From the President:
Purim Message

I feel compelled to send a message to this list after so much has occurred over the past few days and even minutes.

After attending the megillah reading, I rushed home to watch President Bush's address. While sitting at home in my living room, I truly realized that the world is on the brink of war. The harsh reality of war may occur in the distant Iraq, or our homeland Israel; but it also may come to us, as the Homeland Security Department just increased the terrorist warning from yellow to orange.

It is a scary thought, to think that so many people's lives are in danger. In Iraq, Israel, North America, and all over the world, lives are threatened. And for what?

This past Shabbat, we celebrated Shabbat Zachor. Zachor means remember, and it is the opening word to the maftir aliyah. We learn about the tribe of Amalek, a ruthless people attacked the weak, faint, and exhausted members of the Jewish People wandering in the desert. The maftir aliyah describes how we have to remember Amalek. However, it is quite confusing, as the beginning of the aliyah states, "Zachor et asher asah lecha Amalek" - remember what Amalek did to you, and the conclusion of the aliyah reads, "teemcheh et zaycher amalayk meetachat hashamayim" - you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Why does the Torah say, "remember what Amalek did to you", and then "you shall blot out their memory"? Is that not contradictory?

These are two separate commandments. The Torah asks us to remember what Amalek "did to you" and the Torah also says "to wipe out the remembrance of Amalek". There is a distinct difference between the two. We must remember Amalek's evil actions, but we must blot out their nationhood forever.

Shabbat Zachor is placed before Purim because according to our tradition Haman is said to be a descendent of Amalek, as he is called an Agagite in the Megillah. Agag was the King of the Amalekites during the Haftorah that we read on Shabbat Zachor. Haman represents another attempt by Amalek to exterminate the Jewish People. We read the megillah and Haman's story in order to remember his evil actions, but we make noise so that we blot out his existence.

Today, we are facing a modern version of Amalek. Saddam Hussein has killed innocent lives, and we can not allow evil dictators to murder their people. Now, we have to remember. We have to remember what evil people have done in the past, and learn from it. We must take action against Saddam Hussein, and like Haman, erase him from our memory, so that he does not live as a role model within modern day society.

While war is a horrific and terrifying possibility, the evil actions of a murdering dictator can not be neglected.