The Spirit of
Amalek is Alive and the American College Campus
In a recently
published study of more than 1100 Jewish college students it was found that 54%
had experienced an anti-Semitic incident his past year. Ariella Kasar, who headed the study and teaches at Trinity
College, was quoted as saying: “We were surprised how prevalent it is. There
are no pockets where it is in specific places, regions or universities. It’s
kind of widespread,” Most surprising, perhaps, is that there is virtually no
difference in the rates of experiencing anti-Semitism between those who are
“never open” about being Jewish on their campus and those who are “always open”
about being Jewish.
The reality of anti-Semitism on
college campuses is a clear and present reality around the country.
The Shabbat before Purim is
called Shabbat Zachor: the Sabbath of memory.
We will read the passage regarding Amalek at the conclusion of our Torah
reading:
Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you
left Egypt -- how, undeterred by fear of God, he surprised you on the march,
when you were famished and weary, and cut down all the stragglers in your rear.
Therefore, when the LORD your God grants you safety from all your enemies
around you, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as a hereditary
portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Do not
forget!
(Deuteronomy 26:17-19)
Amalek was a tribal chieftain
who attacked the Children of Israel as they marched through the desert directly
after the splitting of the sea. In this
passage Moses reminds the people that Amalek attacked the most in the back of
the caravan. Had he wanted to simply fight
the Israelites, Amalek would have chosen to focus on the front of the caravan
where the fighting men were. Rather, he
chose to slaughter the weakest and most vulnerable element of the Jewish people.
For this cowardly and hateful act Amalek
wins the eternal ire of God. Moreover, Moses
teaches us that the war against Amalek will be an eternal one. Haman, who tries to destroy the Jews of
Persia in the time of Mordecai and Esther was a direct descendant of
Amalek. In the eyes of Jewish tradition,
Amalek was more than a historical figure, he was the very symbol of
anti-Semitism throughout time.
The sad reality of the modern
day is that the spirit of Amalek is alive and well throughout the world and as
this recent study shows, on college campuses as well. In the past weeks the students bodies of
Stanford University and Northwestern University voted to divest from 6 major
companies that do business with Israel.
The claim is that the products from these companies are used by Israel in human
rights violations in the Palestinian territories. The vote on the Northwestern Campus was 24 to
22. The Jewish students who were
involved in the struggle against the divestment experienced both abuse and the
worst form of anti-Semitism thinly disguised as anti-Israel rhetoric. I am proud to say that some of the Jewish
leaders at Northwestern and Stanford were from Anshe Emet.
On this Shabbat Zachor Mitchell
Caminer will share his experience of this struggle with the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanction Movement on his university campus as well as his encounter with
anti-Semitism. Sadly, the spirit of
Amalek is not only present in terrorist acts in places like Paris and
Copenhagen but in our halls of higher education as well. Please plan to be with us this Shabbat.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Michael Siegel
