Sometimes, this Shabbat coincides with שַׁבָּת זָכוֹר (Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat of remembering).

In the maftir for Shabbat Zakhor, we read about the time that Amalek attacked Benei Yisrael on their way out of מִצְרַיִם (Mitzrayim, Egypt). In the haftarah, we read a story from hundreds of years later, when King Shaul fights against Amalek.

Shaul is victorious, but he doesn’t obey God’s command to destroy Amalek completely. He takes booty from them, and he keeps their king, Agag, alive.

God sends the prophet Shmuel to tell Shaul: “You have rejected God’s command, and so now God has rejected you from being king over Israel” (Shmuel Alef 15:26).

Shaul tries to hold onto the crown, but it’s too late. From this point on, Shaul becomes a weak leader, and soon David is chosen as the new king of Israel.

Why focus on Amalek now?

Shabbat Zakhor is always on the Shabbat right before Purim. This is because our Rabbis believed Haman came from Amalek (Esther Rabbah 10:13). After all, Haman is called “the Agagi” in Megillat Esther. See if you can find this when you listen to the Megillah on Purim next week. (Hint: It’s in the third chapter.)

Mordekhai is also connected to one of the characters in our haftarah. He seems to have been related to Shaul! Both were from the tribe of Binyamin. Also, Shaul’s father was named Kish, and Mordekhai’s great-grandfather had this name, too (Esther 2:5).

So it’s possible that, in the Purim story, Mordekhai and Esther’s fight against Haman was a way to resolve Shaul’s unfinished business with Agag!

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