And as the Minchat Chinuch writes in mitzvah תר״ד, that now we don't know who Amalek is because כל דפריש מרובא פריש, and even if there would be a person who we suspect, but since the majority of the people are not Amalek and they're all mixed, so every person we look upon as if he came from the majority, therefore we don't consider him as Amalek.

So it comes out that nowadays we can't fulfill this mitzvah of destroying Amalek. So then what is the purpose in the mitzvah of זכירת מעשה עמלק to remember what Amalek did? But the truth is that we must say that the mitzvah of זכירת מעשה עמלק, of remembering Amalek, is not necessarily connected only to the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek. Why? Because if it would be just to wipe out Amalek, so why is there a mitzvah nowadays to remember Amalek, as we just said? And also, why do we have to have a special mitzvah of זכור את אשר עשה עמלק? Even at a time when we were able to fight Amalek, why is there a special mitzvah to remember what Amalek did and awaken ourselves to fight with him? Why do we need that? Why isn't there just a mitzvah to wipe out Amalek? Just like there was a מצוה לא תחיה כל נשמה concerning the seven אומות, the seven nations, and there is a mitzvah to wipe out all the people, to kill them all, and we don't find that there was a special ציווי, a special mitzvah to remember all the bad things that they did, which the truth is that this was the reason why Hashem wanted to destroy them, as the pasuk says: למען אשר לא ילמדו אתכם לעשות ככל תועבותם, that in order you should not be able to learn from their evil actions, that's why Hashem wanted us to wipe them out, nevertheless there is no special mitzvah that we have to remember how bad they are in order to awaken ourselves to destroy destroy them. So why is there a special mitzvah by מחיית עמלק? So obviously, the reason to remember Amalek is not only in order to be able to wipe out Amalek, but this itself is a goal in itself. It's not only a means to a goal, to remember what Amalek did, so memila we will reach the point of wiping him out. The remembering itself is a goal in itself. And that is takeh the reason why the Rambam in Sefer HaMitzvot, which is עשה קפ״ח וקפ״ט, and so to other people who count mitzvot, מוני המצות like the Semag in עשין קע״ו קע״ז, they count the mitzvah of מחיית עמלק and זכירת עמלק as two separate mitzvot. And they have two separate גדרים, there are two separate conditions to these mitzvot. For instance, the mitzvah of מחיית עמלק, the mitzvah of wiping out Amalek, is a mitzvah that is חובה על הצבור, that it is a commandment on the community, not on every individual person. And the truth is, according to other opinions, like according to the Ramban and the Rabbeinu Bachya, it's not even a mitzvah on the צבור, it's a mitzvah on the מלך of the צבור. And this mitzvah has many other conditions, like it's only after כניסת בני ישראל לארץ, after they go into Eretz Yisrael, etc. Mah she'ein kein the mitzvah of remembering Amalek is a mitzvah on every individual person, and it's a מצוה תמידית, it's a constant mitzvah. Like the Rambam says in הלכות מלכים פרק ה׳ הלכה ה׳, it's a mitzvah in every place and every time. So obviously, it is not only because we have to remember in order to be able to destroy him. There must be something in remembering Amalek in itself.

So it says in sefarim, and especially in chassidishe sefarim, that the inyan of remembering Amalek is because every single person can have within his own heart the concept of Amalek. What does Amalek stand for? We know that when the Yidden went out of Mitzrayim and they were on the way to Matan Torah, that's when Amalek started up with them, and the pasuk uses the לשון אשר קרך בדרך. And one of the peshatim in the words אשר קרך בדרך means they cooled you off in the way. As the Midrash says, also brought down in Rashi, a mashal to a hot bath that people were afraid to jump in. Came one person and he jumped in, אף על פי שנכווה, even though he got burnt, nevertheless, קיררה בפני אחרים, he cooled it off in the eyes of others. And so too with the Yidn and עמלק, that when the Yidn went out of Mitzrayim, all the nations were afraid to start up with them. עמלק was the first one that started up, so he got burnt, but nevertheless, he cooled it off in the eyes of others. So it says in sefarim that the inyan of עמלק is not only to cool off something in the eyes of the goyim, but even within the Yid, the concept of a Yid being cooled off, that is the inyan of עמלק. There's a possibility by a Yid that he should learn and understand the importance of Torah and mitzvot, but when it comes to do it, he gets cooled off and he doesn't do it. It's that thought that could come into a person's mind after he has the proper understanding and the will to do the right thing, and mimela he gets excited and wants to do the right thing, comes this little voice in the person's mind and says, \"Why do you get so excited? You're right, you got to do it, but don't get so excited. Why get completely cooked up about it, get heated up about it, and you do it with a complete hitpa'alut, with all your hitlahavut? You have to do it, but do it in a cool way.\" He says even more, \"After all, you are a person with sechel. Now a ba'al da'at, a person with sechel doesn't get excited so fast. It's very childish to get excited. So don't get excited, do it in a cool way.\" And the truth is, when you get cooled off, then you actually don't do it in the proper way. And eventually, if you're cooled off, you don't do it at all. That means that even though the person might have the proper knowledge, but to do it, when do you really do it in the proper way and when do you do it constantly? Only if you are excited about what you're doing. The inyan of עמלק in the person is that it cools off a Yid from doing Torah and mitzvot. And that's why we find a lashon in Chazal concerning עמלק that יודע את רבונו ומכוון למרוד בו. He knew his Master and intended to revolt against Him. Which means that עמלק is not something that fights against the knowledge of Hashem, the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, but it is concerning the actual doing it. That after you know it, not to do what He says. And how does that come about? If you're cooled off—עמלק is not something that fights against the knowledge of Hashem, the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, but it is concerning the actual doing it. That after you know it, not to do what He says. And how does that come about? If you're cooled off from the excitement that you get when you know about it, then you don't do it properly. And that's why it also says in sefarim that the word עמלק is connected to the word מלק, and they explain what's with this extra ע, but in the word עמלק we have the word מלק. The word מלק is written in the Torah concerning a korban of an of, of a bird. The lashon is ומלק את ראשו, you should do the melikah. That is the form of shechitah, but not the normal way of shechitah that you shachat by the throat, but this is ומלק את ראשו, you shachat by the neck and you break apart the head from the rest of the body. And this is what Amalek is. He wants to separate between the head and the rest of the body, which represents the feeling which is in the heart and the action which is in the hand. His inyan is to cool off from the sechel that a person has in his mind, and the understanding that you have in your mind, to the excitement of the heart and the action of the hand. And that is why it is so important to remember what Amalek did, because by remembering what Amalek is, we can protect ourselves from what Amalek wants to do to us. That if we ever have this feeling that why get excited over a inyan in Yiddishkeit, in Torah, and in mitzvot, we have to right away remember that this is Amalek that's talking to us, the Amalek that's within us, and we have to protect ourselves from it because this could lead us to the worst things. And that's what it says in sefarim, that when it says the לשון זרעו של עמלק, that we have to remember in order to destroy the children of Amalek, so the לשון זרע has another meaning. Not only from lashon children, but from the לשון זריעה, זריעה is planting. Amalek planted within Klal Yisrael the possibility of following what he stands for. And he stands for this inyan of cooling off the excitement of a Yid in the inyanim of Torah and mitzvot, and mimela it could lead a Yid to stop doing it properly, and then later on to stop doing it completely. And that's why we have the special mitzvah of remembering what Amalek did to us, and we have a special mitzvah to read specially in the Torah what Amalek did to us, to remind us through reading in the Torah, because we know that when we read a parashah in the Torah, this has a very a strong effect on the person. As we know that the Torah is the בעל הבית over the world, the בעל הבית over the person, so by reading it specially in the Torah, this gives the person a stronger koach to be able to fight what Amalek stands for.

This also fits to the way the inyan is explained al pi Kabbalah, because we know that Chazal say that אין השם שלם עד שימחה זרעו של עמלק, that Hashem, the name of Hashem is not complete till Hashem will destroy the children of Amalek. Because the pasuk says כי יד על כס קה, and it uses the לשון קה, the name יו״ד-ק״י on Hashem, when really this is the half of the name, the real name is יו״ד-ק״י-ו״ו-ק״י. So it seems like Amalek is the one that makes the separation between יו״ד-ק״י and ו״ו-ק״י. He doesn't want the ו״ו-ק״י, so to speak, and he just leaves the יו״ד-ק״י. And this is what Amalek stands for, and this is what Hashem wants to destroy. So it says in Kabbalah that יו״ד-ק״י represents the intellect, and ו״ו-ק״י represents the הרגש, the feeling, and the מעשה, the action of a person. And Amalek is the one that tries to cut in between the two. He doesn't want to allow that what you feel in your mind and the excitement you're able to get in your feeling through what you have in your mind should not come about. He cuts off between the יו״ד-ק״י and the ו״ו-ק״י. And this is what Hashem wants of us, that we should get rid of this Amalek within us. How do we get rid of it? By us constantly remembering what Amalek did to us and what Amalek stands for. And that's why davka of this, the Torah made a special mitzvah more than of the other זכירות, because this is a very, very important and כללותדיקע ענין in Yiddishkeit, to be protected from cooling off the excitement that you might have. Somebody wants to say