Over breakfast one morning, a woman said to her husband, “I’ll bet you don’t know what day this is.” “Of course I do,” he replied, slightly offended, and left for work.

At 10:00 a.m., the doorbell rang. A dozen long-stemmed red roses. At 1:00 p.m., a box of her favorite chocolates arrived. Later, a boutique delivered a designer dress.

When her husband came home, she exclaimed, “First the flowers, then the chocolates, then the dress! I’ve never had a more wonderful Groundhog Day in my entire life!”

Sometimes we need reminders. We need reminders about dates. We need reminders about milestones. And we need reminders about our history.

This Shabbat is one of those reminders. Before Purim, we read Parshat Zachor and fulfill the mitzvah to remember how Amalek attacked us. It is striking that this mitzvah is observed annually. The Chatam Sofer famously argued that memory fades after twelve months, and therefore the Torah requires us to recall Amalek at least once a year so we do not forget the danger or the lesson.

But let’s be honest: do we really need reminders?

We live in a time of rising antisemitism. College........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)