Stop Reading ‘Zecher Amalek’ Twice. It’s a Mistake
Most Ashkenazi synagogues are making an unnecessary mistake this Shabbat.
On Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat before Purim, we read a special maftir section referencing the Amalekites’ attack on the Israelites in the wilderness. By reading this short passage, we connect the duty to ‘blot out the memory of Amalek’ with the victory over Haman, who is considered a direct descendant of Amalek.
The reading begins with the command: “Remember (zachor) what Amalek did to you.”
Because these three verses (Deut. 25:17-19) contain a biblical commandment to remember, we are understandably meticulous about every syllable. However, in recent generations, a strange and unwarranted “double-take” has entered Ashkenazi synagogues.
A Mistaken Repetition
When the reader reaches the final verse containing the words זֵכֶר עֲמָלֵק (“the memory of Amalek”) they repeat the word זֵכֶר with two different vowel sounds: once with a tzere — “zay-kher” — and once with a segol — “zeh-kher.”
This practice, based on a recommendation that appeared in the Mishnah Berurah only about a century ago, reflects the assumption that we are unsure which pronunciation is correct. To “satisfy both opinions,” the word — or even the entire verse — is read twice.
But that doubt never truly existed.
Rabbi Mordechai Breuer z”l, a world-renowned expert on the Masoretic text, demonstrated in a lengthy article that this double reading, though well-intentioned, is a “mistaken innovation” that undermines the very Masorah (tradition) upon which our Torah reading is based.
According to Breuer, we should stop reading it twice, and return to the authentic text for several reasons:
1. The “Doubt” is a Myth
The uncertainty appeared only as a result of a doubt raised by students of the 18th-century Ashkenazi scholar, the Vilna Gaon, regarding how he personally read these words.
However, today we have clear evidence that all reliable Masoretic manuscripts — including the Leningrad Codex, Jerusalem 5702 24, and Sasson 1053 — point to זֵכֶר (“zay-kher,” with a tzere). All three were written close to the Masoretic period and are extremely precise in both punctuation and cantillation. As for the gold standard, the Aleppo Codex: although these specific verses were lost to history, it can be confidently deduced from related notes that it, too, reflected the זֵכֶר (“zay-kher”) reading.
2. It Separates Us from the Broader Jewish world
In the Sephardic and Yemenite communities, this practice is unheard of. For them, there has always been only one correct version, זֵכֶר (zay-kher). What began as hearsay in the Ashkenazi world has evolved into a perceived halakhic doubt that undermines the uniformity of the Torah text across the Jewish world.
3. It Signals Doubt in the Masorah
The entire purpose of the Masoretic project was to preserve a single, precise, authoritative reading of the Torah. By reading the word twice, we aren’t being “extra careful”; we are expressing a lack of confidence in our own heritage.
4. The Practice Causes Harm
Institutionalizing both readings subtly suggests that our Torah text is unreliable and interrupts the flow of the sacred reading. It may even risk a “bracha le-vatalah” (reciting a blessing in vain), as the reader adds words that never existed in our primary, authoritative sources.
We should not hedge our bets with the Torah’s text. We should trust the unbroken chain of the Masorah, and read the word once.
(P.S. Good luck changing an entrenched synagogue custom!)
Shabbat Shalom.
