About that ‘Kamala-Amalek’ meme

If you frequent any social media platform, there’s a good chance someone forwarded you a meme this past week equating Kamala Harris’s first name in Hebrew with Amalek, the Biblical enemy of the Jewish people.

I think it appeared at least a dozen times in my Facebook news feed.

Besides being grammatically incorrect – Kamala’s name in Hebrew is spelled with a heh at the end and not an ayin – and totally nonsensical, the meme is also inflammatory and offensive.

Being the victims of much hate-filled speech recently, I would think that our community would be a bit more sensitive and careful about the words they choose to post publicly.

(By the way, I was told that one individual in Teaneck, New Jersey created a sign of the meme and posted it on his front lawn … I would warn folks that something like this could conceivably be determined to be a hate crime by police and be grounds for arrest.)

Although most people probably feel the meme is cute – especially if they are Republican – there is a real danger in equating Kamala Harris with Amalek. It’s not impossible for something like this to create political violence, given that our understanding of Amalek is that they need to be completely wiped out. Calling a political figure “Amalek” only weeks after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump is particularly disturbing, and seeing members of our Jewish community defend it is both scary and sickening.

Furthermore, we correctly refute casual uses of the words Holocaust and Nazi, calling out and criticizing those who refer to any tragedy as a Holocaust and any individual restraining freedom as a Nazi. I believe the word Amalek is in the same category. We should be just as careful about using this word as we are about the others.

And even if you feel that I’m overreacting (maybe this is just a cute play on words that make Republicans feel happy), it’s really a silly meme. One can always use gematria, the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word, or phrase by reading it as a number, to further his or her own political cause.

So…in the spirit of equal time in this season of political debate, I’m happy to present various plays on words utilizing gematria, which make fun of other political figures.

I’m sure there are some folks out there who are not the biggest fans of former President Donald Trump. In Hebrew, Trump’s name is equal to 330 in gematria. What other Hebrew words are equal to 330? Sancheirev, the king of Assyria who subjugated ancient Israel and undertook a punitive campaign to quell the rebellion of Hoshea, equals 330 in gematria.  And if you’d like a particularly nasty reference to Trump, consider the Hebrew word saris, which means eunuch – and which also equals 330.

Are you looking for a good meme to call out JD Vance? You’re in luck!  Look no further than the Yiddish language – vantz in Yiddish is translated to mean bedbug.  Not quite Amalek, but certainly an unflattering term to describe Trump’s running mate. His surname in Hebrew equals 117 in gematria, which is equivalent to za’am – loosely translated as indignant or abhorrent.

Searching for a way to embarrass former president Barack Obama? His first name in Hebrew is equal to 302 in gematria. That’s the same as bakar – a cow. Or kever – a grave.

Vladimir Putin’s surname in Hebrew equals 155. In gematria, that’s equivalent to the Hebrew word mapala, translated as downfall – certainly an appropriate comparison for his plans for the Ukraine, but perhaps a hint or a suggestion about his own political fortunes.

But back to the subject of the mean-spirited Kamala meme. In the next 100 days before the election, we will be subjected to a plethora of posts on social media promoting one candidate and ridiculing another, often using lies, misinformation, and artificial intelligence photos to support the message. I urge the members of our community not to engage in this political charade by forwarding such messages to our friends – and resist the temptation to engage in dialogue with those who want to discredit the character of a politician they oppose.

As we approach the Nine Days, the saddest period on the Jewish calendar, let’s be extra careful about what we say about others and the words and images we choose to share.