Q&A: Torah-Level Obligation in the Commandment of Remembering
Torah-Level Obligation in the Commandment of Remembering
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi.
The commandment to remember what Amalek did is, to the best of my limited knowledge, a Torah-level commandment. If so, I would be glad to know what exactly the Torah-level component of it is.
1. Is one specifically required to read it on the Sabbath before Purim? If I read it at another time, have I not fulfilled the Torah-level obligation?
2. Is one specifically required to read it from a kosher Torah scroll, with its cantillation and precise vocalization?
3. Is one specifically required to read the passage from Deuteronomy, or is some other general formulation of remembrance sufficient?
Thank you very much.
Answer
Simply speaking, the commandment is to remember what Amalek did, not in any particular manner and not at any particular time. See Maimonides, Laws of Kings 5:5. For some reason, some halakhic decisors understood that the Torah portion of Zakhor is the way to fulfill the commandment, and apparently they rely on the principle that if one does not act in accordance with the Sages’ enactment, one does not fulfill the Torah-level obligation. But even on that very point the medieval authorities disputed it (Tosafot on Sukkah and the Ran), and beyond that I have not found that the Sages enacted that only this is how one remembers. Therefore, straightforwardly, there is no Torah-law requirement in the reading of Parashat Zakhor.