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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
לא תוכל להתעלם (פרק כב פסוק ג)
We are commanded to return a lost object that we find, and the Torah stresses a specific command to not turn away and ignore it. R’ Shimon Schwab asks, we find many times in prayer that we ask Hashem to not ignore us and to not turn away from us, such as אל תתעלם מתחנתנו, and חוסה נא ואל תתעלם. Yet we are still in an incredibly long exile, in a way that seems as though Hashem does turn away from us. How can Hashem command us in His Torah to not turn away and ignore a lost object when He seems to act in that way by ignoring us? R’ Schwab answers that there is a caveat in this law. The Gemara learns that when it is beneath one’s dignity to pick up the object, or the object is in a place where the finder may not enter, such as a Kohen who sees an object in a cemetery, then one is exempt from the law of not ignoring a lost object. Says R’ Schwab, when we associate ourselves with impurity, placing ourselves in a position that the holiness of Hashem “cannot go”, or we live our lives in a way that desecrates Hashem’s Name, then it is “beneath His dignity” to save us. If we properly purify ourselves and lift ourselves up to be people that are an honor to Hashem’s Name, then of course He would not ignore us, and we would be immediately redeemed.
זכור את אשר עשה לך עמלק…לא תשכח (פרק כה פסוק יז-יט)
The Torah tells us to remember and to not forget that which Amalek attacked us after we left Egypt. At the time, our redemption from Egypt had made an incredible impression on the nations of the world, and everyone was scared to attack us. There was a true recognition and fear of Hashem throughout the world. Once Amalek attacked, they “cooled off” this palpable fear and proved that it was still feasible to take a stab at us. R’ Moshe Feinstein says that although we cannot fulfill the commandment to wipe out Amalek in our time, we still have a mitzvah to remember what they did. The reason for this, says R’ Moshe, is for us to always be aware of how evil a person can become. Amalek was so against the Torah and everything we stood for that they were willing to risk their lives and attack the untouchable nation. From this we learn for ourselves as well that we must constantly be on guard and careful of our spiritual level, because it is possible for the Satan to convince us to do reckless things, all to get us to sin. R’ Moshe uses this to explain why the Gemara teaches that “remember” means by reading the story and “don’t forget” means in our hearts. Seemingly, both “remembering” and “not forgetting” happen in our heads? R’ Moshe explains that the point of this mitzvah is to internalize the message, to feel the evil of Amalek and use our mouths to make it real, that way we will not lower our guard, and we will maintain our level.
