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National Trauma: A Message from Zachor and Amalek
Trauma, Repression, and Obsession: A Lesson from Zachor and Amalek
When terrible things happen, it’s natural to react intensely. It can be a tremendous challenge to move beyond the event and forward into “regular life”. Two extreme coping mechanisms include obsession and repression.
Obsession is when our minds become preoccupied with the experience to the point where it takes up more brain space than we want it to, and interferes with our desired functioning.
Repression is when our brains trivialize or ignore the incident or its impact, and then it can affect us indirectly or in more subtle ways.
A more helpful and moderate alternative would be to process and integrate the experience and its effects, in a way that honors the personal relationship to it, but then provides the opportunity to eventually transcend it. When this happens, we no longer need to continually be defined by the pain. This is much easier said than done, but it begins with a clear vision of the goal.
A simple way to remember this that we trade obsessing and repressing for processing.
This week we stand in shul and observe a commandment to recall a national trauma. It wasn’t our only military defeat, but it was, in a way, our first. We were an infant nation, freshly birthed from the labor pains of slavery and miraculous redemption. Just finding our footing, beginning to trust the possibility of living free, of following G-d into the desert, and knowing we would be ok. And then, we weren’t.
It was considered such a big deal, that we are commanded to talk about and remember it regularly. It’s a curious thing this commandment. On the one hand, the commandment begins with the word “remember”- zachor. Yet the goal seems to be to eradicate the memory- “timcheh.” Are we meant to remember and not forget, or to erase? Clearly the goal is synthesis the event into our national history in a way that provides a lesson. I was thinking that simple a textual analysis of these verses, noting the sequence, yields psychological insight into this seemingly paradoxical process:
“Remember what Amalek did to you… ”
Remember- don’t deny or repress. The first step to processing what happened is to acknowledge it. Speak it out; as they say: “if you can name it, you can tame it.”
“What [they] did to you”:
A major feature of post-trauma is self-blame, sometimes explicitly narrated by the perpetrator, sometimes internalized by the survivor. But an important element of healing is realizing and reassigning misplaced blame. This happened to you when someone took advantage.
“On the way, when you left Egypt.”
Note the where and when of the story. Another feature of traumatic memory is the excruciating detail, the flashbacks and triggers, pulling the past time and place into the here and now, where it can poison the present and the future. Empowered processing includes filing it in correct autobiographical chronology, so it doesn’t leak all over the newer chapters.
“That they coldly/ happened to you on the way, preying on the weak, tired, and strained, irreverent [disconnected from force of faith].”
Trauma is messy. Understanding the source, remembering and consciously recalling context clues can help us understand the vulnerability of that situation and what happened, and contrast it with the current safety and empowerment. This can also serve to eventually shrink the impact and clear space for a better future.
“And when G-d gives you rest from surrounding enemies, in your inherited land,”
Reorienting to the present time and place allows us to recognize and reinforce the hope, security and safety of no longer being in danger, of no longer needing to hold and feel the pain. We no longer need to fight, flight, or freeze. We can settle into the promised land, surrounded by prosperity and love. Access the promised land of deliverance, the holding environment, be free from the affliction. It’s over, you’re ok now.
“Negate the memory of Amalek from under the Heavens”-
By doing all this, the acknowledgement, the feeling, the focus, the context, the reassignment, the transcendence, the re-centering of body and mind into the present time and safer place, that itself is the start of healing. That experience negates and shrinks the potency of the memory from perpetuating its toxic effect anymore.
“Don’t forget” –
Healing doesn’t mean ignoring. Integrating the experience, the empirical demonstration of resilience, the pain that was survived, the capacity of evil, and the triumph of good, allows for deeper living. It is something that once happened but now is over and we made it. By remembering in this way, in this framework- tested, wiser, bolder, that’s how we overcome the darkness. We don’t capitulate to the nightmare- we rise strong, battle scars and all. Never Again.
Remember, eradicate, but don’t forget.
Have you ever wondered how often people engage in sexual activity?
Or how often is optimal for healthy, happily married couples to aim for?
(I purposely used the euphemism “be intimate” in the title because often, people who ask this question in the framework of “supposed to” are uncomfortable with the more direct language of “have sex.” They may prefer to say things like : “be together, do it, make love, have relations, etc.” Whatever works:)
Couples therapists get this question a lot, especially from people who feel like they didn't or don't have enough information in the area of sexuality education.
It’s a legitimate curiosity, but the answer may be unsatsifying.
Firstly: “supposed to” is not a great framework for healthy sex. It works better when the focus is on mutual pleasure, not obligation or comparison.
Second: Frequency is not something that is mandated. Not psychologically, not legally, not Biblically.
It’s determined by and customized to each couple.
There is a Medrash that describes this, and is quoted by Rashi in this week’s Torah portion (I’m writing this the week of VaYishlach, but you can read it any week:)
When Yaakov sent gifts of livestock to his brother Esav, the Torah lists in great detail, the numbers and species of all the animals in the caravan.
Why do we care how many he-goats and she-goats there were?
The answer offered is that the ratio of male to female animals was determined by how often they needed to mate, which was determined by how strenuously they worked. The Medrash extrapolates an analogy to human mating schedules. (The paradigm used by the Talmudic literature is phrased in terms of a husband’s requirement to be available for his wife, not the reverse, but sex should always be consensual both ways.)
The Medrash says that men of leisure might be available daily, laborers twice weekly, donkey drivers once a week, camel drivers ones a month, and sailors/ those who travel for work, every six months.
Of course these are just some examples but Rashi goes on to explain:
“From here we learn that this need is not equal to every person [or couple.]” It depends on the couple’s individual schedules, emotional, and physical limitations and needs.
I’ve heard many people say that they were initially under the impression that couples only have sex when they want to conceive a baby. They were genuinely shocked to learn otherwise. This is not so ludicrous, when you consider the fact that many young people are taught about sex only in the framework of “how babies are made” if that much. Of course, most couples have far more sexual activity than they do children or attempts to conceive them.
It’s a legitimate query to ask how often couples have sex, but there isn’t a one size fits all answer.
Naturally there are some broad, cultural averages, and data. The most commonly quoted one is approximately once a week, but the numbers range significantly, and fluctuate within each couple based on many variables, such as stages of life like pregnancies, having babies and young children, medical or situational factors, and other variables that often make it challenging or more feasible. So please do not use that average to shame yourself or your partner for wanting more or less than that!
The healthiest answer to "how often should a couple be intimate is “as often as works well for both of them at each stage and season of life.”
Desire discrepancies and changes in libido over time are normal, but if you're finding that yours or your partner's are feeling disruptive to your relationship, please take the time to have a loving, strategizing conversation about it with your spouse, read up on the subject, and if necessary reach out for help.
Check out my course!
A Religious Families Guide to Healthy Holy Sex Education: Sacred Not Secret
Elisheva Liss, LMFT is a psychotherapist in private practice. Her book, Find Your Horizon of Healthy Thinking, is available on Amazon.com. She can be reached for sessions or speaking engagements at speaktosomeone@gmail.com More of her content can be found at ElishevaLiss.com